Tiantian Dong
Tiantian Dong
Class Year
M.M. ’20
Current home
China
Major(s)
M.M. in Music Theatre Vocal Pedagogy
Current Position
Self-employed Voice Teacher
Tiantian Dong M.M. ’20 attended Carthage as an international student. She currently has her own channel on Bilibili, a Chinese website similar to YouTube, where she shares singing tips to over 25,000 followers. She also gives musical theatre singing workshops annually around China and teaches private lessons online.
Ms. Dong says her Carthage experience helped her gain practical teaching techniques, which she uses when working with students.
How did Carthage prepare you?
“At Carthage, I learned how to sing effectively, how to teach students to sense the movement of the anatomies in their vocal tract and the whole body, and how to teach students in a way that they can understand. I also learned empathy and patience, and how to be a teacher and a friend to my students.”
How has your liberal arts education benefitted you?
“My liberal arts education helped me develop experiential learning in my teaching process. The majority of the students who studied with me can make obvious progress because I let them experience the feeling of making a specific sound instead of telling them what it should feel like. Because of this process, students get to explore and understand their anatomies in their own way, which makes them learn more effectively.”
Why did you choose Carthage?
“I used to be an exchange student at Carthage when I was getting my undergraduate degree. I was completely entranced by the way the music theatre faculty taught. Their proficiency and empathy made me feel at home. I was certain I wanted to be a teacher like them, so I came back for my graduate study.”