These are the things I do
pianist & arranger · fountain pen guy
Praised for his thoughtful and critical programming and excellent technique, Thomas Ang (he/him) is an experienced pianist with a vast repertoire. He has earned recognition as a specialist in the music of Kapustin and Medtner, and has a strong affinity for contemporary and experimental music, having played and conducted various first performances around the world. He continually works to unearth neglected and obscure gems, as well as championing music by minority composers. He is currently recording the complete piano works of Medtner, and the first three discs have received great praise.
In his daily life, Thomas works as a répétiteur for the Royal Ballet. He considers teaching and coaching to be important parts of his musical personality, and counts opera as another part of his foundation. He also accompanies and improvises for silent film. He is also interested in the cross-pollination of classical music and other genres, and, in addition to a background in Chinese orchestral and folk musics, also occasionally plays jazz.
Thomas has edited music and made arrangements for Schott Music and Edition Peters, as well as being an orchestrator for various concert and opera works. He transcribes songs and symphonies for solo piano, keeps a pet rabbit, and plays video games in his spare time.
Pushkin House, London UK, June 2023
PNW Pen Show, Portland OR, July 2023
Thomas is a fountain pen collector, restorer, and nib grinder, a bit of work that he maintains alongside his calligraphy hobby. He has customised nibs for people all around the world, and is a regular at the London Pen Shows.
He specialises in very fine nibs and very crisp italic grinds, as well as being able to do naginata and zoom-type shapes on request. He also writes reviews and articles at his blog Flex & Other Follies.
First recording of Jasper Dommet’s Cave for four hands, made for Tŷ Cerdd.
Thomas Ang and George Xiaoyuan Fu, piano
David McDade, review for MusicWeb International:
“There is a palpable sense of someone playing music because of deep inner conviction and love throughout which I found most appealing. Ang also possesses the technical prowess to realise the fruits of that sensitivity at the keyboard. […] A great positive of this recording is that Ang does not try to play Medtner as if he were Rachmaninov.”
Patrick Shorrock, reviewing a production by Green Opera:
“Béla Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, with its intense focus on a destructive male-female relationship, is ideal for a small space like the Arcola Theatre. Thomas Ang’s reduced arrangement for Green Opera’s small band retains the glitter and exposes the barbed wire in this score.”
Patrick Shorrock, reviewing a production of Turandot at the 2023 Grimeborn Festival:
“Hearing Puccini’s amazing score stripped to its bare bones with largely piano accompaniment emphasises just how weird and discordant it is in an utterly fascinating way. Congratulations to Musical Directors, Panaretos Kyriatzidis and Thomas Ang for keeping it all together. The audience was thrilled.”
Chang Tou Liang, review of a performance at the 2016 Singapore International Festival of Music:
“One is not immediately drawn to his prodigious technique, but rather a directness of expression. He does not gild the lily, allowing instead for music [to] speak for itself.”
Nib Services
Upcoming show appearances:
PNW Pen Show, Portland OR, July 2024
San Francisco Pen Show, August 2024
London Autumn Pen Show, October 2024
Thomas is based in London (UK) and is available to take work by post. Turnaround time is usually around a week; the client covers return postage and packaging (usually around £10 for UK post).
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Flow adjustment, nib/feed realignment, adding or reducing feedback, etc. Please clean your pens before mailing them!
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Have a nib that is too broad for your handwriting? Get it streamlined and ground down to a fine or extra fine, or perhaps even a 0.1mm needlepoint.
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For a more calligraphic look to your handwriting, with some line variation. Tell me how much stroke contrast you want and how smooth you’d like it to be.
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Provide a photo of your usual writing angle and have your nib ground to produce thick cross-strokes and thin downstrokes.
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Preferably done starting from as much tipping as possible (broads or even double broads), but can be ground on finer nibs as well. Send me details in the contact form below.
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For nibs that write differently when you flip the pen over, please provide a photo of the starting nib and a description of what you’d like to achieve in the contact form.
Contact me!
Musical questions? Looking after one of my transcriptions or arrangements? Pen and/or nib enquiries? Fill out the form and I’ll get back to you when I can!