About Feifan Oh
A pianist, author, educator and entrepreneur
You will come to know Feifan as an artist who pursues refinement and maintain an artistic approach in whatever that she does which creates her value as a multi-talented and versatile person. Music and arts have shaped her not only as a professional but also as a person who would strive for excellence with passion in whatever she does.
A lifelong pursuit of passion
At age of 3, she struck her first note on the piano. When she was 17, she began her serious training at conservatories in New York, and at age of 23, she started a music school in Shanghai (Concord Music) By the year 2021, she published the second set of piano method books. Fei never ceases to inspire her students and she continues to find more new, interesting ways to teach piano and music.
Biography
Feifan has made a career as a pianist at a young age. She gave her first public debut recital at the age of 13 at the University of Philippines at Manila with a ninety-minute solo recital program. At age of 14, she was elected as the pianist for MPYO (Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra) and was one of the finalists of the 1st Chopin ASEAN International Piano Competition. Feifan is born in a musical family with her mother as her first piano teacher. At the age of 11, her talent was acknowledged during a masterclass by a famous pianist, Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz with whom she began her serious studies.
At the age of 17, Feifan was admitted to Manhattan School of Music (Bachelor of Music) where she studied with Dr. Donn-Alexandre Feder and inherited the tradition of Rosina Lhevinne's teaching. After her graduation from Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree, she began her Master in Music study at New York University where she also started the Steinhardt Trio with flutist, Gina Izzo and oboist, Kimberly Everett. She studied with Dr. Jose Ramon Mendez at NYU, a famous Spanish pianist and maestro. Under his teaching and influence, Feifan grew to be a mature musician and she has regarded him as her mentor.
Feifan has also taken masterclasses with other famous piano teachers such as Robert Macdonald and Julian Martin from The Juilliard School, the chairman of piano at Hannover School for Music , Theatre and Media, Christopher Oaken, Philip Kawin, Solomon Mikowsky and Arkady Aranov from Manhattan School of Music, Enters Andjaparidze, Zhao Yi Dan (teacher of Yundi Li) and Yuan Sheng from Beijing Central Conservatory of Music. She has participated in music festivals such as the Amati Music Festival in New York, Gijon International Piano Festival in Gijon, Spain and IKIF (International Keyboard Institute & Festival) in New York. She has also performed across the globe, including Malaysia, the Phillippines, the United States, Spain, and Germany.
Feifan grew from the identity of a performer to a teacher rather naturally due to her personality of loving to share and make connections with people. She started out teaching in private music schools in New York while she was growing as a performer. She has also taught the Keyboard Improvisation and Harmonization Course to the undergraduate music students at New York University. She has furthered her research into German composers and music in Germany, where she studied with Bob Versteegh at Detmold Muzikhochschüle. She was deeply inspired by the culture and musical environment in Germany during her study and living there. She is also known for her interpretation of German composers such as Beethoven, Schumann and Bach. Her audience would rate her performance with comments such as “a sincere and truthful playing”.
Influenced by her mother and by her mentor, Jose Ramon Mendez who is a remarkable pianist, she is also an avid piano teacher and is always looking for new and interesting ways to continue the tradition of classical music teaching. During the summer of the year 2012 and 2013, she immersed herself in her own research into piano teaching methods, particularly in group piano teaching. Along with her accumulated experience, she finally wrote and published My Musical Animals piano method books for young beginners. The books were written with the objective to inspire young children to play the piano with imagination, ensemble, and interactive activities. In year 2021 she worked on another method book Poco a Poco with Dr. Diane Doyeon Kim and they published Book 1 in January 2022 while they continue to work on Book 2.
Near the end of the year 2013, Feifan arrived in Shanghai with a passion to provide a music education platform to inspire interest in music. She started a music school, Concord Music, and began her teaching and performing career in Shanghai. Concord Music was a trusted school by many families for its philosophy of promoting long-term music interest and for its high-quality music programs.
In the year 2020, she relocated to West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with her daughter. In year 2022, she made the decision to close down Concord Music just a few months before its 10th Anniversary so that she could focus on her new chapter in Vancouver. She is teaching from her home studio and also works for Mulgrave International School of Vancouver to support its Performing Arts team.
As a student of Fei, you can expect a systematic approach to piano learning without losing the ignition of inspiration and the highest level of professionalism.
Performing Career
Fei is a great interpreter of Bach, Schumann, and Beethoven. She has great connections with the German composers and in the year 2012 she took a year in Germany (at Detmold Hochschule) to study works of German composers. She now enjoys chamber music works and is looking forward to connecting with more musicians and playing together!
A Glimpse of Fei's Recent Playing
Improvisation by Fei
"Spiderman in New York City"
As a Dalcroze-inspired teacher, improvisation plays a big role in her teaching. Fei continues to practice improvisation as she continues her Dalcroze training and she enjoys such spontaneous creativity. She often improvises in lessons to make the lessons more fun for her students. Her lessons are always, always filled with music!
Can you hear the busy subway and Spiderman crawling up the skyscraper in this improvisation by Fei? Maybe there is also a villain. Anyway, use your imagination!
Teaching Career
Fei has sought to inspire more than 100+ students who have studied with her. Among her students' best accomplishments, she is most proud of those who have continued to love music in their own ways. One of her students turned out to be a professional piano tuner, some have won prizes in international competitions, many have continued to love music even in their teenagehood despite the statistics of most students dropping out and give out during teenagehood. Her influence as a good teacher could be well tested with time as most of her students continues to love music.
She is a versatile teacher who is able to re-arrange pieces, compose and even edit music and videos for her students. She offers systematic learning with well-paced learning goals that will keep students motivated from time to time and her ability to build bonds and trust enable her to make positive impacts in her students' lives.
