Biography
Acclaimed by the New York Times as, “a force to be reckoned with…” Miclen LaiPang has earned global recognition as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. Miclen started his first violin lesson at the age of three, inspired by the work of his brother, a violinist in the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. By the age of 9, he went on to win numerous competitions, including the grand-prize of the Merit Award Competition, the ASTA Competition, MTNA, and Redlands Bowl Young Artist Competition. Since then, Miclen has performed in over 50 countries and has won multiple awards, including the Stradivarius International Violin Competition, Schoenfeld International String Competition, and Grand Prize of the American Fine Arts National Competition. He has also appeared as a violin soloist on worldwide television networks, such as NBC, ESPN, 3ABN, LLBN, and the Hope Channel.
As an avid chamber and orchestral musician, he has participated in festivals including the New York String Orchestra Seminar, IMS Prussia Cove, Rome Chamber Music Festival, iPalpiti, Tanglewood, Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, Lyricafest, and the Castleman Quartet Program. Other festivals he has appeared in include Verbier, Spectrum New Music Festival, Port City Music Festival, Montecito International Music Festival, and Boston Music Institute Masterclasses. With a wide range of standard violin repertoire, he is also an advocate for the music of contemporary composers. He has performed and premiered pieces by Steve Reich, John Harbison, György Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Lansing McLoskey, Augusta Read Thomas, Christopher Theofanidis, and Thomas Sleeper. He has collaborated with musicians such as Tom Landschoot, Csaba Erdelyi, Ida Bieler, Charles Castleman, Robert McDuffie, Jodi Levitz, Ross Harbaugh, and many more. In addition to his classical career, Miclen has also enjoyed collaborations with artists such as Shelly Berg, James Newton Howard, Bruce Hornsby, Andy Farber, and Arturo Sandoval.
In 2018, Miclen became one of the violinists for the Echo Klassik nominated LGT Young Soloists; described by Fanfare as “one of the finest orchestras in Europe”. Miclen has recorded two CD’s with them, with the first one in 2019 under SONY MUSIC and the most recent one featuring him on the Kreutzer Sonata arranged for violin and chamber orchestra on NAXOS.
Miclen has performed with numerous orchestras and have had solo recitals in halls such as the Carnegie Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Salzburg Dom, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Elbphlharmonie in Hamburg, Rheingau Musik Festival, Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Victoria Hall in Singapore, St. Martin in the Fields, and many more.
Besides music performance, Miclen has a deep-rooted affection for musical outreach and entrepreneurship. In 2012, he founded the Southeast Asia Music Festival in Bukidnon, Philippines which was catered to bringing world-class music and musicians into a remote area of the world. The mission was to give the highest quality instruction and to inspire a greater appreciation of music in the talented musicians of the area as well as fostering musical growth and advancement. He has also worked carefully with El Sistema inspired programs in the United States on developing and advising efficient ways to bring music into undervalued society.
His primary mentors include Ida Bieler, Charles Castleman, Ruggiero Ricci, and Alice Schoenfeld. His previous institutions include the Colburn School, Eastman School of Music, and University of Miami.
Currently, he is doing his Konzertexamen at the Robert Schumann Hochschule with Ida Bieler.
Miclen performs on a violin made by Stefan-Peter Greiner and Mark Jennings c. 2017 on generous loan by IMS Prussia Cove.
He is grateful for the generous support from the American Fine Arts Association, Talent Unlimited, and LGT Private Banking.
