April Sun
Chamber Department Chair
Piano | Chamber Music
Piano | Chamber Department Chair
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Teaching Philosophy
“Music might be defined as a system of proportions in the service of a spiritual impulse.” George Crumb
Teasing out Crumb’s description, my intent as a teacher is first to nurture my students’ “spiritual impulses” and then to help them realize and satisfy those expressive cravings. This process—translating imagined sounds into piano performance—involves the development of both intellectual and physical fluency. The mind deals with the language of music (and its system of proportions), and the body negotiates the act of piano playing. I hold imagination, exploration, creative problem-solving, and play at the core of my teaching, and my students build healthy, strong, and flexible techniques that allow them to express themselves more easily at the piano. As with anything worth loving, the journey of learning piano is fun, challenging, humbling, and deeply rewarding, and it is a joy to share in that journey with my students.
Biography
Boston-based pianist April Sun enjoys a multi-faceted musical life as a performer, educator, and arts organizer who values curiosity, sincerity, and fun in her work/play. An avid chamber musician who relishes playing keyboards of all kinds, she has performed with a diverse array of small ensembles such as The Meadowlark Trio, Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, Arpeggione Ensemble, Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, Newton Baroque, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and A Far Cry. April has served as Co-Executive Director of Music for Food, organizer with Asian Musical Voices of America, Artist in Residence in Judson Park’s Intergenerational Living Program, piano and chamber music faculty member at Brookline Music School, collaborative pianist at New England Conservatory and Boston University, and music minister at First Church Somerville.
April holds a doctorate from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received the Bennett Levine Chamber Music Award. Concurrent with her time at CIM, she studied fortepiano in Case Western Reserve University’s Historical Performance Practice Program. Her many incredible mentors have included Daniel Shapiro, Anita Pontremoli, Paul Barnes, Kim Kashkashian, Peter Salaff, Hyeyung Yoon, Francesca Brittan, and Susan McClary. She has spent summers at Centre D’Arts Orford, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Avaloch Farm Music Residency, Caroga Lake Music Festival, and Valley of the Moon Music Festival.
April was born and raised in Bozeman, MT, and kept moving east before settling in MA, where she is surrounded by people and other animals she adores. Away from the piano, she fills time with stories, bikes, strong beverages, and hikes.
Degrees
B.A. Music, with minors in Art History and English, University of Nebraska
M.M. Piano Performance, Graduate Pedagogy Certificate
D.M.A. Collaborative Piano, Cleveland Institute of Music