Biography
Violinist Miclen LaiPang has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile artists of his generation and has earned global recognition as a soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster, and teacher. The New York Times acclaimed Miclen as “a force to be reckoned with…” while German newspaper Die Welt said he is “a musician of daring virtuosity with gripping access and noble elegance”. 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, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Victoria Hall in Singapore, St. Martin in the Fields, and many more.
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, Grand Prize of the American Fine Arts National Competition, and the Bruno-Frey-Musikpreis. Just in 2021, Miclen has won First Prize at the American Virtuoso International Music Competition, Grand Prize at the Vancouver International Music Competition, First Prize and Judge’s Best Performance Award at the Vienna Virtuoso Music Competition, Grand Prize at the Primuz International Strings Competition, Grand Prize and 2 Special Prizes at Nouvelles Étoiles Music Competition, First Prize at the Swiss International Online Music Competition and First Prize in the CD Category, First Prize at the 3rd Pro Violin International Competition, First Prize and Special Prize at the International Moscow Music Competition, First Prize at the King’s Peak International Competition, First Prize at the American Music Talent Competition, and a laureate of the Odin International Music Competition, Medici International Music Competition, 6th Rising Star Grand Prix, and the North International 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 IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Moab, Rome, iPalpiti, Tanglewood, Lyricafest, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, and the Castleman Quartet Program. Other festivals he has appeared in include Verbier, Ghent, Aspen, Rheingau, Spectrum New Music Festival, Salzburg, 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. 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 youth 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. In April 2020, Miclen won the Woordfees Festival Award for “Best Classical Instrumental Performance” when he gave the African premiere of the Kreutzer Sonata in Stellenbosch. He is a scholarship holder of Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz and Musethica, and is a regular guest at festivals in North America, Europe, and Asia.
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.
Miclen has had the privilege to work with international artists such as Ivry Gitlis, Janos Starker, Gerhard Schulz, Robert McDuffie, Lawrence Dutton, Jens Peter Maintz, Christoph Richter, Matt Haimowitz, Ross Harbaugh, Irvine Arditti, Jodi Levitz, Csaba Erdélyi, and Peter Serkin and many more. His primary mentors include Ida Bieler, Charles Castleman, Ruggiero Ricci, Aaron Rosand, Alice Schoenfeld, and Linda Rose. His previous institutions include the Colburn School, Eastman School of Music, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf.
As of August 2023, Miclen is the new violinist of the renowned Trio Zadig based in Paris, France. Together with Marc Girard Garcia and Ian Barber, they are "associated artists" at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and are residents of the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris and the Musical Academy of Villecroze.
Currently, Miclen resides between Paris and Vienna where he keeps a busy schedule as guest concertmaster, teaching, chamber music projects, and solo performances. He was the teaching assistant of renowned violinist Ida Bieler under whom he completed his Konzertexamen degree with highest honors from the Robert Schumann Hochschule. He is currently being mentored by legendary professor Boris Kuschnir at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, Austria.
He is the founder and artistic director of the Miesbach Kammermusikfestival. He teaches at the International Chamber Music Academy of Southern Germany in Ochsenhausen, Germany and at the Talent Summer Music Courses in Brescia, Italy.
Miclen performs on a c.1697 ‘filius Andrea’ Guarneri on generous loan from the Boubo-Music Foundation and on the ‘ex-Grumiaux’ J.B. Vuillaume c.1850 and the ‘ex-Ysaÿe’ D. Peccatte.
He is a Thomastik-Infeld Artist and Dolfinos Ambassador. He is grateful for the generous support from Florian Leonhard Fine Violins, American Fine Arts Association, National Artists, DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), Talent Unlimited, and Villa Musica.
Outside of music, Miclen finds joy in savoring diverse cuisines, surfing in Portugal, rock climbing in the Alps, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
