JANE YE

Starting to play the classical piano at the age of 4, Jiaqian loves listening to different genres of music. However, the piano practice seemed to be full of discouragement and reinforcement that was not enjoyable for her. At the age of 14, she decided to challenge herself to start a new journey at Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey, where she was encouraged and inspired by supportive choir directors and Dr. Lam. Jane came to Dr. Lam with a desire to major in piano performance, due to the lack of practice, Dr. Lam suggested she apply for Music Education in junior year. During the intensive year of piano practicing, Jane’s piano playing techniques, expressiveness, and understanding of music were greatly developed. Fortunately, Jane got accepted into the University of Michigan, where she gained abundant experience in teaching and performing within ensembles as well as solely, and finished her Bachelor's degree in Music Education in 2019. Besides learning about the different teaching methods, Jane also learned how to play and teach instruments in various families. Jane also held her hourly long senior piano recital during the final year of college, including solo music from Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Debussy, and De Falla, duet music from Dvorak, and piano chamber music from Beethoven. After graduating from college, Jane immediately started her teaching career at Expression Music Academy, as a private lesson instructor teaching piano, violin, and cello, and at Ivywood Classical Academy, as an elementarygeneral music teacher teaching K-6 in Michigan.

In 2021, Jane decided to pursue her Master's degree in Music Education at Teachers College at Columbia University. Jane not only acquired knowledge about teaching and piano playing skills, but also acquired skills such as composing, improvising, and playing the organ. She was able to conduct a mini-study for her research on how early music experience would affect people’s listening imagination. Jane believed that it is important to guide, promote and encourage students to use their imaginations when listening, and it is also important to talk about, understand, and share the differences in our understanding.

Music had always been a crucial and indispensable element in Jane’s life and was ubiquitous in everyone’s daily life. As an educator, Jane believed that bringing the joy of music, digging out the musical potential and uniqueness of children, and understanding while embracing the differences of our backgrounds through music are important in music education. Thanks to the support and encouragement that Dr. Lam and the choir directors provided, Jane was able to find her passion in teaching music.