Beloved piano mentor gives money to music school
Piano students at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music in Wuhan, Hubei province, are grateful to a foreign teacher for donating $100,000 for the school's development of piano education.
Willard Schultz, an American-Canadian, was a piano educator and performer before his death in April in Seattle at age 96.
During his music career spanning more than 70 years, Schultz had been to many countries around the world, including China, teaching and performing.
Invited by Hubei province's educational department, he came to the conservatory in 1988 as a piano teacher.
He was then the first foreign expert that stayed at the school for a long period of time since China's reform and opening-up in 1978, according to Meng Qiu, who was Schultz's interpreter at the time.
"He liked China very much," Meng said.
During his stay at the school, Schultz was loved not only by his students but also by other teachers. He left the school in February, 1990.
"His teaching was refreshing," said Tian Yuan, deputy head of the school's piano department, who learned from Schultz when she was a junior student.
"He was always smiling and happy to help others," Tian said, adding that Schultz was a friend to his students and frequently took them to travel and eat together.
According to the school, since Schultz's departure he has continued to consult with overseas students from the school.
Before his death, he instructed his lawyer to donate $100,000 to the Wuhan Conservatory of Music to help the development of the school's piano program.
In August, Meng's daughter, Meng Wuna, was invited to the United States to attend the farewell ceremony for Schultz. She was a child when Schultz was in China but developed a friendship with him despite their age difference.
Influenced by Schultz, she has become an associate professor in the piano department of the school.
"Professor Schultz is an outstanding artist and a valued friend. He will always be remembered by his students and friends," a school official said.
