Piano with Ada W.

Dr. Ada is an accomplished pianist, performer, educator, and musical artist who is originally from Taiwan. She possesses an extensive education in the realm of music, recently earning her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from University of Texas at Austin in the Spring of 2018 under Professor Gregory Allen’s studio. She also obtained her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music, both in Piano Performance, from The Boston Conservatory and National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) in 2015 and 2012 respectively, where she studied with Dr. Jonathan Bass and Dr. Chi-Yin Lin. Moreover, Dr. Ada is a seasoned performer and a veteran of the concert stage. She has performed as a soloist but has also collaborated with various instrumentalists in a variety of different settings. She attended the Mozarteum Internationale Sommerakademie in Salzburg in 2013 and 2014, where she studied in Professor Ya-Fei Chuang’s studio. Also in 2014, she attended the Duxbury Music Festival and studied Chamber Music with Mr. Jeffrey Cohen and Mr. Amir Elden, as well as Solo Piano with Dr. Jonathan Bass. In February 2014, she participated in the New Music Festival, where she had the opportunity to work with talented composer Louis Andriessen, performing his piece “Joli Commentaire.” In November of 2014, she performed two of Ligeti’s Piano Etudes (“Fanfares” and “Arc En Ciel”) again at the New Music Festival. In addition, she has had the honor of working closely with Boris Berman, Brian Ganz, Eugene Pridonoff, Graham Scott, Jung-Ja Kim, Kirill Gerstein, and Victor Rosembaum. Dr. Ada has held over ten piano solo recitals and performed in a multitude cities, including but not limited to Kaohsiung, Taipei, Austin, Boston, New York, and Salzburg. From 2016 onward, she began focusing on collaborating with an array of instruments and groups. She also began studying with Dr. Colette Valentine and Dr. Anton Nel. As of lately, she has performed at multiple concerts, including a duet with cello in May of 2018, a duet with bassoon in October and November of 2017, and a trio in April of 2017. Furthermore, she is an energetic, inspirational accompanist, and has been meticulously working in Dr. James Morrow’s studio at University of Texas at Austin, performing for lessons, seminars, university choirs, and Bach cantata projects. Presently, Dr. Ada provides instruction in her personal studio and educates students utilizing her own unique strategies and methods she has refined throughout the course of her musical career. Ultimately, she strives to continue performing, teaching, and enriching people’s lives through her heartfelt music. Teaching Philosophy ----- Giving students to achieve their dreams Dr. Ada teaches piano lessons, viola lessons, music theory in levels of beginner, intermediate and advanced, from age 4 and up. I have a deep passion for teaching, especially when I see student's development with their musicality and creative ideas. As a teacher, teaching students is a reward to me. I divide my teaching strategy into different levels. For beginners, the fundamental studies have always played an extremely significant role in their future learnings. I focus on the specific aspects, such as the hand posture, relaxation, or rhythm. From their first few lessons, I start to build their good habits on piano practice. Also, during lessons, I divide time into sections, 2/3 on pieces, 1/3 on studies (like scales or some exercises) and theory. Generally, I ask beginning students to practice as lesson length daily. In intermediate, (the level from sonatines or above) I ask students to define their interests on specific genres and composers. But I also open and assign them to a variety of repertoires. It helps them to build the enjoyment of piano playing. For motivations, I train students for piano contests based on their willingness. Generally, I also ask intermediate to practice as lesson length daily. For advanced students, the lessons concentrate on building their professionality and musicality. I focus not only on musical techniques but also on artistic expressions. I describe piece as a story, which creates imaginations and helps on creating their musical ideas. But I even analysis piece logically, it helps them to memorize. Moreover, I use different learning modalities by aural, visual, or kinesthetic learners, always demonstrate in lessons.