• Acceptance to Juilliard’s Master of Music in Piano Performance

• Acceptance to Yale’s Master of Music in Piano Performance

• Winner of Walter W. Naumburg International Piano Competition

It’s very hard to explain with words how grateful I am to Mr. Shihor for the past four years studying with him.

There are too many things that in my opinion stand out in his teaching, but I think I should at least mention these two.

The first one is his unconditional belief in the student’s abilities and his commitment to make the most of those abilities no matter what it takes.

Often he believed in me more than I did myself, and kept demanding and encouraging the highest level in pieces without exception.

This is grounded on the second aspect – he can justify that belief because he knows how to make that potential a reality through extraordinary attention to detail, ear and musical intuition.

The most remarkable thing which I’ve noticed, however, is his ability to point out exactly the things that I need but that I’m not yet hearing in the music, to let that piece develop to a next level that I could not imagine before the lesson, and that sometimes I was not even aiming for to start with, because I didn’t know it was possible for me. I just didn’t know how to reach that level and he helped me every time without fail.

His commitment before specific important events (such as the competitions I’ve entered) has been incredible, giving many, many hours a week that I needed to be as prepared as possible. As a result, I always surpassed my expectations in those events.

If I look back to those four years in a bigger scale I can see how much Mr. Shihor has helped me find and develop my technique, my ear and my musical and pianistic personality. On top of that he is a wonderful human being and mentor, a very kind person and someone whom I feel I can always turn to. The value of these four years is incredibly important in my life!

— Albert Cano Smit, studied with Ory Shihor for 4 years