Teacher Profile: Carlin Ma
About Carlin Ma
Seeking means of discovery and expression, Carlin Ma has dedicated her life to music and the arts, including solo piano, chamber music, photography, and multidisciplinary projects. She received her Master's of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Yoshi Nagai and previously studied at Indiana University with Menahem Pressler, Arnaldo Cohen, Evelyne Brancart, Emile Naoumoff, and Dr. Karen Taylor. She has also had the privilege of working in masterclasses with Sergei Babayan, Karl-heinz Kmmerling, Robert Levin, Joseph Kalichstein, Jon Nakumatsu, and Angela Chang.
Carlin Ma enjoys performing for a wide range of audiences, from local to international. She has been invited to play as a soloist and collaborator in the Kennedy Center, Lbeck Musik Hochschule in Germany for the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Seiji Ozawa Hall for the Tanglewood Music Festival, and in Capella Hall and Philharmonic Hall of St. Petersburg, Russia. However, she found it equally meaningful to play in the retirement, hospitals, and age homes as part of San Francisco Conservatory's Musical Outreach Program.
Teaching piano lessons is her strong passion. To open the world of creative possibility and deep self-expression is a life-long quest, and music opens doors into this realm. Having been the Associate Instructor at Indiana University and Primary Instructor at New Music School in San Francisco, she found it exciting to teach piano lessons to students of all ages and levels. Seeing people become passionate learners brought her much joy.
Carlin actively pursues other interests, including professional photography, hiking, martial arts, German, and literature. She feels that being a professional photographer is another form of chamber music,except in a different language. She has photographed for the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Publicity Department, Indiana University, Chinese American International School, couples, ensembles, weddings, and more.
Fostering perpetual learning for herself and others is her committed passion.