About

Roy Tan is a Canadian musician known for his lush, cinematic arrangements and orchestrations as well as his improvisational pianistic flair.

Roy Tan’s music compositions and arrangements are often described as open, imaginative, cinematic, lush and theatrical. You can hear his signature style in his albums “Once upon a dream” , “A Timeless Christmas” and new single “Kiss the Rain” for his group Roy&Rosemary. 

Producer David Foster has praised Roy’s arrangement of “Grown up Christmas List” as one of his favorites in recent years.

In 2015, Roy’s orchestral scores were performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra during their holiday pops tour where his piano/violin duo Roy&Rosemary were featured as special guests.

 As a pianist, Roy is fluent in a large diversity of styles and can seamlessly transition from one genre to another. His ability for live on the spot improvisations, often from listening to a recording is most beloved by live audience and praised by his colleagues. He has jokingly described himself as the “modern day Liberace with 97.4% less bling”.

 

 

In November 2016, Roy (with Rosemary Siemens) composed the “The Courtial Concerto” dedicated to the Ambassador of Rome to the world and premiered it, with the ambassador in attendance, in the Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.

Professional Music Career

After earning his ARCT diploma and a BMus from UBC under esteemed professor Robert Silverman, Roy Tan started his professional career touring with Canadian Tenors as their accompanying pianist. He then went on to become the music director and producer for the music group Destino. Roy and his fellow Destino members received a special invitation to perform in Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and then again for 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver.

As a performer, Roy has toured from Coast to Coast in Canada and extensively in the United States, including appearances at Walt Disney World Florida, Miss America Gala at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and New York’s famed Carnegie Hall.

In 2012, Roy started the duo Roy & Rosemary with fellow Destino violinist Rosemary Siemens. Together they have captured the hearts of audiences around the world with their lush, soulful sound and on-the-spot improvisations in various styles of music.

While working on the album “Once Upon A Dream”, Roy begin making his name as an Arranger/Orchestrator. In addition to his work for Roy&Rosemary, he has since orchestrated/produced/arranged music for such Canadian artists as Ken Lavigne, Amanda Wood, Mary Zilba, Ian Prince, Ingrid Mapson, and VIVA.

Roy’s passion for film music has also led him to several projects on documentary films such as “The Exhibition” and “Blood Brothers”.

Roy often performs on a Fazioli piano (often considered one of the best pianos in the world) for his live performances in the Vancouver, BC area and several special performances elsewhere.

 

 

Background and Inspiration

Growing up in a family of music lovers, Roy Tan started piano lessons before the age of 4. Gifted with a natural ear and perfect pitch, he learned to improvise soon after. As a young boy, he had many dreams of becoming a race car driver, jet pilot and concert pianist. He eventually focused his passion in music. At age 11, he began performing regularly in his neighborhood church in Vancouver, British Columbia and has since gone on to perform on many stages around the world, including a recent tour in Rome and the Vatican city.

Roy had many musical influences growing up. Besides Classical music’s giants such as Beethoven, Ravel and Rachmaninoff, he was inspired by many modern artists like John Williams for his imaginative film scores with sweeping melodies and traditional orchestral instruments, David Foster for bringing his dramatic influence to pop, and Vladimir Horowitz for his singing pianistic style.