Can you tell us a little bit about your background in music?

I started learning music through singing when I was around 7 years old. My music teacher at my elementary school was the first person who noticed my talent for singing, and she encouraged me to take voice lessons and join the new choir she had established at my school. That’s how everything started. My music teacher and my elementary school music classroom was the most important foundation for me. After that I continued voice lessons, and ended up pursuing a degree in vocal performance. I did my undergrad at the Boston Conservatory at Berkeley, and I did my masters at USC Thornton School of Music, also in vocal performance.

How did you find out about ETM-LA and decide to become a Music Teacher Intern?

I found out about the ETM-LA program at my school at the USC career fair during my first year of my masters program. ETM-LA was the only program there that had a music-related opportunity. 

After graduation, I started to see a path for myself in music education. I joined a Dalcroze Teaching Intensive Program at the Colburn School of Music, and that opened a new world to me. Through that experience, I realized that I didn’t just want to perform music. Even though I have a degree in performing, I want to help others experience music more. That was the moment I started to imagine: “If I’m a teacher in the classroom, how would I teach this music concept? How can I let the students experience music the way I did?” That was the moment I knew that ETM-LA was exactly the program I needed.

How do you believe movement, expression, and the body enhance a student’s experience of music?

I personally think that when a student starts to move with the music, that is the moment they really start to feel the music, and that is the moment when they begin to free their body and express themselves. Moving with music involves listening, focus, improvisation, and also acting, just like opera. When I’m singing opera, when the music is inside me, my body just naturally wants to respond. So I will bring out any movement or gesture that I feel fits the music, and all the [emotions] start to come out.

The teachers I have observed (Lesley & Alex) use movement cards where they let the students figure out what kind of movement fits the music best. I think that’s such a great and thoughtful way of approaching movement and bringing it into the music class. It can be very tricky when you ask the student to move without direction, to just play a song and say “move”. So I think tools like movement cards can really help guide students, and it helps us – the music teacher – to stay focused on the musical idea we want them to explore.

What is play-based teaching? What have you observed as the core elements of building music literacy in children through play-based teaching? 

My ETM-LA Music Teacher Mentor Lesley and I talk a lot about how music is really about experiencing. I think that could be the definition of play-based. It’s where kids learn music by experiencing it first.

In Lesley’s class, she’s very play-based; that’s a perfect word for describing her teaching style. In her class, music is everywhere. She has such a genius way of storytelling. She connects the music to things in real life, and turns that into games or stories and call back to that story during the lesson; “Do you remember when we were in the library?” or “Do you remember? We were on the train last time.” She’s always using this kind of story to introduce the music concept and help the kids to remember, and from what I observe it really works. Every time she pulls out questions like that, the student can immediately respond. Sometimes Lesley will create her own little songs; she just has that ability to improvise a song, and the kids will remember that song. Every time Lesley starts to sing her song, the kids will start singing with her right away. I think because the kid remembers the experience first, that’s how they connect to music. As my mentor, Lesley really showed me how to build music literacy through experiencing music in ways that connect to student life.

How has your cultural background influenced your teaching? How have you brought elements of Asian or Chinese musical culture and perspectives into the classroom through your internship experience?

Being a Chinese music educator [in America] has been really meaningful to me. I often find myself thinking, “If I were to teach this in China, how would the students respond? How is it different here?” Those comparisons help me understand both cultures more deeply. As a Chinese music educator teaching American kids, I feel it gives me a very special opportunity to bring my own culture into the classroom in a very authentic way! During the Chinese New Year back in February, we discussed Chinese music and tradition in class and I shared with my students how I celebrate the new year with my family. They were so curious and asked questions like, “Oh, are you really from China? Have you ever seen a real dragon?” It was such a genuine moment of connection. Part of being a Chinese music educator is that I can have this opportunity to let my students see the world I see, and they get to learn about the world through someone who has experienced it. It also makes me feel so touched that my culture would be celebrated in a place that’s so far from my home – that the kids are enjoying it.

What does it mean to you to be a music educator today?

To me, being a music educator today means being a bridge. I help my students to connect to a bigger world. I think right now the world is changing and students nowadays are exposed and connected to many different cultures at the same time. I remember one day in class, a student asked me, “Do you see a lot of street vendors in China?” They’re actually very exposed to all these different things and they are curious. Based on my experiences here in the U.S., I think kids are well taught to respect different cultures; the community here is very diverse. Music is a way to explore diversity. When I learned Italian Opera or German or French songs in college, that was not the tradition I was familiar with: the music, the culture, the history. But I realized I wasn’t just learning a different music style or tone – I was learning the culture and history behind them. At first it felt unfamiliar to me, but through music I started to see it’s the same human emotion. We are singing about love and sadness and joy, but expressing it in different ways.

For my students, I hope that music can help them to see that connection – that even though this culture may feel different or unfamiliar at first, there’s always something that we can understand and feel together. So I think being a music educator is that bridge to help them understand.

What advice would you give to music educators to encourage them in their journey?

I would say trust what you have. Be confident in what you bring because it really matters. It really matters to the students more than you could imagine. Teaching is something you learn by doing. You grow through every class, every mistake, and every moment. The beautiful thing about teaching is you’re not just teaching – you’re growing with your student. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; some of the best learning just comes from trying. Just keep trying and keep adjusting. Please always believe that every difference you make is important, even small ones.