Young Piano Students From Around The World Make Music With Concert Masters
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- What happens when a group of gifted young piano students collaborate with concert master teachers? Beautiful music-making at the Curtis Institute on Rittenhouse Square.
Nearly 20 outstanding pianists from six different countries are studying one-on-one with internationally acclaimed concert masters, like Douglas Humpherys, a professor and Chair of the Piano Department at Eastman Conservatory of Music in Rochester.
He heard 11-year-old Chunyi Wang play a Beethoven piece, then broke it down, giving constructive criticism from the stage, on sound, technique, and interpretation.
"I've heard, played or taught all of these works hundreds of times, and never in quite the same way."
He says each pianist "brings something of their own personality and character to the performance." The students ranged in age from 11 to 24.
No stranger to winning major prizes at top international piano competitions and concertizing with major orchestras around the world, Chin-Yun Hu founded the Philadelphia Young Pianists' Academy.
"I look for talent potential, a passion for music, and of course, they have to have the chops."
She says the event brings young students from the East and West to meet, make friends, learn from each other, and their preeminent masters.
