Isabella Jie

Pianist

Indonesian pianist and teacher, Isabella Jie, started learning piano at the age of three. When she was five, she participated in her first public piano concert and has been active in performing and competing, winning numerous Indonesian piano competitions since then. At age 14, she moved by herself to Canada to study with Leon Karan and attend high school at Columbia International College. She won first prizes at the Kiwanis Piano Competitions, was invited to perform at the Living Arts Center in Missisauga, Ontario, and graduated high school with top academic honors. University of Toronto was her home for the next four years, where she studied with Dr. Midori Koga. She graduated in 2010 with her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance with the most meritorious award and the Alexander Kinghorn scholarship for Gifted Students.

Isabella completed her Master of Music and Performer’s Diploma degrees at Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University where she studied under a full academic scholarship and an Associate Assistantship. Her teachers were the world-renowned, Chopin International Competition prizewinner, Professor Edward Auer, and Shigeoka Neriki, a pupil of György Sebok. During her study at Indiana University, she worked as a piano instructor for the Indiana University Young Pianist Program with Dr. Karen Taylor and taught piano courses for both music and non-music majors. She also regularly performed in chamber groups, specializing in collaboration with woodwind instruments.

Isabella completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Minnesota in 2017, where she studied with Alexander Braginsky. She was a Gronyea fellow and held the position of Teaching Assistant for piano courses at the university. Her DMA dissertation connects her extensive studies of western music with her Indonesian heritage and passion for teaching: "Debussy and Gamelan: An Introduction to Gamelan Music for Piano Students". During her time in Minneapolis, she won the 18th Annual Masters Concerto and Aria Competition by Kenwood Symphony Orchestra (KSO), Marvin O. Mechelke Piano Competition, and was a two-time prize winner at the Schubert Club Piano Competition. She has performed at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN, and collaborated with the KSO to perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1. She also maintained a full private teaching studio in Minneapolis-St.Paul area.

Isabella moved to Washington State at the beginning of 2018, and has opened a teaching studio serving Gig Harbor and Tacoma. She has served as adjudicator for the BBC-ORMTA Piano Competition in Brampton, Canada, and for the WMEA Piano Solo and Ensemble Contests in Washington State (Tacoma and Renton).