Guitar hero

CLASSICAL guitarist and ChildAid alumnus Kevin Loh is one of the most decorated young musicians in Singapore. Last year, the 19-year-old was awarded the first prize in the Senior Division (ages 17 to 19) of the Guitar Foundation of America's International Youth Competition, as well as the first prize in the 3rd age group (ages 17 to 19) of the 9th Andres Segovia International Competition for Young Guitarists in Monheim am Rhein, Germany.

These triumphs come on the heels of many other awards that Loh has been steadily garnering since he was 12. Loh had then been talent-scouted by the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in the United Kingdom after its staff watched YouTube videos of him performing with his father when he was barely a teen. Loh was subsequently awarded a study grant by The Rolling Stones to enrol in the music institution, and will finish up his last term in the coming months before returning to Singapore for National Service (NS).

Meanwhile, Loh is back here briefly to perform at Sunday's Picnic Suite, an Esplanade concert organised by him and Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) flautist Roberto Alvarez. The duo will play a diverse repertoire of music ranging from Latin American Máximo Diego Pujol to Romania's Béla Bartók. The highlight, however, is the Singapore premiere of Picnic Suite, written by French composer Claude Bolling in 1980 for flute, guitar and jazz piano.