Rit Xu
Other instruments, Singapore

About the participant

SG, Singapore

Singapore-based award winning flutist, composer, educator and recording artist, Rit Xu has emerged as a leading light of his generation and is slowly gaining international recognition for his lyrical, thoughtful and introspective musical voice on the flute. His passionate, wholehearted and at times highly energetic performances has won the admiration of fans and fellow musicians worldwide. In 2014, Rit was recognized for his finesse as a flutist and improviser by being named winner of the NFA Jazz Artist Competition; the first Southeast Asian to win a solo jazz competition in the United States. An honors graduate in classical flute performance from the famed Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music of the National University of Singapore, he is equally comfortable playing to an audience in the thousands on the hallowed stages of the concert hall as in an intimate jazz club with listeners at close proximity. With a keen focus on shaping improvised melodies that draws influence from notable trumpeters, saxophonists and practitioners of the jazz tradition, Rit Xu is an instantly recognizable performer––pushing the boundaries of what the flute can achieve sonically and emotionally outside of its familiar association with Western classical music.