It has been a bit more than a month since CPI and the Vocal Academy Online ended, and we miss our participants! Both programs were a success, and it was our privilege to have been able to offer high quality content and instruction during such a challenging time. After a short vacation, we are already making plans for our fifth edition, and our first anniversary!

You can see what our participants have to say in our Testimonials page as well as our Facebook page, here is a preview, from our dear participant Fang Goh:

“Time really flies! It has been a year since that singularly remarkable experience at Shattuck St Mary’s in Minnesota. I have returned to The Collaborative Piano Institute and again left inspired and warmed by the experience, even under the awkward circumstances that we currently found ourselves in.

Aside from the unparalleled and world-class content on collaborative music-making, which others here have surely took care to mention in their reviews, I believe what makes this festival a truly special experience is the humanness of it. This quality shines through the festival’s founding idea of helping people in need and the organizers’ and faculty members’ tireless endeavor to turn that into a reality. It is a place where you meet and get inspired by people with not just brilliant minds, but also big hearts.

Being a foreigner myself, I deeply admire the audacity and tenacity of Ana Maria and Elena (directors of the festival) to overcome all the odds intentionally or unintentionally stacked against us to realize their dreams and find a place here in the United States. I can only imagine the untold amount of blood, sweat, and tears that was poured into building and nurturing a truly unique platform that connects the hearts and minds of esteemed and aspiring collaborative musicians from everywhere in the world. This serves as a timely reminder to me that it takes a great deal of time, patience, and heart to achieve something truly worthwhile. I would be the first in line if these inspiring tales were to be published someday.

I rarely express my thoughts on social media – but feel truly necessary to encourage anybody who is interested in collaborative music-making to take a serious look into this lifetime opportunity. I am very glad to witness how the festival has grown since last year and hope it would continue to inspire people for the years to come.

Thank you Ana Maria, Elena, and all the faculty and staff (and last but not least, Zoom) from the bottom of my heart!