An avid advocate for lesser-known music and contemporary music known for her “confidently eclectic tastes”, (The Straits Times, 2022), Singaporean pianist Clarisse Teo has appeared internationally both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performance has been described as “display[ing] total confidence and a fearless disregard for their technical complexities, while…[sounding] fresh and natural” (The Straits Times, 2018), and her 2018 solo recital in Singapore was named by The Straits Times as one of Singapore’s best Classical concerts of the year.
Her discography includes a feature in Rarities of Piano Music at “Schloss vor Husum” from the 2019 Festival (Danacord Records) and the album Anatoly Alexandrov: Complete Piano Sonatas (Divine Art), the latter of which has been described by Gramophone's International Piano Magazine as "excellent" and "well recorded...with detailed notes by Teo herself".
As a chamber musician, her wide-ranging collaborative piano experience encompasses instrumental, vocal and ballet music, and she has been engaged by organisations including the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Singapore Dance Theatre. Recent highlights include performing the orchestral reduction for a recital version of a two-act contemporary opera by Jacquelyn Hazle and collaborating with singers for a programme of Russian songs by Nikolai Medtner and Anatoly Alexandrov.
Under the tutelage of Timothy Ku (piano) and Marietta Ku (violin and viola), Clarisse obtained a FRSM in piano, DipABRSM (Distinction) in violin and DipABRSM in viola. After reading Law at the National University of Singapore, where she was a performer and Student Music Director with the university’s piano ensemble, she studied with Sinae Lee at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on a partial scholarship and attained a Master of Music in piano performance. Funded by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Trust and the Trailblazer Foundation Ltd (Singapore), Clarisse graduated from the University of St Andrews with a Doctor of Performing Arts degree, where under the supervision of Sinae Lee and Dr. Christina Guillaumier, she researched and performed all fourteen piano sonatas by the 20th Century Soviet composer Anatoly Alexandrov.
Clarisse was a staff accompanist at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and she continues to share her passion for music as a teacher and researcher.