ME IN A NUTSHELL

MY BACKGROUND

I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and came to Finland as a child. Our family comes from a long line of teachers, lecturers and professors. Both my parents have musical and pedagogical backgrounds and my early life was fully immersed in both worlds. My parents do not play any instruments proficiently but they sing. Singing and fooling around was very common in our home.

My parents let me utilise my imagination to the fullest as a child. I developed my own books, toys, crafts and later composed my own music. I started playing the piano quite late, around the age of 15. After a short period of “traditional” lessons (that failed miserably) I quit playing for a few years.

I thought the way my piano teachers taught piano at the time was very outdated and not innovative at all. I started to search for information on my own and started “teaching” myself to play little by little.

I listened to a lot of different genres. I really liked classical piano music from the romantic era (Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Thallberg, Alkan etc.). Besides classical I listened to a lot of soul, funk, RnB and hip-hop as well. I tried to imitate a lot of the music I was listening to and also started composing original compositions at the time.

After a few years of playing by myself I applied to study classical piano at the Helsinki Conservatory of Music. I studied there for 2 years. One year later I applied to study pop/jazz piano at the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory. I tried to soak in all the knowledge the school gave me while never forgetting the benefits of my self-taught period. I studied there for 2 years as well before leaving to study economics at Aalto University (Espoo).

In 2018, after many years of studying economics, I went back to the conservatory to finish my pop/jazz music degree. I graduated from the conservatory as a musician with pop/jazz piano in 2019. One year later (in 2020) I started studying social studies at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (Helsinki). I will graduate from Metropolia in 2023.

MY MUSIC PHILOSOPHY

I think the most important thing in life is to do what you love. I really like making music and teaching how to do the same. Music is very emotional and therapeutic for me and I like to instil that feeling and importance to my students as well. I want them to really explore what they want to achieve with music in life and try to guide towards their goals and ambitions. I learn as much from teaching my students as they do learning from me and like the chemistry and synergy I have with each student.

I love to create all kinds of ideas and projects and share these ideas and things I come up with with the world. My webpage had several musical projects that reflect this ambition of mine. I also enjoy playing with other people, composing music and going to jam sessions. I am drawn to anything that has to do with music and piano!

LIFE BEYOND MUSIC

Besides music I like to play football and do all kinds of sports in general. I also like to read and meet with like-minded people. Both music and sports play a very major role in my life and I try keep both very close to my heart!

(c) 2023 Sibil Yanev