SINGAPORE - Singapore Symphony Group (SSG) on Thursday (April 9) announced the cancellation of the upcoming Singapore International Piano Festival, slated to run between June 4 and June 7 this year.

In its announcement, SSG said four pianists who were scheduled to appear for this year's festival - Nelson Goerner, Mei Yi Foo, Leon McCawley and Christian Zacharias - were unable to attend due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The Government put in place border control measures which came into effect from March 23, barring all short-term visitors from entering or transiting through the country.

Artistic director of the Singapore International Piano Festival Lim Yan said the decision to cancel the festival was taken keeping in mind the global situation and the safety of musicians, staff and patrons as a top priority.

"We are working to find new dates to invite Nelson Goerner, Mei Yi Foo, Leon McCawley and Christian Zacharias to perform and hope to feature them in a subsequent edition of the festival," she said.

This year's event, which would mark the 27th edition of the festival, was scheduled to take place at Victoria Concert Hall and featured two masterclasses with pianists Leon McCawley and Mei Yi Foo, which will also be cancelled.

SSG said ticket holders would be given a refund. Those who made payments via credit cards or PayLah would be issued an automatic refund by Sistic within one or two months' billing cycle while those who made payment via cash or debit card would receive communication from Sistic regarding their refund.

The symphony group added that patrons could convert their tickets in to a donation for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

Details on the donation is available at the SSO's website.