On 21 June 2026, 12-year-old composer Carey Tan presented a concert of his original symphonic works at the Royal College of Music in London. The two-hour concert was performed to a full hall. Carey was not only the composer of all the works performed, but also hosted the entire concert himself. He appeared on stage as pianist, marimba player within the orchestra, composer and narrator, guiding the audience into his symphonic world through music and words.

The concert was performed by the London City Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Olsi Qinami. The programme brought together four large-scale original orchestral works composed by Carey between the ages of eight and twelve: Symphony No. 1, Four Seasons in Summer Fields, Piano Concerto No. 1, The Explorers, Symphony No. 2, The Cries of War, and Symphony No. 3, The Rise and Fall of AI Humanity. Together, these works trace the development of Carey’s creative world from childhood memory towards broader themes of nature, exploration, war, technology and the future of humanity.

The concert opened with Piano Concerto No. 1, The Explorers, a work that takes the Pacific Ocean, the Sahara Desert and Mars as its three musical landscapes. It depicts the curiosity, solitude, courage and perseverance of human beings when facing extreme environments and unknown worlds. Carey himself performed as the piano soloist, giving the figure of the “explorer” a direct and vivid presence on stage.