Sizhi Yan
Sizhi Yan received her Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus. After graduation in 2004, she was invited to join the faculty at Sichuan Conservatory of Music where she has been teaching violin major students both in middle school and high school divisions, as well as in the college division. In 2006, she was awarded “Outstanding Young Teacher Returned from Abroad” by the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
In the summer of 2005, she assisted Professor Kurt Sassmanshaus to establish the first Great Wall International Music Summer Festival in Beijing, China, during which she also served as a violin professor. The music festival has been held in Beijing, China for about 13 years since the first session, and has coached many talented young musicians.
During her teaching at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, she was actively involved in chamber music and symphony orchestra. she has served as the principal of the SCCM Undergraduate Symphony Orchestra for many years and performed with the students every semester. She formed the Sichun String Quartet with colleagues from the Conservatory and promotes the development of chamber music at the school, as well as in the community. In 2006, the Sichun Quartet represented SCCM to participate in the exchange visit activities and performances between SCCM and the University of Pennsylvania School of Music. In 2007, the quartet received a full scholarship from the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival in the United States and was invited to the United States to participate in a 9-week quartet training and performance at Aspen. During this period, she participated in several string quartet concerts at Aspen, including a special concert at Harris Concert Hall with famous American guitarist Sharon Isbin. In November 2007, she represented SCCM at the Hong Kong International Modern Music Festival and held a special concert in the Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall.
As a violin professor, Ms. Yan has made outstanding achievements in professional teaching. Many of her students from the Conservatory she teaches have been awarded full scholarships to continue their studies in the United States and Europe, such as the Julliard School of Music, Rice University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Carnegie Melon University, Lynn University, Conservatorio di musica G.B Martini, etc. Her students have achieved excellent results in various competitions. Some of these students hold faculty positions at the universities throughout China.
Ms. Yan has also served as a judge in various local and domestic violin competitions, including the international Zhang Shixiang violin pedagogy online competition from 2020-2022. In 2022, she served as the judge of the Hummingbird music award of the China Youth Music Competition in Sichuan. Her students have won first prizes in Singapore’s “Chongsin” International music competition many times, and first prizes in both solo and chamber music in the provincial and national divisions in the Hummingbird Music Awards, and China Youth Music Competition. From 2018 to 2022, Ms. Yan won the Best Teacher Award and the Best Chamber Music Teaching Award of the Hummingbird Music Award. Because of her love for children’s violin teaching, she holds studio concerts for children every semester which has been lasting for more than 10 years. It is very gratifying for her to see the students from amateur to become professional musicians.