"an all-rounded musical personality...there was much to marvel at her grasp of the music's architecture and form."
- The Straits Times Singapore
Dr Ning Hui See (b. 1996) is a pianist and musicologist from Singapore recognised for her thoughtful concert programming and interpretations of music by underrepresented composers. As a Kris Foundation Artist, her homecoming concerts at the Esplanade Recital Studio have been lauded for her ‘refined touch, voluminous sound, and all-rounded musical personality’ (The Straits Times). Ning Hui has performed extensively throughout the UK, with notable venues including the Steinway Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, Austrian Cultural Forum, and Victoria & Albert Museum in London, as well as the Leeds International Concert Series, Yehudi Menuhin School, and Pallant House Gallery. She has also given recitals in France, Italy, and the Harris Hall at Aspen, Colorado, and has featured as a soloist with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, the Lydian Orchestra, and the Danube Symphony Orchestra. Her performances have been broadcast on BBC Four, BBC Radio 3, and Singapore Symphony 92.4FM.
As a C H Scholar at the Royal College of Music London, Ning Hui’s PhD thesis (2024) examined ‘How Pianists Programme Lesser-known Solo Repertoire: An Autoethnography through Clara Schumann’s Sonata and Interviews with Four Pianists’. Her thesis, supervised by Prof Rosie Perkins, Prof Natasha Loges, and Danny Driver, explored issues of canon, musical value, and performer identity and agency. She has presented her research at international conferences held by the Royal Musical Association, European Platform for Artistic Research (AEC), Gender-Studien der Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (Hamburg), 'Women at the Piano' (Irvine, California), Institute of Austrian and German Music Research (Surrey), and Sibelius Academy (Helsinki).
Ning Hui is presently a lecturer at the University of the Arts Singapore-Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and was previously a Teaching Assistant at the RCM for BMus Historical Studies ‘History of the Orchestra’ and ‘Music and Power’. She has given guest seminars at the University of Freiburg and Duke University. Since 2013, she has maintained a private studio of diverse students both in London and online. Her students' achievements include prizes at the Stratford & East London, North London, and Woking Festivals and offers to study at the RCM and RNCM.
Earlier in her career, Ning Hui was a laureate of the 'Citta di Padova' and Cesar Franck International Piano Competitions in Italy and Belgium. She was a 2014 BBC Young Musician keyboard finalist and the Grand Prize Winner at the 2012 Singapore Steinway Youth Competition. Entering the RCM aged 16, Ning Hui attained her BMus (Hons) and MMus studying with John Byrne and Dmitri Alexeev. Awarded the Esther Fisher Prize for best undergraduate at the Chappell Gold Medal, she was a finalist in all the major keyboard and concerto competitions at RCM. She later received her Artist Diploma studying with Deniz Gelenbe and Sergio de Simone at Trinity Laban, winning the Founder's Prize for best accompanist. Ning Hui's childhood teachers include Fang Yuan and Prof Albert Tiu, while masterclasses with Barry Douglas, Sofya Gulyak, Arie Vardi, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Peter Donohoe further inspired her artistry.
As a C H Scholar at the Royal College of Music London, Ning Hui’s PhD thesis (2024) examined ‘How Pianists Programme Lesser-known Solo Repertoire: An Autoethnography through Clara Schumann’s Sonata and Interviews with Four Pianists’. Her thesis, supervised by Prof Rosie Perkins, Prof Natasha Loges, and Danny Driver, explored issues of canon, musical value, and performer identity and agency. She has presented her research at international conferences held by the Royal Musical Association, European Platform for Artistic Research (AEC), Gender-Studien der Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (Hamburg), 'Women at the Piano' (Irvine, California), Institute of Austrian and German Music Research (Surrey), and Sibelius Academy (Helsinki).
Ning Hui is presently a lecturer at the University of the Arts Singapore-Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and was previously a Teaching Assistant at the RCM for BMus Historical Studies ‘History of the Orchestra’ and ‘Music and Power’. She has given guest seminars at the University of Freiburg and Duke University. Since 2013, she has maintained a private studio of diverse students both in London and online. Her students' achievements include prizes at the Stratford & East London, North London, and Woking Festivals and offers to study at the RCM and RNCM.
Earlier in her career, Ning Hui was a laureate of the 'Citta di Padova' and Cesar Franck International Piano Competitions in Italy and Belgium. She was a 2014 BBC Young Musician keyboard finalist and the Grand Prize Winner at the 2012 Singapore Steinway Youth Competition. Entering the RCM aged 16, Ning Hui attained her BMus (Hons) and MMus studying with John Byrne and Dmitri Alexeev. Awarded the Esther Fisher Prize for best undergraduate at the Chappell Gold Medal, she was a finalist in all the major keyboard and concerto competitions at RCM. She later received her Artist Diploma studying with Deniz Gelenbe and Sergio de Simone at Trinity Laban, winning the Founder's Prize for best accompanist. Ning Hui's childhood teachers include Fang Yuan and Prof Albert Tiu, while masterclasses with Barry Douglas, Sofya Gulyak, Arie Vardi, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Peter Donohoe further inspired her artistry.
It was very interesting to hear the Clara Schumann Sonata.
Your playing in the first movement was deeply committed. Your reading of the score was
meticulously detailed and idiomatic. Characters were clearly etched and well-projected.
There was a very touching and eloquent quality in your playing of the second movement.
Your approach was understated but still warmly expressive. The concluding movements were again
wonderfully played, characterful, and musically enchanting.
You revealed yourself as an ideal advocate for this work.
- Aaron Shorr, UK concert pianist and professor (2018)