Music from the Heart: Dr. Chenyu Wang, Faculty Member and Collaborative Pianist

When Chenyu Wang was 5 years old, she went with her mom to visit a family friend.

“The little boy from that family played piano very well and he didn’t allow me to touch his beautiful piano until I played ‘as good as he did’,” she said. “So I begged my parents to buy me a keyboard and I promised to practice with it every day.”

She was true to her word — by age 8 she was giving public performances.

“I have been studying piano for nearly 30 years! From a small town in China to Shanghai, then to Rochester, New York; Bloomington, Indiana; Hartford, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; and now Lebanon, New Hampshire,” she said.

Dr. Wang received her early training at the internationally renowned Shanghai Conservatory of Music Middle School, formerly the National Conservatory of Music and China’s first higher music education institute. She studied with Professors Mingjuan Fan and Shuo Huang.

“I left my hometown when I was 10 years old and started my studies at Shanghai Conservatory of Music Middle School as a boarding student,” she said. “It was hard to leave my parents at that age, but I was lucky to meet some great teachers, such as my piano instructors Mingjuan Fan and Shuo Huang, who not only taught me the piano, but also helped me grow up.”

Dr. Wang continued to study with the best pianists throughout her education. In 2015, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester under the tutelage of Barry Snyder, an acclaimed pianist and teacher whose entry onto the international stage came after winning three prizes at the 1966 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

In 2017, she earned a Master of Music degree from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Emile Naoumoff, a Bulgarian pianist and composer.

At the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, she studied with Paul Rutman, the first pianist to be the recipient of a doctoral degree from The Juilliard School. While at Hartt, Dr. Wang was an accompanying assistant and a graduate teaching assistant. She graduated in 2021 with a Doctor of Musical Arts.

Over the years, besides playing rehearsals, juries, and concerts with vocal and instrumental students, Dr. Wang has given concerts with famous musicians and professors, including M. Dee Steward (Indiana University), Bonan Xing (Shandong University of Arts), Yuhong Tu (Yunnan Arts University). She also performed at masterclasses for legendary pianists such as Robert McDonald, Julian Martin, Luiz Castro, Boris Slutsky, Rebecca Pennys, Autur Pizarro, Jose Ramon Mendez, Blanca Uribe, Thomas Schumacher, Roberta Rust, to name a few.

What does Dr. Wang like about the piano? “When I was little, I liked piano because I didn’t not need to worry about tuning,” she said. “Right now, I like piano because it has the widest range.”

Not only is she an active performer, Dr. Wang is also a passionate and energetic teacher. She was a music director at YAHAMA Music Academy in Ji’an, Jiangxi and taught at musician-owned music school Northside Music Academy in Chicago, Illinois from 2020-2022.

“I like to see how young kids are growing up with music,” Dr. Wang said. “It is always fun to share what I learned.”

When she moved to West Lebanon in 2023, she joined the faculty at Upper Valley Music Center to continue her career in music education — and signed her 3-year-old up for a Music Together class.

“Everyone recommended me to reach out to UVMC when I moved here,” she said. “What UVMC is doing is important for the community and for our kids. It is not just a music school. It is a place to evoke, develop, and share music from your heart.”