Richard Ding

Richard is a highly accomplished musician and pianist. He has been playing the piano for over 10+ years, has been teaching for over 5+ years, and has been a professional musician nationally. He has the pleasure of teaching various students around the globe, leading them to great musical success including winning provincial and national level competitions. Richard has obtained his ARCT (Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto) in Piano Performance with First Class Honors with Distinction when he was only 14. He has also been a recipient of many piano competitions and scholarships, including a Triple Gold Medal for Piano Performance (VAYA Music Festival), Double Gold Medal for Piano Performance (BC Conservatory of Music), and Prize Trophy from Steinway International Music Competition. Furthermore, Richard has also played French Horn in various prestigious orchestras in Vancouver and in the national level. One of his experiences was being the principle French hornist in the best youth orchestra in all of BC called the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. From there, Richard was mentored from various renowned musicians and professors in Canada including Roger Cole (Juilliard graduate and Principle Oboist from numerous international orchestras), Dr. Jonathan Girard (Director of Orchestras at the University of British Columbia), Dr. Ryan Trew, Dr. Wayne Jeffrey (Graduate from Manhattan School of Music), Jordan Nobles (JUNO award winning composer), and many more. Other than renowned mentors, throughout his musical journey Richard has collaborated with world-class musicians who went on to becoming the best pianists and orchestra members in all of North America including Juilliard School of Music (#1 Ranked Music School in the world), Curtis Institute of Music, Berklee College of Music graduates.

Richard's lessons are individualized for each piano student based on their learning style, goals, and outcomes. He create lessons based on the student's schedule and needs, such as if they would like to be classically trained or as a casual learner (eg. having fun playing their favourite song). Richard will then create a framework to guide them to their goals by making each step of the way fun while working through the fundamentals. Each lesson will include evaluating and analyzing each student's unique strengths while adjusting the lesson plan accordingly and giving guidance. He makes sure that each and every student is competent in the foundation of music including ear training, sight reading, technique, rhythm, note-reading, and music theory and work their way up to becoming the best musical versions of themselves. Richard can work for a broad spectrum of piano students, from beginner to the most advanced.