“I will guide you to become a fluent “speaker” of the language of music.”
- Donglai
BOOK AN INTERVIEW WITH DONGLAI NOW
I believe in the linguistic power of the music. Of course, music starts where the words stop, but music itself is a language, and as musicians, we have to make every interval speak, regardless the different styles we play. If you decide to study with me, I will be glad to explore with you all the tones and colours possible on the piano. I will guide you to become a fluent “speaker” of the language of music, and help you find your own distinct voice and expressions. If you are interested, I can also use my experience as a composer and conductor to show you how the great works are composed, going through their forms, orchestrations, harmonic schemes, and most importantly, their historical backgrounds. We cannot interpret a piece of music if we don’t know the intention about its composition.
Name: Donglai (Full name will be provided upon registration)
Age: 24
Gender: male
-Armenian pianist Gregory Chaverdian was my most prominent teacher during my teenage (2013-2016) -I studied thereafter with Prof. Kyoko Hashimoto (2016-2022), after entered Marianopolis College -I obtained my DEC in music in 2018 from Marianopolis and a BMus with two majors (piano performance and composition) and a minor (conducting) at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in 2022 -My composition professor was Denys Bouliane and my conducting professor was Alexis Hauser
-National Finalist, Canadian Music Competition (2014, 2015) -3rd Prize, Burgos International Music Competition (2015) -4th Prize, Golden Key Composition Competition, Senior Category (2017) -2nd Place, CÉGEPs en concert (2018) -Student Excellence Award of Schulich School of Music (2018-2021) -Anna P Gertler Scholarship of Schulich School of Music (2021-2022) -McGill Concerto Competition finalist (2021) -McGill Chamber Music Competition finalist (2019, 2021) -National Finalist, CMC Steppingstones (2022)
-I started piano at age 4 and half
Cantonese
English
French
Mandarin
Rates and Studio Policies
Registration Fee: $25.00 (One-time lifetime registration fee may be used by all family members)
Rates for instruction:
30 minute private lesson: $39.00
45 minute private lesson: $49.00
60 minute private lesson: $59.00
Travel charge: additional $15.00 per visit (for lessons in a client's home as opposed to my studio)
1. Cancellation Policy
Lessons not cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice are billable to the client and payable to the teacher. This does not of course apply to travel fees unless the notice is effectively given at the door and the teacher has travelled to the location.
2. Cessation (quitting) Policy
A client must provide a 2 lesson notice period to stop lessons. So a weekly student needs to give 2 weeks of notice, a biweekly student works out to 3 weeks notice and a twice weekly student works out to a week of notice.
3. Illness Policy
Lessons cancelled due to illness or extraordinary circumstances with less than 24 hours notice remain billable to the client and payable to the teacher.
BAH teachers are encouraged to offer a make-up lesson at a future date in the interest of client relations and general goodwill. This only makes sense as teaching a student with the flu for example, will ruin the rest of your week's employment.
No more than 2 lessons may be made up due to illness within a 60 day period.
4. Rescheduling Policy
Any lesson can be cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice.
Summer Vacation and Extended Absence Policy
Clients may schedule longer absences for trips etc. 24 hours notice is required.
It is normal and typical for students and about 20% of our teachers to schedule a break in the summer. We do not enforce a notice period (see cessation of lessons) at the end of a long summer break.
5. Evaluation Period
There are no free trial lessons with Beethoven at Home but we do offer a 2 lesson evaluation period where it is easy to try out a teacher. There are no free lessons during the evaluation period and clients may choose to discontinue the lessons at any time by providing the required 24 hours notice. After the student's 3rd lesson the required 2 lesson notice period will apply (see cessation of lessons above).
Lessons in your home
Donglai is available to teach in your home if you are located in the following areas
Online lessons
Donglai can provide online instruction. While other platforms are possible BAH strongly recommends the use of the Zoom video conferencing platform as it is optimized for music lessons and audio quality.