Advanced piano instruction in Danville, California | competition students | serious students only

Let’s have big big congratulations to our studio student Ezekiel Kumar-Lau. He is the new winner of the American Fine Arts Festival 2015 New York Carnegie Hall performer!

I would like to say congratulations to Corrina Switzer! Corrina is an 8 years old first timer with the US Open Piano Competition 2015 and she won 4th place in the USA Composer Group. Well done Corrina!

Congratulations to Michael Tu, who took 3rd place in the U.S. Open Music Competition for his performance of the Arabesque by Debussy!

Also congratulations to Alice Liu and Amanda Di for passing their ABRSM Theory Level 5 exams. Special congratulations to Amanda for earning the ‘Distinction’ designation for earning a 95/100 on her level 5 exam!

Congratulations to Michael Tu, winner in the Contemporary Senior Level category at the U.S. Open Music Competition 2014! Michael performed the Arabesque No.2 by Claude Debussy.

UPDATED: Congratulations to my students who won awards in their categories at the 2013 U.S. Open Music Competition!

First congratulations is in order for seven year old student April who just won 3rd place in the Showcase Piano Solo category for her performance of the Dussek Sonatina Op.20 No.4 and the Prokofiev Tarantella Op.65 #4 in D Minor:

Also congratulations fifteen year old Rachel won 3rd place in the Treasury of Baroque category for her performance of the Bach Invention No.15:

Finally congratulations to Michael Tu’s 4th place award in the Treasury of Classical category for his performance of the Clementi Piano Sonata Op.36 No.4 in F Major, Con Spirito:

6th grader Leon Chou is playing the Chopin Impromptu:

Congratulations to my students who were winners in the 2012 U.S. Open Piano Competition!

• Ryan Chang – bronze winner in Baroque
• Leon Chou – crystal winner in Showcase Solo

Isn’t this cute? 😀

Studies show active and prolonged study of music throughout life leads to higher IQ scores:

Music lessons are linked to higher IQ throughout life, according to research by E. Glenn Schellenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Six years’ lessons lifted children’s IQ scores an average 7.5 points[…]

In a study this year, researchers at the University of Kansas found practicing musicians who are active for a decade or more continue to post higher IQs beyond age 60.

via Ways to Inflate Your IQ – WSJ.com.

Learning music in children leads to higher IQs, better grades, and improved academic capabilities. Practicing music is exercise for the brain. Music practice involves daily, sustained concentration tied to physical movement. The act of reading and playing music involves much counting and division – stimulating the same parts of your mind that process things like math and science – all the while linking it to artistic concepts such as emotional music performance and beautiful sound. The more you practice, and the longer you do this in your life, the more benefit you receive. Music lessons are one of the best things you can do for your child; it will give them a leg up in their school years and will give them a skill that they will carry for the rest of their lives.

My student Leon Chou won 3rd place in the U.S. Open Music Competition. Here he is playing the Haydn Piano Sonata in D Major:

Congratulations, Leon!

Another student Eric Chang won 3rd place in his category. Yay Eric!!

My other wonderful students who competed this round: