Adaptation the key as young pianist puts time saved on traveling to good use

An Tianxu spent much of last year writing emails to leading pianists around the world, seeking their advice. Their suggestions proved helpful.

The 21-year-old finalist in the 2019 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition said his concert tour of 15 Chinese cities in May and June had to be canceled due to the pandemic.

"However, from another perspective, those months of home isolation provided professional piano players with plenty of time to practice. For anyone wanting a career as a pianist, it's important for them to grow and hone their repertoire," An said.

He added that tragic incidents have often fueled the creation of masterpieces that have influenced generations.

In late March, as the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States rose, An flew back to China. At the time, he was a sophomore majoring in piano at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He has since taken online classes from the school.

"Many of my fellow musicians have had more difficulties than I have. Some schools overseas didn't provide online classes, so they had to stay abroad," An said.

His first concert in China after the pandemic emerged was in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, in August, but tickets were only available for one-third of the 1,500 seats at the venue.

"Due to quarantine restrictions, it's hard for foreign artists to visit China for performances, but this has left more room for their Chinese counterparts," An said.

He added that he is comfortable with his current schedule. "If there were no pandemic, I would be flying back and forth between China and the US for performances and studies. Now, I find I've saved time on traveling," he said.

However, An hopes the pandemic will end soon. He said it is hard to take one-on-one piano classes online, as the sound of the instrument is affected over the internet.

"I also need to travel to different countries to seek advice from leading pianists on my playing. However, for now, I can only communicate with them via email," he said.