Disabled teenager takes centre stage and plays piano

ST_16.04.2014_1410641936/aumusic19/Mark Cheong/Audrey // Teo Pei Shan, (checking age), who suffers from a rare illness, practices the piano under the guidance of music teacher Mary Yoon, 53, on 16 April, 2014. Beautiful Minds Charity, an international charity that raises funds for the disabled, set up a branch in Singapore in 2012. Last month, it started offering free music classes for disabled youths aged between 8 and 19. Two of the five youths under this programme, including Pei Shan, will be performing at a concert at SOTA on Saturday.

WHILE she dreamt of playing on a grand piano one day, Teo Pei Shan, 15, did not know how to do so until two months ago.

The shrunken teenager – she has an unknown illness that stunts her growth and makes her reliant on machines to breathe – performed on the piano in front of some 560 people at a charity concert at the School of the Arts in Dhoby Ghaut yesterday.