By: Qingzhou Zhang
Jiaman Li’s path as a pianist and educator was shaped not by an early advantage, but by a late beginning and a stubborn commitment to growth. She first sat at the piano at age eight, later than many peers, and grew up in a small town in southeastern China where consistent, high-level instruction was difficult to access. Frequent teacher changes left her training uneven, with fundamentals such as posture, tone production, technique, and basic musicianship developing in fragments rather than through a stable, sequential plan. At one point, a teacher dismissed her potential with a cruel judgment, prompting her family to stop lessons. What could have ended her musical life instead became a turning point: her mother later found a supportive teacher who taught the student in front of her, and Jiaman began rebuilding her foundation with patience and persistence.
When she decided to major in piano in college, skepticism resurfaced. She recognized the reality that other applicants had years of structured training, but she refused to let that define the outcome. Rather than relying solely on hours, she learned to practice strategically, diagnosing technical problems, isolating weak points, and building solutions step by step. That approach helped her “catch up on purpose,” leading to admission at a strong conservatory and validating her belief that a late start does not erase talent; it simply demands method, clarity, and resilience.
Conservatory life introduced a different challenge: constant comparison. Surrounded by classmates who had trained intensively since early childhood, she often felt behind, uncertain, and pressured by an unspoken standard of belonging. Yet this environment also sharpened her determination. She carried the rare skill of knowing how to rebuild fundamentals from the ground up, and she worked with the urgency of someone who had already been told “no.” As graduation approached, she set her sights on graduate study, even as others warned her that her performance level might not be competitive enough for the programs she wanted. Her initial results brought acceptance, but not in the way she had hoped. Instead of treating that as a final verdict, she treated it as feedback. She committed to another year of focused preparation, embracing repetition and refinement while doubts persisted around her.
That year reshaped her trajectory. She earned multiple offers and chose to pursue her master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University, where the artistic and intellectual demands expanded her understanding of what it means to be a complete musician. There, she deepened her artistry, strengthened her technique, and developed a more comprehensive framework for performance and pedagogy.
Midway through her first year, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the foundations of musical training and performance. For performers, it was not merely an inconvenience; it dismantled auditions, concerts, in-person instruction, and the steady mentorship cycle that supports artistic development. During the isolation of remote study, Jiaman clarified a long-term goal: to pursue the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA). The path was not immediate. She experienced rejections, loneliness, and significant stress while living in a foreign country. Still, she sought counseling, built structure when motivation waned, and continued working with discipline even when confidence felt fragile.
Her persistence ultimately led to admission to her dream program at the University of Miami, where she completed the DMA in Keyboard Performance and Pedagogy. Earning the doctorate represented more than a credential; it marked the culmination of years spent transforming setbacks into systems for growth. Alongside her performance training, she developed a clear identity as an educator who designs learning, specializing in college group/class piano, applied piano, and functional keyboard skills, and emphasizing practical musicianship such as harmonization, transposition, score reading, improvisation, collaboration, and technique that serve musical purposes.
Jiaman’s achievements extend beyond degrees. She was honored as a First Prize Winner of the 2024 Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition, an international recognition that affirmed her artistry. For her, the award symbolized distance traveled, from the moment someone tried to define her limits to the moment she proved, through deliberate work, that endurance and strategy can redefine a musician’s future. Grounded in gratitude to her family, friends, and mentors, she continues to bridge performance and pedagogy through a cross-cultural perspective, shaping a professional life in a new country built on resilience, empathy, and disciplined craft.
Jiaman’s personal website: www.jiamanl.com
