There are some things you simply can't learn in the classroom.
This is a realisation that has grown on Chinese-Canadian pianist Bruce Liu, 25, since winning the 18th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in 2021.
Since that night in Warsaw he has been engaged in a marathon world tour, performing in concert halls from Milan to Seoul.
“This is the first time I am doing an interview from the back of a car,” he tells The National, while he is whisked to the next venue on his sold-out South Korean tour.
Liu’s next stop is the UAE for his Middle East concert debut as part of Abu Dhabi Festival on Tuesday.
"You know at some level that if you win the competition your life will change," he says.
“And ever since I started playing the piano as a child I wanted to have this career where I can play to people from around the world, but I never actually imagined what this career would actually look like."
Now that he has it, what has been the biggest insight?
"Fifty per cent of your time is spent actually learning the business. This is an aspect that many artists really can't afford to avoid " he says.
"Ideally, we do want to stay in our own world in order to make the music as pure as possible.
“But you have to also deal with contracts and people, like directors and presenters. These are things you are never taught in school."
That said, those hours spent studying have well and truly paid off.
Artur Szklener, director of the Frederic Chopin Institute, which administers the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, reportedly praised Liu's "revelatory performances" throughout the intensive three-week competition.
Those attending his recital at the Arts Centre in NYU Abu Dhabi will experience some of that skill with Liu's repertoire including Chopin's Piano Sonata No 2 and Variations on "La ci darem la mano".
"What's special about Chopin, and why his music really stands the test of time, is that he is one of the few composers who wrote only for piano," Liu says.
"The music is also very approachable to a general audience because there is an ease and elegance to the melodies."
Soothing a restless mind
The Polish composer’s work has featured in Liu’s repertoire since learning to play the piano from the age of eight.
Born to Chinese parents in Paris before relocating to Montreal as a child, Liu recalled taking to the instrument as a way to stimulate an already restless mind.
"It started out really as a pure hobby because I was really active when I was younger. I would play plenty of sports and then play video games. So starting on the electric keyboard was just another thing I wanted to do," he says.
"The funny thing is that once I really started getting into it, which was a gradual process, I realised how it kept me calm.
“As someone who was always moving around, those 10 to 15 minutes of just playing really affected me. It began with no real intention and it just grew from there."
Under the tutelage of Vietnamese-Canadian classical pianist Dang Thai Son, the first pianist from Asia to win the Chopin piano competition in 1980, Liu went on to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra aged 15, before collaborating with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the Grammy Award winning Orchestra of the Americas.
By the time he appeared in the Chopin competition in 2021, he was an already assured performer and became the only contestant to sweep through all three rounds of the competition by the jury's unanimous consent.
Liu says he doesn’t fully recall the moment he won the competition after a particularly gruelling take of Piano Concerto No 1.
“When you wait for your name to be called, it just felt like a blur,” he says.
“I think it was about 10 seconds but I just remember that everything at that moment felt black and white.”
Keeping it real
Those moments have been captured in sound and vision with the final round officially available to stream on YouTube and select pieces packaged in the live album Bruce Liu – Winner of the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition 2021.
While a time will come where Liu would want to on move from being only associated with the prize, he says he is content to enjoy the moment — no matter how intense his life seems at the moment.
"It is wonderful that this magical moment has been captured and it is something that I look forward to, maybe when I am hopefully 80 years old to go back and just enjoy it for what it is," he says.
"But for now I am just happy to keep learning, experiencing new things and get some more wisdom. I hope to keep the sincerity and honesty in the music and not get too influenced by other factors.”
Bruce Liu performs at The Arts Centre, NYU Abu Dhabi on March 14; from 7.15pm;. tickets are Dh52.50; www.abudhabifestival.ae
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Benevento (Kick-off 11.45pm)
Saturday Crotone v Spezia (6pm), Torino v Udinese (9pm), Lazio v Verona (11.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Atalanta v Fiorentina (6pm), Napoli v Sampdoria (6pm), Bologna v Roma (6pm), Genoa v Juventus (9pm), AC Milan v Parma (11.45pm)
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
