Stephanie Chan
“Music has the ability to transport us to different times and places. It is a passport to the infinite.”
About Stephanie
Stephanie was born and raised in New York. She started playing violin when she was 9 years old and instantly fell in love with the instrument. She continued playing through college.
Stephanie was very involved in music as a part of her school life. She participated in All-County and All-State orchestras, solo evaluation festivals, and ensemble competitions. She grew up with a family of musicians and spent many hours performing as a violin soloist or a piano accompanist.
She attended Ithaca College for her Bachelor’s degree where she performed with the school’s Symphony Orchestra. She then completed her education with a Master’s Degree of Piano Performance at SUNY Purchase.
Since graduation Stephanie has had the wonderful opportunity to continue working with a wide variety of different students. Every student has their own goal when stepping into the music world, and she believes it is important to help each student discover and reach that goal. She has prepared students for music festivals, judging, competitions, and recitals. She believes that ensuring the students’ joy and love for music is the most important aspect of teaching.
Stephanie’s Instructional Approach
Learning how to play an instrument is a long and difficult process. It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment. That being said, nothing gives me that same feeling I get when I finally master a piece I have spent many hours on. I want to be able to give that same feeling to all of my students. Some find it in performing as a soloist or in an ensemble and some find it in smaller things like mastering new techniques or theory ideas. I am passionate about sharing my love of music to other like-minded individuals!
Practice Tips
Starting a brand new piece of music can be exciting and daunting. I always find myself a bit overwhelmed when flipping through all the pages and looking for the section that looks the hardest. One tip I have used over the years is to actively listen to recordings of the music they are learning with the music score in front of them and to always have a pencil in hand to circle or write notes on any sections you find interesting. Familiarizing myself with the sound will help speed up the learning process at the beginning.
Favorite Tunes
- Fiddle – Swallowtail Jig
- Film – James Horner, John Williams
- Baroque – Corelli, Bach
- Classical – Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven
- Popular Music – Ed Sheeran, John Legend
