Lydia Qiu
Collaborative Pianist, Coordinator of Collaborative Piano Services
Bio
For the past 25 years, Lydia Qiu has enjoyed working as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach and administrator at the School of Music, Theater and Dance at the University of Michigan. Lydia oversees the collaborative piano needs throughout SMTD, ensuring that students and faculty are equipped for their lessons, classes and ensembles. As a collaborative pianist, Lydia has been praised for the sensitivity of her playing, and her superb musicality. But beyond her musical contributions, her work as an educator leaves an inspiring impact on her students as she guides them through their studies and careers. Lydia’s students have advanced in the Met Competition, the Operalia Competition and many other competitions and auditions. Many of Lydia’s students have appeared on stages in cities such as Houston, San Francisco and New York City, as well as in major cities in Europe.
An alumna of the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria, Cleveland Art Song Festival, and Songfest in Los Angeles, Lydia is passionate about promoting art songs repertoire and organizing song recitals. In her 25 years working at the University of Michigan, Lydia had programmed and collaborated for nearly 200 voice recitals with her students, coaching and performing works in German, French, Spanish, English and Chinese.
For more than 20 years, Lydia has remained committed to her work as a performer and educator in China. Lydia has taught in music schools and conservatories in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi-an, Shenyang, Harbin and Chengdu. In China, Lydia has given master classes to both voice and collaborative piano students, presented lectures on song repertoire and on singing dictions, and frequently performed in recitals and recorded with young vocalists.
Lydia holds degrees from University of Michigan, College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Capital University, as well as Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. Among her teachers and mentors, Martin Katz, John Wustman, and Julius Drake were the most influential ones in shaping Lydia’s career path.
