BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1996, Nicholas Ker Jun Liew’s violin journey began when he first learned the violin at the age of 3, inspired after hearing a violin group performance at a local school.
At the age of 12, he successfully obtained a distinction in ABRSM Grade 8 for Violin and completed Diploma ABRSM the following year under Malaysia's renowned violinist Mr. Yap Ling. Under the guidance of Melbourne-based violinist Fintan Murphy, he completed his AMusA at the age of 16.
At the mere age of 8, Nicholas was the youngest player in Kota Kinabalu Symphony Orchestra. In 2007, he won numerous prizes in the Malaysian Youth Music Festival and is also the winner of the Malaysia Young Talent in Classical Music, held by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. At the age of 12, he was invited to perform with the Festival Chamber Orchestra for Mendelssohn’s Elijah oratorio Sarawak tour and was also invited to the Pesta Music Camp organized by the Penang State Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
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A year later, he played for Malaysia Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO) as a first violinist. Nicholas was also concertmaster of the Jesselton Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) led by Mr.Yap Ling. In 2010, he was selected to attend Queenstown Violin Summer School (QVSS) in New Zealand and had lessons with international violinists, Kevin Lefohn and Dimitri Atanassov. Between 2011 and 2013, he frequently goes to Australia to have masterclasses with the University of Melbourne's violin lecturer Wilma Smith and Monash University lecturer Elizabeth Sellars. He also played in the Trinity Grammar School, Kew Orchestra in Melbourne, Australia.
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From 2009 to 2013, Nicholas was the concertmaster and student conductor for STTSS Strings Ensemble. He still frequently returns as an alumnus tutor during his study breaks. He received a full scholarship from PETRONAS in 2014, resulting in his move to Toronto in 2016. There, he did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto, where he got the opportunity to complete a Minor in Music Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Alice Hong. He also had private lessons with Toronto Symphony Orchestra's assistant concertmaster Etsuko Kimura and DMA candidate Heng-Han Hou. During his time in Toronto, he led the Violin 2 section in the Skule Orchestra at the University of Toronto. His performance of Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto placed him as a runner-up in a Concerto Competition.
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Since 2019, he has been regularly invited to perform as a guest player in Penang Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO). He now plays with the Kota Kinabalu Chamber Network as a violinist and does coaching for junior chamber groups.
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