Yiling Ding

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra knocked on my practice room door while I was practicing 5 hours a day like all the other 10-year-old kids at Shanghai Music Primary School. It was the Beethoven anniversary concert series and I happened to be working on Beethoven Piano concerto no.1 at the time.  I can still hear the applause and smell the flowers from that concert to this day, along with 2 more concerts I played in 1997 and 1999.

I met my future piano teacher when I was 12. Sedmara Rutstein, a Russian Jewish woman enthused with Chinese piano children, came to Shanghai Music Middle School to give master classes. After our first meeting, I went on to win the 2nd place in the National Piano competition.  After our second meeting three years later, in 1995, I won 4th prize in the Stravinsky piano competition in Illinois.  I came to realize the power of teaching after winning the 1st prize in Moscow in 1996---a good teacher knows how to utilize students' talent, and knows how to make students realize how much they can achieve with such talent. All in all, inspiration was the word that came to my head.

I came to the states in 1998 after graduating from Shanghai Music Middle School, following the instruction of Mrs. Rutstein at Oberlin College.  Not only did I learn to play piano better, all the music history and chamber music classes has broadened my views to all types and forms of music.  I also began to help my mom to teach, whenever I got a chance to go home and visit, both to show my appreciation and to help children who are following my footsteps to get closer to their dreams faster.

As much as I love playing with orchestras and giving solo concerts, my passion for teaching grew as I came to New York to pursue my Master's degree at Manhattan School of Music.  I was fortunate to study with Mr. Arkady Aronov, an old aquaintance of Mrs. Rutstein, who taught me more on how to put more inspiration into teaching.  Shortly after receiving my Master's, Yi called my cell after realizing we went to the same music school in Shanghai, only I was 10 when he graduated.  We have almost the same background and, needless to say, also had the ambition to become the best performers in the world.  I'm fortunate to have the oppurtunities to teach at iSchool and achieve this dream of seeing our students performing on the stage like we once did.