Hailing from Dunkeld in Johannesburg, the 16-year-old pianist Jason Shi makes his debut at the 2026 National Youth Music Competition (NYMC).
The Grade 11 learner at St John’s College says his motivation to enter the contest is simple. “I longed to play in a competition as prestigious as the NYMC.”
He thoroughly enjoys performing, and the contest offers him an opportunity which he has had at other competitions, such as the Atterbury and Hennie Joubert piano competitions. He indicated that he knows two fellow contestants of this year’s NYMC.
Jason started to play music at the age of eight. His first music tutor was a teacher at his preparatory school, Pridwin. Currently, he is a student of Malcolm Nay and Pauline Nossel. The rising star also plays the bass guitar.
He doesn’t have a particular favourite musical instrument, saying he adores all musical instruments equally.
Music runs in the family. His mother was a violinist, and his sister plays the guitar.
The talented pianist says his favourite composer is Sergei Rachmaninoff. “His beautiful harmonies and singing lines never struggle to compel me. The Russian composer’s complex harmonies as well as control over musical tension always catch my ear,” he says.
According to Jason, his practising varies from day to day. In addition to his love for music, he enjoys acting in plays and productions.
He cleverly doesn’t restrict himself when asked what his plans for the future are by simply saying: “A career in fields in which I am interested, namely in science and engineering.”
His choice of an inanimate object, should he be able to be one, is a pen. “To be something so simple and so ordinary, yet so powerful,” he smiles.
Jason describes himself as divergent, and his life motto is: “When doing anything, do it happily.”