Born in Ipoh, Malaysia, Bang Hean was the winner of the First National Mozart Piano Competition in 1987, and two years later a scholarship from the music exam board, ABRSM enabled him to study at the Royal College of Music (RCM), London.

 

Bang Hean’s early teachers in Malaysia include Serena Chow and Rickie Oui, while in England he studied with Yonty Solomon, John Blakely and Dennis Lee. He won multiple prizes at the RCM, and upon graduating received awards from the Anthony Saltmarsh Prize and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust to enable him to undergo postgraduate studies with Ilonka Deckers-Kuszler in Milan, Italy.

 

Since his return to Malaysia Bang Hean has made regular appearances in solo recitals, chamber concerts as well as concerto performances. He has appeared in most major concert venues in Malaysia and has been featured as a soloist with various local orchestras, including the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO). An active chamber musician, he collaborates frequently with various instrumentalists and vocalists, and is a frequent guest pianist at the MPO chamber concert series. Bang Hean has performed abroad in countries such as England, Italy, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Korea. 

 

Bang Hean is an adjunct lecturer at the Institute of Music, UCSI University, and is frequently invited to adjudicate, examine, and conduct masterclasses both locally and abroad. A frequent presenter for ABRSM, he has presented both ABRSM and other seminars around South-East Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, India as well as the Middle East.