Adventures in a Dreamland for Musicians

At 2:55 p.m., the side door to Yin Yin Huang Acevedo’s Alhambra home slowly opens. In walk two young teenagers, book bags in tow, for a 3 p.m. piano lesson. Like clockwork, the duo take their seats side by side in front of one of the two grand pianos in the studio.

Physically, the students look nothing alike: Leslie Wu is a lanky 14-year-old boy towering at roughly six feet, while Vicki Chiang, also 14, seems about half his size, at a diminutive five feet. However, on the count of three, they simultaneously begin to play, all while Acevedo sits nearby in an armchair carefully analyzing every black and white key pressed.

A flurry of music fills the studio. And as the tempo changes, so do Acevedo’s mannerisms. At the beginning of the piece, she sits comfortably while her head slightly bobs to the pleasant, relaxing music. She then stands and claps during a more danceable, upbeat portion. She moves closer to the piano and waves her hands, mimicking the dark, heavy tone of the piece. By the end, Acevedo is completely enthralled in the emotion, as if she wrote the piece herself.

“It’s all about teamwork. Breathe together, like a conductor,” Acevedo stresses after the pair complete a flawless-sounding piece.

Wu then attempts a solo piano piece, and, keeping with Acevedo’s teamwork theme, Chiang stands ready to turn the pages of the sheet music.

“More expression,” Acevedo encourages. “Look like you’re having a good time. Make your music speak and have a good time. If you don’t have a good time, your audience won’t.”

This is the core of Acevedo’s impeccable teaching: firm, yet encouraging, going beyond basic technique and teaching her students to understand and physically express music. And Acevedo practices what she preaches — her musical knowledge, talent and stage presence have gained her international recognition and accolades.

In addition to teaching private lessons and at California State University, Los Angeles, as an associate professor of keyboard studies, Acevedo actively performs with the Harmonium Quartet, which includes her husband, violinist John Acevedo; cellist Ling Yan; and violinist Pei-Chun Tsai. She and her husband also oversee the Hidalgo Trio, which includes their 16-year-old son Evan Acevedo on cello, violinist Tiffany Wang and pianist Marion Aguas.

Born in Taiwan, Acevedo was drawn to music and, at the age of 10, began studying under Lily Chou, a renowned piano teacher and chair at the Tainan Girls Technology College, whose teaching style greatly impacted Acevedo.

“She was patient and never gave up on me,” Acevedo says. “She always stood up for me. If we were scheduled too much or worked long hours, she would always say, ‘You can’t treat musicians like that.’ She has been one of my important mentors.”

Acevedo was not only influenced by Western music, but also by Western culture — which differed greatly from her homeland, where women were not seen as equal to men.

“In Taiwan, a woman is treated as secondary,” Acevedo says. “My two brothers always went first in my family.”

Without her parents’ permission, Acevedo began to write school papers on women’s rights and became more vocal about her place in her strict household.

“My father was hard on me,” Acevedo says. “There was little privacy. To go through [my parents] was not easy.

“But I was always rebellious in school,” she adds with a laugh. “I was the first to wear jeans and miniskirts.”

Acevedo’s views may have been controversial to her family and at school, but she did receive praise for her musical talents. At age 16, she performed as a soloist with the Chinese Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the Formosa Chamber Orchestra. She then attended the University of Chinese Culture in Taipei, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. And though she began teaching as a professor at Taiwan Theological College, Acevedo had her eyes set on the United States and Europe.

“The United States is like a dreamland for musicians and artists,” Acevedo says. “You can do whatever you want to, as long as you’re honest and show dignity and respect in return. In Taiwan, you can only teach; there aren’t as many opportunities.”

Acevedo then traveled to California, where she performed with various orchestras, including the Los Angeles Central Jewish Symphony Orchestra. She also attended California State University, Los Angeles, where she received her master’s degree.

Her big break — and one of her most memorable performances to date — came in April 1999 when celebrated baritone concert singer William Warfield invited Acevedo to accompany him on piano for the Schiller Institute’s “Saving the Spiritual — The Dignity of Man Is in Your Hands” concert.

“I was honored, but we didn’t have too much time to rehearse because he wanted to save his voice,” Acevedo recalls as she looks at a photograph of her and Warfield at the performance. “After about 10 minutes of rehearsing, he looked over and said, ‘Fine, darling. That sounds good.’ And that was it. During the performance I was so tense because I didn’t have a full rehearsal, but after, people would come up to me and say, ‘Wow, you looked so focused.’”

Acevedo also participated in events abroad, appearing as a guest artist and faculty member at the International Leschetizky Music Conservatory in Vienna and serving as a faculty member at the Taiwan International Chamber Music Festival.

Italian violinist and friend Roberto Cani invited Acevedo to both perform and teach at the Positano International Chamber Music Courses and Festival. Held in an Italian seaside resort town, the event has become an annual staple for Acevedo, her family and her students. Acevedo even holds a scholarship fund-raising concert prior to the event at the Pasadena Public Library, and will do so again this year on Saturday.

The festival includes master classes, ensembles and seminars about various musical genres, from Chinese piano music to jazz improvisation. Students of all ages from across the globe gather for two weeks to hone their skills on piano, violin, viola, cello and wind instruments. They then showcase their talents at public performances of both chamber and solo music at local hotels, auditoriums and historic churches.

“It’s an opportunity to mix a lifestyle with music, an international cultural exchange,” Acevedo says. “It’s different than festivals in Vienna, which are much more serious and technical. In Positano, we live the culture: eat lunch by the beach, go to Pompeii and see history besides just studying music.”

Having an open mind is essential to Acevedo, who trains her students to blend their artistic skills with community service to enlighten, as well as entertain, the public. Both Acevedo and her husband organize benefit concerts and encourage their students to participate.

For the past 10 years, the Acevedos have conducted concerts at Villa Gardens Retirement Home, annual midsummer concerts and soloist and small ensemble recitals. After a string of local charity concerts that helped raise money for the Taiwanese earthquake in 1999, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the South Asian tsunami in 2004, they decided to establish the Acevedo Music and Art Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that enables young people to use their musical and artistic talents for philanthropic endeavors. Currently, Acevedo, her husband and her sister-in-law Sandra Acevedo, who is an artist, oversee the organization.

“We combine both arts, musical and visual,” Acevedo explains. “For our events, we’ll pick a theme and then the art students will draw based on certain music or our music students will compose or play something based on certain art.”

Acevedo recently received the International Federation for World Peace Ambassador of Peace award for her charitable work through music, teaching and community service.

A number of Acevedo’s students have received scholarships to prestigious music institutions, including the Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, the Peabody Institute and the New England Conservatory of Music.

“I like teaching young people,” Acevedo says. “It’s a privilege to see them grow up musically, physically and spiritually. It’s wonderful to watch them, like seeing your own kids.”

“Yin Yin is such a musical person,” says Caroline Park, a 19-year-old student of Acevedo’s for the past five years. “She is so willing to share the different shades and contours of emotion that it is impossible not to be moved when one hears her play.”

Park, who now attends the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and aspires to become a composer and teacher, thanks Acevedo for her consistent support and guidance, musically, academically and personally.

“I respect Yin Yin on so many levels,” Park says. “What I admire most about her is that she makes every experience personal — everything from private lessons to competitions and recitals, even just catching up on things that are going on at school or elsewhere. I think it’s fair to say that all her students express a deep gratitude toward her. Although she may appear to be intimidating, it is this discipline factor in establishing solid technique that allows her students to go beyond the average piano student.”