ANAM Recital: Phoebe Fan
Wed 21 Oct 2026, 3.30PM

As a musician’s instrumental proficiency develops, so too does their artistic taste and temperament. Each ANAM musician’s recital is a snapshot in time – simultaneously summarising their year of training and revealing glimpses of their future selves. What music excites them? What do they want to communicate? How does their art help them understand the world better? Hear what the next generation of virtuosi have to say, and how, in the 2026 ANAM Recital series.

Homeward Bound
"So much of music can be categorised as song or dance, and this is certainly celebrated in this program, both in expected and unexpected forms. Ysaÿe’s ‘Ballade’ is at once intimate and explosive, angry and heartfelt, and while not exactly song-like in the way we might expect, it highlights the deeply human voice of the solo violin. This sense of angst and darkness carries over into the next work, Bach’s pivotal D Minor Partita. Although each of the first four movements are dance forms, there is an undeniable sense of gravitas which anchors them. Journeying away from loss and heartache, Beethoven’s Fifth Violin Sonata is full of joy, beauty and vitality, earning itself the nickname ‘Spring’. The child-like playfulness of this sonata is then followed by the imaginative ‘Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso’, composed by a not-yet-30 Saint-Saens. Both searching and charming at once, the Introduction gives way to an exciting Rondo, characterised by fiery Spanish dance rhythms.

For me, this program evokes the experience of journeying home, and at its heart, is an exploration of the human desire to seek the belonging and joy that perhaps can only be found at home. And yet like how a bird must traverse difficult climates and how Winter must thaw before giving way to Spring, it is often the hardships we encounter as we are homeward bound, that bring such relief and poignancy to our arrival home." — Phoebe Fan

Eugène YSAŸE Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, op. 27 Ballade 
Johann Sebastian BACH Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, op. 24 'Spring'
Camille SAINT-SAËNS Introduction et rondo capriccioso

Phoebe Fan (VIC) violin
Daniel Le (ANAM Associate Faculty) piano

Photo by Pia Johnson