In the lead up to the 2025 Great Romantics Competition on September 21, we sat down with Sheng-Yuan Lynch, last year’s winner of the Elisabeth Murdoch Prize.
We found out about his ideal super-composer, jamming in a metal band, and falling off stage at the Exhibition and Convention Centre!
When did you start playing your instrument and why did you choose it?
Eons ago when I was about 3, we had an old upright piano that my mum would intermittently play. She had gotten up to about Grade 4 in AMEB and had scored a solid B+ – I always really enjoyed listening to her. We had shelves of classical CDs that would play almost 24/7 around the house. I’d love jumping on the piano whenever it was free, and at some stage I came to the conclusion that I was able to replicate on the piano the melodies I heard on the CDs, and I would do it non-stop.
When I was around 7, my family put me in touch with the best piano teacher I could ask for, and to whom I credit 95% to – Shan Deng, Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania. I’m eternally grateful to have a circle of family, friends, and tutors supporting me in everything I do. I genuinely do not know where I’d be without them.
It's perhaps the versatility of the piano that I love the most. Outside of the wonderful world of classical music, the instrument has allowed me to repetiteur for a number of musical theatre productions, which has been a gateway into conducting and musical direction (I get to MD my first show later this year!). I’m currently a second-year majoring in film scoring alongside my classical piano at UTAS, and the keyboard has been my means of recreating in software what I have in my head. I also went through a phase of creating and uploading to YouTube (poor) EDM remixes of popular songs when I was little (they’re still up!). I’m in a yacht rock and a metal band. Piano has been the glue that ties together everything I do, whether I’m writing or performing or experimenting with other sounds and genres, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Who are your musical heroes?
I’ve got a couple. In the classical world, romantic 19th-century music will always have a special place in my heart, with Zimerman’s and Kissin’s interpretations generally being my favourite. (Yundi Li for Chopin.) Yunchan Lim had been receiving prizes from international competitions since he was 14, and won the Cliburn Competition when he was just 18 – otherworldly achievements I simply can’t not look up to and admire as a younger musician myself. Yuja Wang’s precision is out of this world.
If I could construct a supercomposer, I’d amalgamate the versatility and production qualities of Ludwig Göransson, mastery of the orchestra of Tchaikovsky and John Williams, and the synth wizardry of Jordan Rudess.
What was it like to win the 2024 Great Romantics Competition?
It came about completely unexpectedly! As did the email notifying that I was shortlisted for the Finals. I’m so grateful to the Great Romantics and the Melbourne Recital Centre for this incredible honour.
What has been your performance highlight so far?
Honestly, probably the finals of the 2024 Great Romantics Competition! Getting to perform two of my favourite pieces (Chopin’s First Ballade and Liszt’s Mazeppa) in the Melbourne Recital Centre was truly an incredible experience.
Another one that comes to mind was the honour of performing alongside Roberto Bolle of La Scala Theatre Ballet as part of the Ballet International Gala II at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. I accompanied him with three beautiful Rachmaninoff preludes… and fell off the stage! That’s another story.
What pieces are you working on now? Most challenging aspects?
I’m having the time of my life tackling Saturday Night Tuberculosis, written by fellow Hobartian Thomas Misson. It’s a superb firecracker of energy and propulsion, with some truly terrifying climaxes (both for the listener and the player!) and jazz, EDM, and prog rock influences to top it off. It’s through pieces like these I’m getting used to ingraining off-kilter pulses and instincts more common in 20th-21st century classical music. Two bars of 7/16, one of 11/16, 5/8, 11/16 and so on has my brain in a frenzy!
I’m also chipping away at the moment at Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit – namely Scarbo, which is terrifying and rewarding. There’s a section in the middle with a triumphant melody with a run underneath from one end of the piano to the other – the melody starts in the left hand, before the right hand finishes it off and vice versa. With denser sections, I’ve been trying to imagine how these individual voices would sound played by different families of the orchestra, then translate the tonal and emotional qualities of these instruments into my playing – horns and trombones blasting the melody and the run played with the dexterity of strings and woodwinds, for example. I find that it helps keep the textures varied and colourful.
I also find myself coming back to Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C♯ major, BWV 848, an exercise in voice separation and one of the first pieces I ever learned studying with Shan. It’s my fourth revisit with this piece now, and I discover something new every time I play it. It’s truly timeless.
What do you like to do outside of practicing music?
Between my time spent practising, rehearsing and performing (and doing uni homework) I don’t really spend a heap of time not involved with music! Which to me is an absolute blessing of a reality to live in. I’m helping one of my friends produce a Nordic cinematic rock/folk/metal album at the moment. It’s awesome.
I enjoy screenwriting from time to time – I have a giant folder of (mostly unfinished) standalone scenes that I’ll eventually make good of. The rest of my time I spend with family and friends, probably at a steak restaurant or the gym.
I’m on a mission to hit a 140 kg bench press by the end of the year.
Any advice for 2025 Great Romantics applicants?
Go for it! It’s a tremendous opportunity to present your hard work to a panel of professional musicians. Even if you’re not selected, the process helps to build you up for future auditions and competitions. Take care of your mental and physical health, and remember that the experience and connections you make are just as if not more important than the prizes themselves. Best of luck!
Don’t forget to complete your Great Romantics Competition applications by Wednesday 13 August 2025. For more details click the link below.