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Students Speak
Amy Davis (99 - 2003 - MM and GPD)
While I was at Peabody I had the tremendous opportunity to study with Vicky Chiang. Through her teaching, influence and time spent practicing my musical ability was exponentially increased and my confidence and competency as a violist was brought to a new a level. As I am now beginning my career as a violist, I continue to implement the principles and lessons that Vicky taught me, and she remains an invaluable source of encouragement, inspiration, and guidance. Vicky is a consummate professional and also one of the most generous and loving individuals I have had the privilege of knowing. Through her impact my life has been greatly enriched both musically and personally
Jessica Alberthal (2003 - 2004 Junior)
I feel very fortunate to be able to say that Vicky Chiang's the first viola teacher I've ever had. I came to Peabody as a violinist, but after a semester of that, I quickly realized that I needed to pursue my dream of playing viola. Luckily, Ms. Chiang agreed to teach me, starting at Aspen that summer. Switching to viola is one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I've never regretted it for a second. This is largely because of Ms. Chiang.
So what's it like studying with Vicky Chiang? Wow...well, I've never had a teacher like her. She's so positive and encouraging that I always look forward to my lessons. I've never gotten the impression from her that she didn't want to be there. When you're studying with Ms. Chiang, you might feel overwhelmed with everything you need to "fix," but she helps you set attainable, yet definitely challenging,goals. For example, over breaks, like Christmas or summer, you are given an assignment of what you're going to learn/memorize, and a couple things to "obsess over" (great sound all the time while keeping a loose left hand, etc.). She always makes sure it sounds do-able, and sometimes it might not seem like it at first, but she always convinces me otherwise!
A great thing about being a Chiang student is the studio experience. We always get to play in studio class when we're ready, and after playing, people are asked to give feedback, which always consists of one thing we liked and another thing to work on. Everyone is very supportive, so it's a lot less scary than it could be, but makes us nervous enough that it's a good performance experience. After people play, the rest of the class is devoted to technique, and the great thing about this is that we have to do things (arpeggios at 120, shifting exercises, scales, etc.) in front of other people which is really difficult!
You might be getting the impression that Ms. Chiang is really technically oriented, but her ultimate concern is the music. I think her main goal is to get all the technical problems out of the way so they don't hinder the music. If you're relaxed, this should be no problem! Much easier said than done. If I could, I would study with her even longer because there is so much to learn from her. She has a rule though that after four years, you need to move on and study with someone else, so spend your time with her well! When you leave Peabody, you'll be a MUCH better violist.
Gregory Luce (2003-4 freshman)
Vicky's studio class is really fantastic. We cover technique, musicality, stance... everything! Our studio is very close and friendly, and all the comments come and go very easily, we all understand that everyone has something to fix and there's no need to obsess over a remark that was clearly meant for one's playing and not one's personality. Anyone who wants to play in an upcoming just has to talk to Mrs. Chiang in their private lessons, and typically there's no problem. I do have to admit that holding Gwen's head still while she plays her Hindemith is a little baffling, but Alex understands...he had to hold her shoulders while I held the head. Sorry, Gwen. Above all, it's great to see the different player's playing levels increase on all counts throughout the course of the year. It's very encouraging to see Mrs. Chiang's teaching take hold and do its thing. -----
Yi Ju Chen (three years - 2001 - 2003 - MM/GPD)
You’ll never know how further influence it will be that I learn from Ms. Chiang in these three years. I know exactly that only after I enter Ms. Chiang’s studio, I ‘start" to know how to play the instrument which I’ve already studied for 14 years.
Maja Celanovic (freshman - 2003-4)
V IBRATO
I NTONATION
C ONTACT POINT
T RILLERS
O ONDRICEK
R IGHT HAND EXERCISES (OR RELAXATION)
I MAGINATION, IDEAS
A RPEGGIOS
S CALES
S HIFTING
T ONE, OR THIRDS
U SE WEIGHT NOT PRESSURE!
D OUBLE STOPS, DISTRIBUTION OF THE BOW
I NTERVALS
"O NE THING YOU LIKED AND ONE DIRECTION YOU MAY TAKE..."
Patrick LeStrange (Junior 2003-4)
I love the supportive environment our studio shares. Studio class is a mix of encouragement, intensive technique drills, and fun
Gwendolyn Fisher (Junior 2003-4)
I came to Peabody as a freshman, stuck up and with a bad attitude. Chicago has a good music scene, and I had grown up around kids who went off to college at Julliard or Curtis, or who got symphony jobs straight out of CIM. No one I knew went to Peabody - it was unheard of, and therefore bad. But I went there anyway, to study with Vicky for a year before transferring to another school. I had studied with Vicky in Aspen, the summer before my senior year of high school. I was the less good of the two high school kids she took, and was giddy the whole summer by how new and cool everything was. But I came away from it confused, because while Vicky and I got along really well, she was different from my high school violin teacher, and that was weird. She was impressed by things my high school teacher took for granted, like memorization and scales, and she didn’t scare me into practicing in the same way. She didn’t say any of the same catch phrases, she talked about "fixing" different things. I knew I couldn’t stay with my high school teacher forever, but studying for a summer with someone else made me nervous about college.I ended up getting into the schools I had wanted to, but not with any of the teachers... except Peabody with Vicky. All I knew of the other teachers were rumors, while Vicky sent me an email, asking if I was serious about Peabody, and saying in what ways she thought she could help me. Just the email was comforting and supportive, and a little magical: "Gwen, I think you could be a great player". I was worried that she wouldn’t push me as hard as my high school teacher would; I was worried that I would hate Peabody. I was worried that I wouldn’t get much better, but I wanted to know what a year with her would do.
