THECOMPASSCONCERTS

Heidi Tsai

Heidi Tsai, equally expressive on the harpsichord, fortepiano and piano, performs regularly on all three keyboard instruments. Her versatile musicality brings life to different genres of repertoire from the 17th to the 21st centuries.

Ms. Tsai holds a doctorate in music in historical keyboards from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to having taught for more than 30 years in higher musical institutions in Europe and the US, she also holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Boston University, which she regularly incorporates in her pedagogic approach. She has taught both piano and harpsichord at Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Arizona State University and Indiana University. Between 2002-2019, Heidi Tsai was on the faculty in the early music department at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona, and was both the harpsichord professor and director of the early music ensemble at the Conservatoire in Pau, France.

Ms. Tsai's most recent project involved two performances of the complete sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord by J.S.Bach, with Swiss violinist, Gilles Colliard. Ms. Tsai has been invited to play in major concert series and music festivals throughout the United States, Central America, Asia and Europe. In an orchestral setting, she has collaborated with Christian Zacharias, Giovanni Antonini, Leonard Slatkin, Robert King, Stanley Ritchie and Nigel North. Ms. Tsai has co-founded and directs the early music group Barcelona Barroc. Their recording, Chiaoscuro, features the two concerti for the harpsichord, violin and flute, by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Ms. Tsai's live performance of the Goldberg Variations in Spain received enthusiastic and warm feedback, and was recorded and broadcasted by Catalunya Música radio station. She has also been invited and performed on the television program 'El Temps del Picó' (Barcelona).

You can purchase some of Ms. Tsai's recordings on her website: Click here to visit Heidi Tsai's website

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Louis Yungling

Hello, my name is Louis Yungling and I'm the founder of COMPASS. I'm also a pianist and teacher.

Meditation, mindfulness and awareness exercises are an integral part of my teaching and practice. Musicians benefit greatly from these practices by being able to fine tune their focus and get more out of their practice as well as increase their responsiveness to sound and be more present and confident in performance.

I created COMPASS concerts to extend these practices to audiences and give everyone a moment to pause and go inward. We do this by sharing a brief contemplation exercise before every concert. In this way we practice being aware of one another and give ourselves a chance to feel and appreciate our unique contribution.

Preparing our minds and bodies to receive and make music allows us to be more receptive to the beauty and generosity that goes into a musical performance. And practicing this type of mindful preparation regularly can help us open our hearts more to the experiences of our day to day lives.

I am thrilled to share this journey with you and the very talented, generous artists who perform here. Thank you to all my musician friends for sharing your gifts and creating beautiful programs of music for our COMPASS community. And thank you to all who come and partake in these heart-warming community concerts.

I currently live and teach piano in Valencia, Spain. My teaching website: Yungling Piano Studio.

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