Q&A with Thomas Yip
Thomas Yip is a classically trained pianist‑composer and the founder of Salon Chopin. We asked him ten questions about his journey, his thoughts on music education, his guilty pleasures, and how his MBTI type shapes his teaching.
Q1: Tell us a bit about yourself. Aren’t you also known as Yuen Yuen?
Yes. I release my own music under the name Yuen Yuen on Spotify, YouTube, and most streaming platforms. I have listeners from all over the world, and I do want to leave my music – and part of myself – behind in this world.
My formal training began at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, then I spent six years at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), where I earned both a Bachelor and a Master of Music. I’ve performed across Europe and Asia, but teaching has always been my passion – for over fifteen years now.
For more information you can visit my site.
Q2: What was life like at the RNCM, one of the world’s leading conservatoires?
Pretty intense. At the RNCM you are surrounded by talented musicians from all over the world. Some months are just crazy – academic essays due while you have performance commitments elsewhere. No one holds your hand here. You have to think for yourself and manage your own time better, and that was invaluable. Especially as a pianist, you have to fight your own battles.
Q3: Why did you return to Hong Kong, and what do you think of music education here?
Hong Kong is home. I knew I would have to come back eventually to look after my parents, so it was more a question of when. But I had been teaching in the UK, and I saw how few people actually learn an instrument, let alone classical music. Music education is seen as less and less important – families prefer to spend on holidays. Many parents have had horrible experiences with piano lessons from the 80s, and they have reservations about letting their own kids go through the same, even if modern teaching in the UK has evolved, the students are not coming back.
Fast‑forward to Hong Kong, and it’s almost like going back in time in terms of classical music education. Here, there are still significant numbers learning, but many are grinding through exams, and have no idea why they are suffering. I feel like I know where this will lead – and I just might have the keys to change it.
Q4: So that’s why you founded Salon Chopin?
Exactly. Well, first, it’s not enough just to tell a parent that music is not about exams – because everybody else is doing exams. We needed a space where we can go back to a simpler time, where music comes first, to strip away the superficial trophies that the world tells us we should want, and to rediscover the true beauty of music.
Salon Chopin is small, intimate, and designed to feel like a 19th‑century Parisian salon – because that’s where Chopin taught, and where he made beautiful music. Not in cramped practice rooms that feel like a cage – how does one begin to imagine beauty in such environment? In Hong Kong, every inch of ground matters, but personally, making a difference is more important than making a profit.
Q5: How has Chopin influenced you, musically and philosophically?
Chopin has always been a huge part of my life as a pianist. Well, for any pianist, really. I remember my first Chopin piece and being completely amazed at all the trickery – it sparked an endless curiosity about the composer and his music. I take inspiration from him when I write my own music, and his approach to piano playing has helped many of my students play with more ease and do away with years of tension from bad habits.
Q6: What is the most common mistake you see students make?
That they believe practice is mindless repetition. But they cannot be blamed – Hong Kong’s education system favours repetition over curiosity. When a musician practices, their mind is active, thoughtful. Something not often communicated enough is that a teacher might ask you to repeat a passage a couple of times during a lesson, and while you are doing so, the teacher is doing the thinking and listening. When you repeat the same passage at home, you have to do the thinking and listening too.
Q7: What do you wish every student knew?
That mistakes are normal, and perfection is in fact the unnatural product of deliberate practice, which in itself is unheard of in the animal kingdom. Especially these days, you scroll through social media and see people playing Chopin études flawlessly, but nobody starts out like that.
If the RNCM were a science institute, and its practice rooms were labs where apprentices learn to play on their chemistry sets… walking past the corridor you would hear vials dropped, chemical explosions, and all kinds of mishaps that happen during practice. At the end of the day, no explosions = no potion of youth.
Q8: What’s your MBTI, and how do you think it influences your teaching?
I’m an ISTJ. I’m an introvert and like to observe the state in which the student shows up for lessons. Why is he excited? Did she look down at her feet because she didn’t practise? I have a pretty good memory and can find solutions to problems from a vast databank of experience and knowledge. I enjoy giving practical solutions and seeing the student’s playing transform before my eyes. Some pupils have joked that I have a magic wand – but all they needed was someone who helped them find a plan and stick with it until the results become obvious.
Oh, and yes – there is no hiding from your teacher.
Q9: What are some of your guilty pleasures?
All‑you‑can‑eat sushi – also one of the reasons why Salon Chopin is in Mong Kok.
Q10: Where do you see Salon Chopin in five years, and what do you want it to be remembered for?
I hope it remains honest to its mission: to bring music back into music education, and to be a salon where people come to make music for the love of it. For inspiring the next generation of pianists who can think, listen, and feel each phrase, and for bringing a little piece of Chopin’s Paris to Mong Kok – reminding us why we play.
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