A Concert of Original Symphonic Works by Carey Tan

A Concert About Our Time

What does the modern world sound like when reflected through symphonic music?

On 21 June 2026, audiences will experience a rare full-length symphonic concert at the Royal College of Music, London, featuring an entire programme of original works by 12-year-old composer Carey Tan. His music engages directly with some of the defining issues of our time — nature, exploration, war, human nature, and artificial intelligence.

This is not simply a presentation of youthful talent, but a complete symphonic portrait: through the language of the orchestra, it reveals how a young composer responds to the realities of the world in which he is growing up. Performed by the London City Philharmonic Orchestra, the concert will also feature Carey Tan performing throughout the programme, uniting composition and performance as a single artistic practice.

In addition, Carey Tan will personally host the concert and, during the performance, share with the audience how he balances academic study with his interests and passions, as well as the important role music has played in his growth. The concert not only presents musical works, but also offers audiences an insight into how a young creator learns, reflects, and develops within the contemporary world.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Carey Tan is a 12-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist, and the recipient of both the King’s Scholarship and Music Scholarship at Eton College. He began composing at the age of six and, at eleven, was awarded a Univeristy-level diploma in Composition. He is a young composer who has already gained significant recognition on the international stage. Carey has completed three large-scale symphonies and a piano concerto, and these works have received awards in twelve international professional composition competitions. They have also been selected for performance by professional orchestras across Europe and Asia. His large-scale original orchestral works have been performed in some of Europe’s most prestigious concert venues, including the Berlin Philharmonie and the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

Carey began learning the piano at the age of five. At eight, he passed ABRSM Grade 8 Piano with distinction and was awarded the ARSM Diploma in Piano Performance. At nine, he passed Trinity College London Grade 8 Drum Kit with distinction. At eleven, he passed ABRSM Grade 8 Percussion with distinction. At twelve, he passed both ABRSM Grade 8 Organ and ABRSM Grade 8 Music Theory with distinction.

In his compositional practice, Carey integrates ways of thinking drawn from philosophy, physics, mathematics, and literature into musical structure, transforming abstract ideas into audible musical logic. He is not only an outstanding composer, but also an exceptional young scholar. In the Eton College King’s Scholarship examinations, he achieved five A+ grades, demonstrating strong academic ability across natural sciences, classical languages, mathematics, and literature. This broad and rigorous intellectual foundation gives his music a remarkable degree of rational depth beyond his years, particularly in motivic development, structural proportion, temporal organisation, and conceptual expression. At the same time, the sensitivity and imaginative scope cultivated through musical creation in turn deepen his understanding of knowledge, language, and the world. For Carey, academic study and music are not two separate paths, but mutually enriching forces that grow together and jointly shape his creative world.

PROGRAMME

Carey Tan — Piano Concerto No. 1: The Explorers

Carey Tan, piano

I. Pacific Diver · II. Sahara Runner · III. Mars Explorer

From ocean floor to desert to Mars — this concerto charts humanity's compulsion to go further, deeper, beyond. Cinematic in scale, rigorous in structure, and dazzling in its pianistic invention. Played by the composer himself.

Premiered at the Vienna Musikverein Golden Hall, August 2025. Subsequently performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, November 2025.

Promising Young Talent Prize, Vienna International Classical Music Composition Competition, 2025 · Platinum Prize & Poetic Artistic Musical Genius Special Prize, Global Genius Music Competition, 2025 · Platinum Prize & Distinguished Creativity Special Award, World Grand Prix International Music Contest, 2026.

Carey Tan — Symphony No. 2: The Cries of War

Carey Tan, marimba

I. Shadows of Misery · II. Reflection · III. The Pact

War does not end when the guns fall silent. This symphony moves from devastation through haunted memory toward the fragile possibility of reconciliation. To hear it is to be shaken, and then stilled.

Gold Prize & Inspirational Creativity Musical Genius Special Prize, Global Genius Music Competition, 2025 · First Prize, UK International Music Competition, 2026.

Carey Tan — Symphony No. 1: Four Seasons in Summer Fields

Carey Tan, marimba

I. Autumn Sonata · II. Winter Romance · III. Spring Minuet · IV. Summer Rondo

A child walking through fields, watching the seasons turn. Lyrical, tender, and full of colour — this symphony reminds us, quietly, what is worth protecting.

Silver Prize, World Classical Music Awards, 2023 · Performed at the Shenzhen Guangming Culture & Art Centre.

Carey Tan — Symphony No. 3: The Rise and Fall of AI Humanity

Carey Tan, marimba

I. Construction of AI Civilisation · II. Dwelling in Reality · III. Nature and the Universe · IV. Collapse and Destruction · V. Ashes and Echoes

What happens when humanity creates something greater than itself — and then loses control of it? Five movements. One civilisation. Its birth, its expansion, its ruin. The questions it raises are not hypothetical. They are the questions of our moment.

Gold Prize in Original Composition, World Artistry Music Award, 2025

About the Orchestra

The London City Philharmonic (LCP) presents symphonic and operatic repertoire and is committed to providing young musicians and soloists with meaningful professional performance opportunities through high-quality concert productions. During the 2024-2025 season, LCP undertook an extensive concert programme across China, appearing in major venues including Shanghai Symphony Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, Shanghai Poly Theatre, Yangzhou Concert Hall and other leading concert halls nationwide. In 2024, the orchestra presented a fully staged production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Smith Square Hall, London. Earlier, in 2019, LCP collaborated with the London Bel Canto Festival on a performance of Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda. Alongside the core classical repertoire, LCP actively champions contemporary music. The orchestra has given the UK premieres of Fredrik Gran’s Picture of Fields Without Fences and Branka Popović’s Stardust for viola and string orchestra, both prize-winning works from the London Music Society Composers Competition. Further highlights include the UK premiere of Fatos Lumani’s Piano Concerto and the world premiere of Alex McGery’s Tereza on Petrin Hill for solo violin and string orchestra.

Olsi Qinami is Principal Conductor and Music Director of the London City Philharmonic, Conductor with the National Radio Television Orchestra of Albania, and Professor of Conducting at the University of Arts in Tirana.

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