Honest by Adam Tan

“Honest is the first 5.0 octave advanced solo I’ve written since Skyward (2019). It is a representation of the feeling of receiving a person’s honest and warm support in difficult times, giving you the strength and determination to move forward in the face of adversity.

I wrote Honest for my partner Machi Ishida, who is a world-class solo marimbist based in Hiroshima, Japan. Machi’s unwavering warm support of me and genuine nature made it easy for me to construct Honest. Honest references themes from popular music that represent both of our personalities – nostalgic Japanese music (there are alludes to Kenshi Yonezu’s Lemon, Gen Hoshino Comedy, Ikimonogakari’s Arigatou and Joe Hisashi’s One Summer’s Day in the melodic writing) and familiar Chinese pop (references to Mayday’s Suddenly Missing You + Breakthrough Day, Eason Chan’s King of Karaoke, Jay Chou Blue and White Porcelain + Simple Love).” – Adam Tan

About Adam Tan

Adam Tan is a marimba soloist, educator and composer based in Perth, Western Australia. At the present time, he is best known for being a YouTube content creator on THE STUDIO. This is a self-produced YouTube show uploading weekly episodes for education and entertainment relating to percussion.

Performance

Adam has performed and presented in-person in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States. He has also presented online classes in Argentina, Central America and the United Kingdom.

Highlights include solo performances at

• the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC)
• inc. percussion days (Japan)
• PAS Hong Kong Days of Percussion (Hong Kong)
• Oh! Asian Percussionists Series (Hong Kong)
• Malaysia Percussion Festival
• Chosen Vale Percussion Seminar (USA)
• Australian Percussion Gathering and masterclass presentations at the 505A Percussion Gathering (Hong Kong)
• MalletLab Summer Intensive (USA)
• WA Day of Percussion (Australia)
• Various universities and schools across Taiwan.

Composing

As a composer, Adam’s works for percussion are performed regularly. In fact, they appear in repertoire lists for auditions, examinations and competitions around the world.  For example the UIL Texas Prescribed Music List (PML). Adam’s works can be listened to on all music streaming platforms and stores.

Mr Tan is the founder and director of Marimbafest Australia, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of percussive arts in Australia. The organisation curates various events including the annual marimba festival and competition Marimbafest, as well as the annual concert series Percussion All-Stars.

Adam has a Master of Music (Research, Percussion) and also a Bachelor of Music (1st Class Hons) from the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music.

Adam is a Marimba One Premier Artist and a Signature Artist of Encore Mallets with his own signature series of mallets. His compositions are published by Edition Svitzer.

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