This year on August 4th, 7pm, Rocky Ridge Faculty Hsing-ay Hsu looks back on 10 Empowerment Topics for APS over her past 10 summers, in a presentation called “10 Lessons in 10 Years.”
“I’m thrilled to bring my love of listening and discovery to empower adult students at Rocky Ridge,” said Hsu. “I love specializing in adult learners because they bring such diverse life experience to the piano, and I can use that to empower them in their personal and collective musical journey at RR. This summer’s recap will help us review the systematic principles for score study strategies, somatic technique, and artistic vision that is at the core of my teaching philosophy for understanding solo repertoire.”
Hsu’s new appointment at the Juilliard Extension this fall will further her passion for teaching adults, and it comes during an active performing season that includes a European duo tour with stops at the Gasteig in Munich, Splendour in Amsterdam, and St. Paul’s in Rome (bringing along her Nutmeg Studio), as well as a digital re-release of her Barber Concerto and Sonata recording on Spotify. She will also teach and perform as part of a Yale Alumni College course.
An international prize winner, producer, and educator, Hsu has spent her career using music as a lens for building deeper awareness and understanding of the human experience. A performer since her stage debut at age four, she has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center, as well as concert stages across Europe and Asia. Praised by the New York Times for her onstage “explosion of energy,” Hsu has won some of classical music’s most distinguished honors, including the Juilliard William Petschek Debut Award, the William Kapell International Competition Silver Medal, the Ima Hogg National First Prize, a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, the Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award presented by President Clinton.
Beyond the concert stage and classroom, Hsu is the producer of Classical Music Explorations in New York City and The Café online, both dedicated to expanding public engagement with listening and making the complexity of classical music more accessible and meaningful. She serves as a Strategic Planning Member and Music Liaison for Courage for Caregivers, and as a Music Committee and Advisory Council Member for Friends of Chamber Music in Denver. Her artist residencies have included Klavierhaus NYC and the Boulder Chamber Orchestra, and she previously served as Artistic Director for Pendulum New Music at the University of Colorado – Boulder, growing the program into a signature attraction of the city’s arts scene. Last season, she also profiled Juilliard Piano Chair Veda Kaplinsky for American Music Teacher magazine in a 3 articles + webinar series, including a personal reflection of how Juilliard’s culture has evolved since her own student days. She recently co-taught a successful Juilliard Music Improv Lab pilot to encourage a creative approach to making music.
Hsu is also the owner of Nutmeg Studio NYC, a retreat for lifelong learners, and has created a range of online courses that bring fresh creative approaches to traditional musical concepts. She teaches a pre-concert class at the Kaufman Center NY, and classes at Chautauqua Institution Special Studies NY and Rocky Ridge in CO. She is a regular contributor at Psychology Today on creativity, arts education, and artistic intelligence in the age of AI.
Born in Beijing, Hsu is an alumna of the Juilliard School and Yale University. Follow her at www.hsingayhsu.com, on Youtube/Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn @Hsingayhsu.