Chen Wang
Piano
Chen Wang, a current piano faculty member at MSU Community Music School-East Lansing, was regarded as a music prodigy at a very young age. She started studying and playing the piano at the age of 4. Her talent was quickly recognized by many music teachers and led her to being admitted to the middle school affiliated with the Central Conservatory of Music, the best music school in China, at the age of 11. That same year, she received the Outstanding Award in the Xinghai Cup National Youth Piano Competition and then went onto win the Silver Award at the Fifth National Piano Competition for Beethoven Festival at age 15.
Chen received a full-ride scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for her Bachelor of Music in both Piano and Percussion performance, graduating with distinctions. She completed her Master degree in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Massachusetts. Chen currently studies at Michigan State University for her Doctor degree in Piano performance major. Her primary tutors include Professor Panayis Lyras (Silver Medal in Van Cliburn Competition), Stephen Drury (Student of Legendary Claudio Arrau), William Heiles, and William Moersch. In addition, she studies Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Derek Polischuk and Collaborative Piano with Dr. Zhihua Tang.
Throughout the years, Chen gained an abundance of teaching experience through a piano course for non-majors at the New England Conservatory, where she developed students’ understanding and sensitivity of music. Chen also provided private lessons to students at Harvard and MIT. Her teaching sessions were highly valued and effective, and helped many students rapidly improve their technical skills and music sensitivity. Chen has been providing lessons for approximately ten years to students ranging from five years old to adults, and at both the beginner and advanced levels. She believes music is the universal language of humankind and musicians should undertake their responsibility to contribute to a more prosperous society.
Chen has received awards and scholarships including Second Place of Clara Roland Piano Competition, Third Prize of Jianli International Competition, Finalist of Southern California International Marimba Competition, Semi-Finalist of International Young Artist Piano Concerto Competition, Piano Achievement Award, Robert Swenson Award, Rising Star Award honor, Arment B.A. Memorial School Scholarship, FAA Talented Band Scholarship, and FAA Talented Music Scholarship. She has performed in the Jordan Hall, Harvard University, National Center of Performing Arts in China, and for the City of Boston, Omama Summit at Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway Meeting, Asian Music Festival, travelling extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Her performances and interviews have been broadcasted on CCTV, China Education TV, Jiangsu TV, Hong Kong TV, and Henan TV. On top of that, she is an active philanthropist and received Global Youth Leadership Award at Global Social Responsibility Summit hold by United Nations NGO.
