Teaching Philosophy
Music is to be enjoyed for a lifetime. With the right knowledge and skills, I believe everyone can experience the joy of music-making.
I strive to provide my students with an all-rounded music education, by helping them navigate musical languages, introducing them to various kinds of music and providing continual support on their musical journey.
Learning the piano can be a powerful experience that will enrich life in many ways. Through learning the piano, students will gain further ability to think critically and learn efficiently, which will help them in other aspects of their life.
I adapt my teaching approach to each student’s individual learning style and tailor the curriculum to best suit their personality to achieve the best possible result.
My Background
Dr Kevin Chau is a freelance teaching artist and collaborator. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Piano Performance at the University of Arizona. His primary teachers include Dr John Milbauer, Dr Nicola Melville, and Dr Paula Fan. He has over 12 years of teaching experience and more than 15 years of performing experience and has worked in the fine arts industry both in the US and Australia.
Kevin’s expertise as a professional performer is in both classical music and contemporary art music. His research interest lies in exploring the relationship between artists and their audience, and the responsibility of performers to help art evolve while still engaging the public. He has collaborated widely with other musicians, artists, dancers, writers and even computer programmers. With unique skillset and a genuine understanding of how the public reacts to classical music, Kevin has the sensibility to bring performers closer to their audience.
Collaborating with dancers on Luigi Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera
Kevin has given numerous performances across the US and in Canada. He is also an alum and scholarship recipient of the prestigious Chautauqua Music Festival and Brevard Music Center Summer Festival. As a teacher and an educator, Kevin has been invited as a guest lecturer in piano literature classes at the University of Arizona and has featured as a special guest performer to the Confluencenter Creative Collaboration series. He has also served as a volunteer teacher to the St Philips in the Hills After-School Music program for a number of years in Tucson, teaching music to students from disadvantaged families.
In rehearsal for my doctoral lecture-recital
Kevin’s interests are multi-pronged, having earned his doctoral minor in Entrepreneurship from the prestigious Eller College of Management, McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. His venture project was featured on the February 2013 Edition of the Eller College’s online magazine – Eller Buzz. He was also selected as one of the first Confluencenter Fellows at the University of Arizona, for his creative and interdisciplinary research project, Visualising Classical Music.
In addition to being a performer, Kevin has worked extensively in various roles (as a performer and as an administrator) in the fine arts industry since 2007. Since moving back to Australia in 2018, he has worked for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) as a member of their record-breaking Development team and is currently working as a consultant for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Kevin is also a Queensland Blue Card holder.
Kevin’s DMA dissertation can be found here:
https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/627765