Tian spent his the fall semester of his junior year in Paris, where his education included attending classes at the Louve. He also participated in an externship with the museum, explaining paintings in one of the Louvre's exhibition areas as a trilingual interpreter using French, Chinese, and English.

One of the reasons Tian was drawn to Paris in the first place was the fact that Chopin had enjoyed one of the most creative periods of his life there. Tian wondered how living in the city, surrounded by the art, the sights, sounds, and smells of a city Chopin loved, might reshape the way Tian played his music.

When he returned to Crawfordsville in January, he headed for the piano to begin practicing again. He noticed he was playing the Chopin differently, maybe had something different, and more, to give the pieces. His piano teacher noticed, too.

“I think living in that place he loved, walking those same streets, I absorbed something,” Tian said. “Even though I wasn’t able to play piano as much, I was inspired. And I brought that back with me.”