Young pianist Tristan Teo strikes a chord with competition judges

Thirteen-year-old Tristan Teo recently came back from California with two more competition wins added to his collection.

Winning awards seems to be a habit for the West Vancouver pianist. Maybe it's because he treats music as pure communication.

Tristan's daily regimen may differ from that of most of his peers: online schooling, piano lessons with the renowned pianist Sasha Starcevich and a demanding six hours of practice per day. 

It's difficult for a teenager to keep up a schedule like this, but his dream is to become a professional performing artist.

In the beginning of 2011, Tristan performed at Paolo Fazioli's personal dedication of the new Fazioli Penthouse Suite at Vancouver's Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. He  now owns  a Fazioli piano, deemed one of the rarest of the world's pianos. Only 120 are manufactured annually.

 Tristan sees a world of difference between his old piano and the Fazioli.

"I have played many pianos, and some of them cannot be called pianos," he said. "I call them piano-shaped objects; they pretend to be pianos."

He now owns a Fazioli piano, the same brand that The Juilliard School just invested in after more than 80 years of Steinway tradition.

Tristan will continue to practice on his 7-foot Fazioli F212 for his performances in Paris  in May 2011 at Salle Cortot and at  MusicFest Perugia in Italy.

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