Young local pianist sweeps the competition

By Megan Ma, Town Crier Staff Writer

Kenric Tam of Los Altos Hills will perform at Flint Center March 26.

Soaring accolades and concert hall audiences have not visibly fazed 15-year-old Los Altos Hills resident Kenric Tam, already a respected pianist in the Bay Area. His modest demeanor - precocious and unassuming - belies a long resume of awards. Tam will perform a complex solo piece at the Flint Center in Cupertino March 26.

“I just like learning new pieces - I find the music very satisfying emotionally,” Tam said.

A sophomore at Gunn High School, Tam began lessons at age five, out of a genuine interest in music and not, as one might assume, at his parents’ urging. A piano teacher discovered early on that her student was gifted with perfect pitch.

“I don’t pressure him,” said his mother Carol. “I just provide the support … it’s pretty much his own game now.”

These days Tam spends several days a week practicing in the preparatory division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under teacher and director of the program John McCarthy.

Despite his prodigious success, Tam remains grounded in his daily high school life, where he also excels in science and math. He enjoys school, he said, and hanging out with friends. Piano doesn’t often enter into the conversation. “If it comes up, I’ll talk about it,” he said with a shy smile.

McCarthy, who has taught and nurtured many young talents, said of his protégé: “It’s amazing how normal he is; there’s not a trace of eccentricity. He’s very centered.”

Of course, beneath his mellow and composed exterior, Tam brims with musical virtuosity, McCarthy said, and his chief strength is his gift for expressing his complex, romantic-period repertoire with ease.

“He has that rare ability to hold a piece, however densely textured, unified and clear - and yet he seems to channel the music through his own psyche,” McCarthy said. “He’s quite extraordinary.”

It’s common for Tam to arrive home from school and gravitate toward the piano and play for a few hours. But achieving perfection, he said, is certainly not the goal.

“It’s not about placing first all the time, but that you play your best and that you are satisfied with your performance,” Tam said.

With that ethic in mind, he has consistently done well. Tam was the first-prize winner of the state-level Fremont Symphony Concerto competition. He has also received first prizes in several competitions, including the California Youth Symphony, the San Jose Youth Orchestra and the MTAC Concerto. This year he was named first-prize winner of the Bronsilaw Kaper Awards of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For more information or to purchase tickets for the Flint Center performance, call 325-6666.