Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

Works > Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

International Awards

Platinum Award in Orchestra & Special Award for Poetic Artistic Musical Genius, 2025 Global Music Genius Competition

The Promising Talent Prize, 2025 Vienna International Classical Music Composition Competition

Platinum Prize in Original Composition & Distinguished Creativity Special Award，2026 World Grand Prix International Music Contest

Movements
I. Pacific Diver II. Sahara Runner III. Mars Explorer

Carey Tan’s Piano Concerto No. 1, The Explorers, is a three-movement concerto completed when he was eleven. Taking the ocean, the desert, and outer space as its three fields of exploration, the work depicts the courage, solitude, and awe human beings experience when facing extreme environments and unknown worlds. In 2025, Carey gave the world premiere with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna, and later performed it with the Berliner Symphoniker at the Berlin Philharmonie.

The concerto combines the soloistic nature of the piano with a symphonic orchestral narrative. The piano becomes the embodiment of the explorer, moving through storms, deserts, and interstellar space with clear and determined melodic lines. Although the work consists of three contrasting worlds, it is united by one spiritual core: courage, curiosity, and perseverance.

The first movement, Pacific Diver, is dedicated to divers who courageously conquer the ocean. Through dynamics, articulation, and orchestration, it depicts changing ocean conditions and opens with a dark low E in the double bass, symbolising the challenge ahead. Carey’s own experience kayaking through rough Atlantic waters became part of the movement’s tension and momentum.

The second movement, Sahara Runner, is dedicated to marathon runners in the desert. Built upon a bright and driving ostinato, the music expresses perseverance through heat, sand, exhaustion, and solitude. Triplet rhythms in the lower strings suggest the runner’s unstoppable footsteps, while a dramatic middle episode represents a scorpion approaching. The final B major section presents courage and reward.

The third movement, Mars Explorer, takes the narrative into outer space. Beginning with mysterious “alien whispers”, it unfolds into an imagined journey to Mars. Dissonant melodies and harmonies express the uncertainty of space travel, while a parallel “dialogue” between humans and Martians moves from conflict towards understanding before the finale closes with a joyful “return to Earth”.

The Explorers presents three aspects of the human spirit of exploration: the diver facing the deep sea, the runner facing the desert, and the space explorer facing the unknown universe. Ending in a brilliant E major, the work celebrates humanity’s curiosity, determination, and belief in continuing to discover and grow in new worlds.

Creative Experience

Carey Tan (age 12) plays original Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers in Berlin Philharmonie

Working with Berlin Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by German conductor, Martin Braun, Carey played as the pianist for his first orginal piano concerto in Berlin Philharmonie, earning thunderous applause and three curtain calls. This concerto uses symphonic music language to portray the extreme challenges, the exotic scenes and the ultimate joys in exploring Deep Sea, Desert and Space by modern explorers.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

02/11/25

Carey Tan (age 12) plays original Piano Concerto No. 1 The Explorers at the Golden Hall in Vienna

12 Years Old Composer, Carey Tan, premiered his Piano Concerto “The Explorers” on world stage. On the 5th of August 2025, 12-years-old Carey Tan's original piano concerto, "The Explorers," was premiered at the Arad Philharmonic Hall in Arad, Romania as the first stop of Arad-Vienna Rising Stars 2025 Piano-Concerto Series. The second concert took place on the 9th of August 2025 at the Golden Hall Musikverein, Vienna, one of the world most prestigious music halls for classical music.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

09/08/25

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers Introduction--Royal College of Music, London

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.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

01/07/26

Carey Tan (age 12) Performs Original Piano Concerto No. 1 The Explorers in Royal College of Music, London

On 21 June 2026, at Carey Tan’s Original Symphonic Works Concert, Carey performed as the solo pianist in his Piano Concerto No. 1, The Explorers, a work he composed at the age of eleven. The concerto is built around three journeys — across the Pacific Ocean, through the Sahara Desert, and to Mars. Beyond depicting these places, the work explores the inner world of adventurers: their curiosity, courage, loneliness, endurance, and desire to move beyond the known. For Carey, exploration and composition are closely connected, as both are journeys towards an unknown world.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

21/06/26

Carey Shares the Creative Process Behind The Explorers with Berlin Audiences (age 12)

Carey Tan’s First Piano Concerto has received multiple top prizes in international composition competitions and was performed in 2025 at both the Vienna Golden Halland the Berlin Philharmonie. The work portrays the spirit of modern human exploration — from the depths of the Pacific Ocean and the vastness of the Sahara Desert to an imagined journey to Mars — expressing humanity’s enduring drive to push beyond physical and intellectual boundaries.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

18/11/25

Carey Tan (age 12) Performs Original Piano Concerto No. 1 The Explorers in Arad Romania

Carey Tan performed as the solo pianist in his original Piano Concerto No. 1, *The Explorers*, with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by German conductor Martin Braun. Presented at the Arad Philharmonic Palace, the concerto follows three imagined journeys through the Pacific Ocean, the Sahara Desert and Mars, portraying the curiosity, courage and determination of explorers as they move towards the unknown.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

09/08/25

Piano Concerto No. 1 The Exporers Mov 3: Mars Exporers (composed at age 11)

Carey Tan’s First Piano Concerto has received multiple top prizes in international composition competitions and was performed in 2025 at both the Vienna Musikverein (Golden Hall) and the Berlin Philharmonie. The work portrays the spirit of modern human exploration — from the depths of the Pacific Ocean and the vastness of the Sahara Desert to an imagined journey to Mars — expressing humanity’s enduring drive to push beyond physical and intellectual boundaries.

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

10/03/25

Carey Tan Original Piano Concerto No. 1 Mov 2: Sahara Runner (composed at age 11)

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

06/03/25

Piano Concerto No. 1 The Explorers Mov 1: The Pacific Diver (composed at age 11)

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

27/01/25

Composer notes: Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers (age 11)

Piano Concerto No.1 The Explorers

22/12/24