Candace Chien

Faculty since 2025

Passing on her love of classical music to the next generation is a particular passion for Candace. She has held piano faculty positions at Summit Music Festival, Burgos International Music Festival, International Music Academy in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Usdan Center of Creative and Performing Arts and Point Counterpoint Chamber Music Festival, as well as music teaching positions in the public schools of Westfield, New Jersey and Queens, New York. She appears as a master clinician for Anemone Music Studio, and Main Line Music Teachers Association. Along with acceptances to LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts, West Chester University, University of North Texas, and Temple University, Candace’s students are also prize winners at various competitions, performing at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Academy of Music, and more.

Candace is a graduate of The Juilliard School, studying with Jonathan Feldman and Margo Garrett, and continues on at Juilliard as one of their staff pianists. She received her Master’s degree in piano performance at the Manhattan School of Music with the guidance of Jeffery Cohen and obtained her undergraduate degree in piano performance and music education at Temple University under Professor Harvey Wedeen. In her spare time between teaching and performing, one can also find Candace in the kitchen. Her personal connection to music and food can be seen on Food Network tv show, Cooks Versus Cons, Season 4 in the episode “Fry, Fry Again!”.

My first start in private teaching was now fifteen years ago. I’ve taught in public schools as a K-12 general music teacher, group piano classes in after school programs for low income schools, and have traversed the diversity of teaching experiences in terms of class size, socio-economic background, and talent pool.  Now, my students attend regional competitions, take graded exams, audition and are accepted to arts high schools and summer festivals, and more.  

Students who study with me are approached with honesty and understanding to maximize trust. It is important for me to normalize the difficulties of a challenging art like classical piano, like demystifying technique, while also making the effort to understand the demands and pressures of students of all ages in a firm but fair way.  Cultivating respect towards the skills of discipline, effort, and critical thinking while building the personal teacher-student relationship allows children to find their own unique voice and freedom of expression.  These elements will build an artistically fulfilling long term relationship with piano for the rest of a student’s life.

My greatest wish as a teacher is that a student’s relationship with the piano contributes to their growth into well rounded, decent, and thoughtful members of society, and my belief is that all students, regardless of age, ability, or economic background, should have access to this.