Shawn Xie
COMPOSER · PRODUCER · SINGER-SONGWRITER · ARTIST
“He is not only teaching the piece, but a way of my own to imagine through music.” - Shawn Xie
Shawn studied piano under Mr. Dong during high school. Over time, he began to understand music more deeply and develop a more personal and imaginative relationship with it. At the same time, Shawn’s interests expanded beyond classical piano. He began writing and producing original songs, and his conversations with Mr. Dong often included harmony, songwriting, and recording techniques. Shawn credits that encouragement with helping him continue his creative journey and ultimately see music as a possible career. 高中时期，Shawn 师从董老师学习钢琴。随着学习的深入，他逐渐对音乐有了更深层的理解，也开始建立起更具个人色彩与想象力的音乐表达。与此同时，他的兴趣也从古典钢琴延伸至更广阔的音乐领域，开始创作歌曲并进行音乐制作。他与董老师的交流也常常涉及和声、歌曲创作以及录音制作等方面。Shawn 认为，正是这些鼓励与支持，让他能够不断探索自己的音乐道路，并最终开始将音乐视为未来的职业方向。
The Pursuit of Excellence, at the Piano and Beyond.
Student Stories
Allison To
Stanford Admission • Yale fellowship, Oberlin double degree • International Competition Prizewinner • MTAC YAG Recipient • Path to medicine
"Lessons were always fun, thoughtful, and challenging, and he constantly pushed me to reach my full potential." - Allison To
Prior to college, Allison spent a decade developing as a pianist, performing and competing extensively across the United States. She went on to complete Oberlin’s Double Degree Program, followed by a fellowship at Yale. Having successfully completed the MCAT, she is now pursuing the next chapter of her journey toward medical school. 进入大学之前，Allison经历了长达10年的音乐成长，从一名年幼的琴童逐渐成长为成熟的青年钢琴演奏者，并在多年的学习中积累了丰富的演出与比赛经验。 此后，她完成了欧柏林大学及音乐学院的双学位课程，并随后完成了耶鲁医学院的 Fellowship。如今，她已顺利完成 MCAT（美国医学院入学考试)，继续向医学领域发展。 回顾多年的学习经历，Allison 曾这样评价与董老师的学习： “每一堂课都充满乐趣、思考与挑战，而他也始终推动着我不断突破自己、发挥最大的潜能。”
Alisa Huang, Age 8
Mozart: Piano Concerto K. 414
MTAC State Solo Competition winner
Student Performances
学生演奏
Ziyu Chen, Age 14
Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 2
Glendale Competition 1st prize
Los Angeles Liszt Competition 1st Prize
Adrian Liao, Age 17
Moszkowski: Caprice Espagnol, Op. 37
Spotlight winner · YoungArts Winner · From the top · New England Conservatory
Student Achievements
学生荣誉与成长
Competition Recognition
Major Performances
Students under Mr. Dong’s guidance have received recognition as U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts and National YoungArts recipients, as well as prizes in the Gina Bachauer, Bösendorfer/Yamaha, Tureck, Los Angeles Liszt, and other national and international competitions. Students have also been selected for the MTAC Young Artist Guild and won state-level solo and concerto competitions.
Students have appeared as concerto soloists with orchestras in Southern California and internationally, with performances at Carnegie Hall, Segerstrom Concert Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and other major venues in the United States and Europe. Several have also been featured on NPR’s From the Top.
Academic & Musical Pathways
Students have continued their musical studies at Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Eastman, Peabody, Oberlin, and Berklee, while others have attended Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Caltech, Cornell, Duke, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. For many, serious musical training has remained an important part of their lives even as they pursued other academic and professional fields.
Former students have gone on to careers in medicine, science, technology, academia, law, composition, and music production. Their paths include Caltech → Princeton → Apple, UCLA → Mayo Clinic, and Oberlin → Northwestern PhD—reflecting a philosophy of musical education intended to develop independence, discipline, imagination, and excellence far beyond the piano.
Beyond the piano
Alumni Highlights
Phoebe Pan
Columbia • Oberlin • Northwestern PhD Candidate
Jack Zheng-Hua Xia
Stacy Chang
UCLA • Mayo Clinic medical school,
“
He doesn’t focus solely on outcomes or performance, but teaches with a holistic approach and extraordinary generosity of time and heart… He has a remarkable ability to turn my ‘I can’t’ into ‘I can.’ 董老师并不只关注成绩或演奏表现，而是以一种更全面的方式教学，并倾注了非凡的时间与心力……他总有一种特别的能力，把我的‘我做不到’，变成‘我可以做到。’
— Former student Bethany Huang, J.D. Candidate, Notre Dame Law School
I struggled for many years to find confidence at the piano, and would often return from my lessons amazed by the sheer measure of faith he had in me and in my capability as a musician. He encouraged me to become the best possible musician I could, always with great love, and always putting me first without question 多年来，我一直缺乏在钢琴上的自信。每次上完课，我常常都会惊讶于董老师对我的信任，以及他对我作为一名音乐人的能力所抱有的坚定信心。他始终鼓励我成为最好的自己、成为我所能成为的最优秀的音乐人，并给予我无私的关爱，始终把我的成长放在第一位。
— Former student Tara shankar, Caltech B.S. · Princeton M.S. · Machine Learning Engineer, Apple
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