In January, Amelia Ly, an 11-year-old piano student at Blair Academy, walked onto the stage of the Lviv National Philharmonic in Ukraine and performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in its entirety, receiving a standing ovation.
The performance took place in a city living with the daily weight of uncertainty, under the baton of Ukrainian-American conductor Theodore Kuchar, who holds the unique distinction of having led all three of Ukraine’s premier orchestras. For the audience in Lviv, and for those following Amelia’s journey from Nashville, the evening was not only a remarkable musical achievement, but a reminder of the quiet, steady ways music continues to connect people across borders, offering a moment of peace to listeners.
Amelia studies piano with Craig Nies, associate professor of piano at the Blair School of Music, whose own artistic lineage gave the performance a deeper resonance. Nies’s teacher, the legendary pianist Mieczysław Horszowski, was born in Lviv, then part of Poland. For Nies, having a young student perform Beethoven in that city carried a sense of continuity that stretched far beyond a single concert.
“Amelia came to study with me at age eight, already having impressive performances and competition prizes,” said Nies. “She has always had the ability to learn and memorize quickly and build a large repertoire of solo, concerto, and duo repertoire. It has been inspiring to teach her as she continues to improve her emotional and technical connection to her pieces.”
Amelia began her studies with Blair Academy shortly after her family relocated from Illinois to Tennessee. They were drawn to Blair’s precollege program and, in particular, the playing and teaching philosophy of Craig Nies. Before they had even begun house hunting, they visited Blair and reached out to Nies, sensing that the environment he fostered was both rigorous and deeply humanistic.
Amelia has shown a natural affinity for the stage. She has already appeared in venues that most musicians reach only after many years, including Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Paris Philharmonie and Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. This impressive list of appearances helped lead to her invitation from conductor Theodore Kuchar to perform with the Lviv National Philharmonic.
What stands out most in Amelia’s playing is not her age or her growing list of engagements, but her ease performing and her eagerness to share music with others. She regularly performs in community settings, from retirement homes to local outreach events, approaching each performance with the same sincerity she brings to major concert halls.
No matter where she plays, Amelia describes that moment just before performing as her favorite part. “The audience is completely quiet, holding their breath,” she said. “Everything feels still. In that moment, I know I’m about to lead them on a journey through the music in my own voice.”
In Lviv, that sincerity resonated. The hall was full, and the response was immediate. The performance concluded with extended applause and audience members lingered to thank Amelia for what many described as a moment of clarity and calm. In a place where daily life is shaped by ongoing conflict, the concert offered something rare: a sense of stillness, beauty, and shared attention.
“After I came off the stage, there was a long line of people waiting outside the stage door to meet me,” said Amelia. “So many children surrounded me for photos—and instead of just flowers, they gave me chocolate bars! I felt so honored and deeply connected to the audience. It was incredibly touching.”
For Amelia’s family, the trip was equally formative. Her mother, Gina Guo, shared daily updates from rehearsals and the concert, documenting not only the performance itself but the experience of traveling through Eastern Europe during a complicated moment in history. The journey underscored for their family that music does not exist apart from the world, but within it, responding quietly and persistently to human experience.
“This trip humbled me,” said Amelia’s mother, Gina Guo. “In Lviv, we witnessed a city living with quiet resilience—artists still creating, families carrying on, and people choosing to hope amid uncertainty. In the stillness of the concert hall, we were reminded how fragile and resilient humanity can be at once, and how music offers a way to understand and honor that shared experience.”
Amelia returns to Blair with new experiences, new questions, and the same enthusiasm for performing that first drew her to the piano. She talks often about where she hopes music will take her next, but for now she is happy to be back practicing and preparing for whatever comes next.
For the Blair School of Music, her performance in Lviv is a reminder of what can happen when strong mentorship meets curiosity and a genuine love of music. Sometimes that combination leads not just to a successful concert, but to a moment that lingers, quietly, long after the final chord fades.
View the performance below: