When she performed the Bach Prelude earlier this year at the Connecticut State Music Teachers Association Competition, she was the winner in the 6- to 9-year-old age group. "Her hand isn't large enough to connect the keys." A less important note will be taken out, for example, or, "Stephanie will pick up her hand and then play the given key." "There are a lot of injuries with piano players," says her mother, "if they don't use the proper position." A bit of improvising goes into playing certain chords, she adds. And finger exercises are part of Stephanie's regimen. She does special exercises to stretch her hands so she can play Chopin and other master composers. There's the footstool to support her feet to reach the raised pedals. We are very lucky to find a teacher like her for Stephanie."īut there are physical challenges for such a little girl playing such big music. I have to communicate with her in a way that she understands," the instructor adds.Ĭhang says of Fiorito, "Her teaching has led my daughter into the world of classical music, weaving Bach and Mozart into her dreams. "This is the problem with small children who are getting advanced in technique - we are forced to give them pieces that are above their emotional level. "It's very loving, caring, feeling music because the music is all about love," she says. So, each part of the music she was telling herself the story, and at the concert she played the music through in 7 to 8 minutes."įiorito is now teaching Stephanie Chopin's Polonaise. The mother goes to look for him and finds him. It's about a bunny rabbit that wanted to be in the woods and gets lost. "She made a wonderful story for the concerto. To learn the three-movement piano concerto by composer Nicolai Silvansky, Fiorito said that she told Stephanie "to go home and tell a story while the music is moving, then write the story down on paper." "I needed to reach her soul," says the instructor. "She doesn't speak much in lessons." With her years of experience in teaching young children, Fiorito found the way to reach Stephanie - by engaging her in story-telling. "Stephanie is a quiet girl, but very strong inside," says her instructor. She not only was passionate about music, Chang says, "She has Stephanie make up fun stories to go with the music." Svitlana Fiorito of Stamford turned out to be the right fit. As part of the reward, he was able to play at Carnegie Hall in New York.What was key with Stephanie was finding just the right teacher, her mom says. William in 2019 won the American Protêgé International Piano and Strings Competition and later, the American Protêgé young musicians category. In early 2019, after 18 months of lessons, Besalyan said William was ready for competitions. “He’s extremely intelligent,” Besalyan said of William. “That was one of the biggest reasons I took him on. But after speaking to William in person, then hearing him play, Besalyan offered to teach William himself. But one man offered to meet with them: Georgia State University associate professor of music Raffi Besalyan, a 47-year-old piano prodigy himself when he lived in the old Soviet Union who has had an impressive music career himself.īesalyan at first suggested he could find a grad student to teach William. They emailed music professors at local universities who had piano experience. So off the parents went hunting for another teacher. Even then, it didn’t take long for her to admit that he was too good for her. She switched him to actual classical pieces. She soon realized he was excelling too quickly for beginner piano textbooks. When William was four, they finally found a woman at church willing to take William on and possessed a real passion for music. Other teachers were, as Todd said, “sketchy.” Many teachers turned them down, saying William was too young, suggesting they wait until he’s closer to seven. That was much tougher than they had anticipated. The next step was to find a piano teacher. (Steinway's were too pricey and overrated, Julie said.) And they avoided a cheaper "starter" piano, investing instead in a quality $20,000 mahogany wood German-made Schimmel. When he turned two, his parents decided to make an investment: a stand-up piano. William was instantly captivated by the white and black keys. Todd Zhang, William's dad who runs a web design/e-commerce business with his wife Julie, was killing time at Georgia Tech one day while his wife was doing some work so he entered an empty classroom with William that happened to have a piano.
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