In the music room of Strathmore Mansion on June 5, eighteen year old Qinxuan Pan is seated at a black piano, glossy in the soft yellow light.

He leans into the piano as though pulled by some magnetic force of the keys while releasing the works of Bach and Brahms, Liszt and Schubert, Bach-Busoni and Shchedrin.

His eyebrows furrow sporadically in concentration, his head nods in fervent agreement to the swelling harmonies, and, on occasion, his eyes lift slowly to the ceiling as though watching the notes rise like clouds of steam through the air.

A recent graduate of Wooton High School, this is Pan’s senior concert. For Pan, it is both a showcase and celebration of how much he has accomplished in the past three years.

Pan’s musical journey, under the direction of Dr. Dmitri Nazarenko, has culminated in awards from regional piano competitions including the Maryland Spring Festival, Gottlieb Piano Competition, the Doris Chase Sonata Competition, and the Maryland Piano Concerto Competition, among others.

Hard to imagine that three years ago, Pan emigrated from Shanghai and decided to pick up a beginners guide to piano playing.

Why the piano?

Pan answers with relative ease. “I think maybe because it was only instrument my grandfather introduced me when I was eight years old and I never had any experience with other instrument. But I also think with piano you have more range.”

What is it about the act of playing the piano that gave you the passion to learn seriously at what might be considered a late age?

After momentarily grappling with his own thoughts he says simply, “Music allows you express emotion more than words.”

Is that when it comes to English because it is your second language or would you be able to express emotion better in Chinese?

“Even for Chinese,” Pan continues, “Maybe express a little more but still can not express everything.”

For ten months, upon arriving in the United States in June 2006, Pan spent his time “learning the basics,” he says. Pan’s grandparents were baffled by his sudden interest in learning piano.

“My grandparents at first thought it would be big distraction for me,” he said, “and my father also but not as much. I agree with their concern because when you emigrate from another country it is very hard. I have to worry about school work and college and we are still learning English as well. So, it is very unusual to begin piano this late,” he admits.

With his mother’s support, Pan looked for a tutor to further his ability although with little experience, Pan’s application was rejected by tutors several times until he came across an advertisement for Dr. Nazarenko in a local Chinese newspaper.

Pan played pieces by Beethoven and Chopin from memory during his audition with remarkable accuracy for a self-taught student, according to Nazarenko.

“When I asked him how he was able to stay in such good performing form without a piano, he told me that for the last 3 months he had been practicing on a table! That was what made me immediately recognize his amazing determination,” says Nazarenko who usually doesn’t accept late beginners.

During his first year with Nazarenko, Pan explains that he focused primarily on the movement of his fingers.

“I thought my hands were rather big and slow,” he says, “Like most people, I think that your fingers must be long and dexterous to play well. But Dr. Dmitri surprised me very much,” Pan continues, “He tell me that it was not a big deal. I did not believe him.”

Nazerenko agrees that Pan’s first year was the hardest because of his deep concern for correctness, evenness, and cleanness of the notes.

“Right away I realized that this young man has amazing potential and I tried to develop his imagination to go beyond a correct but boring performance.” Nazarenko says, “It took me years when I was young to realize that the fingers have to follow overall design - the emotional image of the piece. Without that clear image even the most precise performance will feel flat and unimpressive. With the clear image though, the performance can be so exciting that some small mistakes will go unnoticed.”

Pan says that halfway through his second year, something happened, and he began to listen to the music.

It is why, tonight, the wooden floor of the music room becomes the stage for a delicate waltz to Brahms Intermezzo in A Major Op. or why the gloomy gray skies just beyond the window panes become an ominous backdrop for a sailor doomed to life at sea in Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 in B minor.

Pan stands, bows, and smiles shyly at the end, his forehead shiny in perspiration. This is perhaps one of his last few concerts before attending M.I.T. in the fall. With a career in mind that will allow him to use his skills as a gifted math student, Pan still hopes to further his music studies.

“I hope he can find a very good and nurturing piano teacher, who will not only help him with his school, but help him to develop into a true artist,” said Nazarenko, “I hope that his equal passion for math and music will not contradict but help him to find a healthy balance in life. I hope he’ll get many chances in performing in public.”