"She’s like the Oracle", I tell freshmen, now. "It may not be true, but she always knows exactly what you need to hear". 3 years later, I’ve met my best friends in the world, and have a life I couldn’t be happier with. "I’m a Peabody success story", I say, but I stayed because of Vicky. The Vicky who taught me at Aspen and the Vicky who met me at Peabody approached teaching me completely differently. She was still understanding and supportive, and we still got along really well, but never again would she be impressed by memorization or scales. She took those for granted, and while she didn’t use fear to get me to practice, I’d never had to work so hard before.
The first year was rough, and frustrating - I had thought I was good, when I came to school, but each lesson she’d talk about concepts I had never heard of... each lesson I’d walk away feeling like I couldn’t possibly get it, learn to play well, fix my bow hold and left hand and have sound and pull and Relax!.
She didn’t want me to play hard and fast, she wanted me to learn how to play well for the rest of my life... there was no immediate gratification, just the effort of rebuilding everything for long-term progress. I liked playing hard and fast and instantly feeling good. But I knew some of her Peabody students from Aspen, and it was pretty incredible to see how much they’d improved in a year. That, more than anything, kept me believing that she did know what she was talking about, when I couldn’t see it in myself. She has this vision of everyone she teaches - she’ll see where they are, see where they could be, and want, more than anything, for them to get there. The frustration and the work that required were tough for me, but deciding to trust her and change everything just because she thought I should was the hardest part.
Things started coming together, slowly, the 2nd year. By the end of it I felt like I could at least play pretty decently again. And occasionally I’d have these epiphanies, where something she’d been telling me to do for months suddenly made sense, and she’d be thrilled. Vicky was always thrilled by any sort of progress, she could notice the tiniest detail of improvement. Except, of course, when she felt like I was slacking, and then the hard lessons would come. Those also started the 2nd year. Now my friends in the studio and I will talk about our lessons - now we’ll compare how intense she is on what days, what stuff she says when, and we’ll laugh at what’s the same and what’s different. I know now that she’s "intense" for everyone, periodically, and I’ve seen that for me it comes when nothing else has worked to get me to improve. The first lesson like it, where nothing was right and I had to do stuff again and again striving for Something better, only to get "Are you listening to yourself? Come on! You can do this! Why aren’t you?", made me feel like a petulant kid. I didn’t want to practice afterwards, out of spite. But once I did, something clicked, and by the next week I could do everything she had asked, and fast. "Wow, Gwen, that’s great!", she said, beaming.
The more I learn from Vicky, the more I see how much I didn’t know and couldn’t do when I came to school. The better she helps me get, the more I see how much I need to learn, to be where I’d like to be. But at this point it’s much more fun than frustrating, and lessons are a chance for me to show her what new stuff I can do . The thought of studying with someone else in grad school, who would talk and think about different things, makes me nervous - who knows how weird it would be to study with another teacher. I still wonder if I’ll ever entirely fix my left hand, bow hold, sound, pull, and Relax!, but now I think maybe yes, I will. She certainly thinks I can. And when new people join the studio, changing everything and feeling like they can’t play, I can honestly tell them to stick with it, because it’s worth it.
Jason Fisher (junior 2003-4)
My lessons with Vicky are epiphanies in better technique, broad expansions in musicality, occasional loving spouts of motherly whoop-ass, and always infectiously inspirational, leaving me itching to improve."I couldn't find a better, more appropriate word than "whoop-ass", but if you can, please feel free to substitute a more conservative noun.
Karine Rousseau (1999 - 2001)
Victoria Chiang was my teacher from 1999 until 2001, and from the first day she became a master of thinking for me, and not only thinking how to play the viola! I decided to put all my conviction in believing and trusting everything she would teach me, even when she was sure that a very thin 5 foot 3 inches girl could have the biggest sound! My best reward came few weeks ago when a couple came to my quartet concert, and discussed about the difference between the violin and the viola, and the lady saying, well, it's obvious! The viola sounds much louder!Victoria is there for every student, making us believe that we are so important, and making us believe that anything is possible. And it worked! I am a happy professional, playing both in an orchestra and a string quartet. There is not a day passing now without me being thankful for all I learnt from her (from playing arpeggios at 120, which I still do everyday, to playing in a sensible way the trickyest musical phrase).Thank you again and again Vicky!
