About the Artist

An artist with passions deeply rooted in music and dance, Su Min constantly seeks to push interdisciplinary artistic boundaries, challenging the connections between art forms as a composer, harpist, improviser, dancer, and pianist.

Winner of the Allan Zavod Performers' Award (2024), 2024 ANZCA Composition Scholarship and the 2021 Prime Minister's Valedictorian from School of the Arts, Singapore, Su Min began her formal education in music composition at 13. In 2022, Su Min was awarded the Composition and Music Technology Prize and was commissioned by the Syzygy Ensemble. Described as having "a child-like instinct, an inner life of little threads that danced with an easy impulsiveness" (Laing, 2023), the "entrancing new work" (Welch, 2023), Chasing Shadows, saw its World Premiere at the Melbourne Recital Centre in November 2023. In 2019, Su Min was also awarded both the Jury's Choice Award (Category 3) and the Outstanding Harp Creative Composition Award in the 2019 Creative Composition Competition. She performed her award-winning solo harp composition, Renew, for a global audience at the 2019 Harpfest Gala Showcase at the University Cultural Centre in Singapore.

Su Min is also an avid harpist, performing with the Monash Academy Orchestra and Monash Art Ensemble from 2023-2025. She also clinched First Place in the Advanced category of the 2020 Vienna Virtuoso Festival Season II Competition on the harp.

Throughout her artistic journey, Su Min has been exploring the interdependency between music and dance. She has collaborated with faculty and students at dACADEMY Singapore to write music for their annual dance production, BREATH, from 2022-2024. She was also a dancer and harpist/improviser in Wasteland, a dance work by the Monash Uni Student Theatre (MUST) in 2023. In 2024, she co-directed and co-composed Chrysalis, a new dance work by MUST, and was invited to perform at the AJIRN 7 2024 Conference, held at Monash University, as a harpist and dancer.

Photography by Mr Woon

In Su Min’s free time, she enjoys independently writing and releasing albums revolving around the theme of “journeys”, drawing inspiration from her personal experiences. She has released 7 albums, 8 dance films, and multiple singles, and hopes to keep expanding her creative output.

Su Min is currently in her fourth year at Monash University, studying a Double Degree in Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Accounting) and Bachelor of Music (specialising in Composition and Music Technology). She looks forward to further collaborations and diving deeper into the niche intersection between sound and movement, to make art that connects with you.

AWARDS

Please refer to my LinkedIn profile for the full list of awards.

2024 ANZCA Composition Scholarship

Awarded by Monash University. Commissioned to compose a 3-5 minute solo piano piece for potential inclusion in the ANZCA piano syllabus.

2024 Allan Zavod Perfomers' Award - Winner

Awarded by Monash University, generously supported by the Noel and Carmel O'Brien Family Foundation. Awarded to "musicians who demonstrate excellence in composition, performance and improvisation" (extracted from Monash University's webpage).

Monash International Merit Scholarship (2024)

Awarded by Monash University.

2023 Prize for best 2nd year student in Music Specialist Study

Awarded by the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, Monash University.

2022 Prize for best 1st year student in Music Specialist Study

Awarded by the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, Monash University.

2022 Composition and Music Technology (CMT) Prize

Awarded by the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, Monash University. Commissioned by the Syzygy Ensemble.

Prime Minister's Valedictorian Award (2021)

Awarded by School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA). Awarded to "a graduate who has demonstrated growth and resilience to achieve all-round excellence in the academic disciplines, the arts, leadership, and service to the community through his or her six years of education in SOTA" (extracted from SOTA Awards Day Booklet, 2022).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Excellence Award (2021)

This award is presented to "SOTA graduates who have achieved excellent results in the 2021 IBDP November Examinations" (extracted from SOTA Awards Day Booklet 2022).

Dr Lee Boon Yang Student of the Year Award (2016, 2020)

Awarded by SOTA. "The pinnacle Dr Lee Boon Yang Student of the Year Award commends students with exceptional scholastic achievement and outstanding performance in the arts, leadership, community service, and Experiential Education. The awardees are also exemplary role models to their peers. They are selected from the top 5% of the cohort based on their overall score in 2020." (extracted from SOTA Awards Day Booklet 2021).

Excellence Arts Award - Music (2016, 2019, 2021)

Awarded by SOTA as the "student with the best overall achievement in his or her art form" in the respective years (extracted from SOTA Level Awards Booklet 2021).

H.I.P.P. Leader Award (2016, 2020, 2021)

Awarded by SOTA. "This award acknowledges students who lead with humility and integrity, and are people-centred with passion. Every SOTA student is a H.I.P. Leader with Passion." (extracted from SOTA Level Awards Booklet 2021).

Academic Excellence Award (2017, 2020)

Awarded by SOTA to "students who have achieved the best overall academic performance" in the respective years (extracted from SOTA Level Awards Booklet 2020).

David Marshall Scholar (2016 - 2021)

Recipient of the David Marshall Scholarship, which is presented to "selected students who demonstrate artistic talents and excellent academic standing" (extracted from SOTA Level Awards Booklet 2021).

Singapore Ministry Of Education EESIS (Edusave Entrance Scholarships for Independent Schools) (2016-2021)

Recipient of the EESIS scholarship, which is presented to "academically strong students attending independent schools in Singapore" (extracted from MOE website).