Shanshan Qiao began her piano studies at the age of six. Before Dr. Shanshan came to the United States, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at Henan Normal University from 2008 to 2015. She also taught at a college in China from 2015 to 2016, where she offered private piano lessons and group piano classes at the Music School of Henan Finance and Economic University.

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Shanshan earned her Master of Music degree from the University of Tennessee, where she served as a teaching assistant in 2018. Her roles included college group piano instructor and piano accompanist. Her principal professors were Chih-long Hu and Igor Lipinsky. In Tennessee, in 2017, she won the second prize in the TMTA competition.

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She received her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in piano performance from the University of Georgia in 2023. Her principal professor at UGA is David Fung. She taught at the UGA Community Music School from 2018 to 2021, where her students included preschoolers, K-12 children, and college adult students.

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After she became a DMA candidate in 2021, she joined the Richmond Ballet Company as a ballet accompanist. She played for professional dancers and assisted them in preparing for performances. The repertoire included "The Nutcracker" and "Sleeping Beauty" by Tchaikovsky. She also accompanied young dancers, and her excellent sense of combining body language and music made her students thoroughly enjoy her playing. She also played for a dance program in a K-12 school called 'Minds In Motion,' which integrated language, dance, and music. Inspired by her experience as a dance accompanist, Shanshan excels at explaining abstract music in simple sentences and uses body language to help students understand music.

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Dr. Shanshan is an energetic piano instructor and performer. Her extensive experience in performing and accompaniment brings a wealth of ideas to her teaching. Her teaching philosophy is to inspire students and help them discover things for themselves. She is dedicated to adapting her teaching methods to meet each student's individual needs and assisting them in uncovering their musical talents.

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​*Note: Ms. Shanshan is a Distinguished Faculty member and offers lessons under our Distinguished Faculty tuition rate. Please contact us for more information.