Eliyahu Gasson | editor-in-chief

There are roughly 9,000 miles between the United States and Malaysia. To travel that distance would take 23 hours by flight, 4 to 6 weeks by boat and 14 months on foot. The two countries are incredibly far away, especially if it means that’s the distance from home.

That separation is worth it for junior music performance major Beatrice Khor, who moved to the U.S. from Malaysia to attend Duquesne.

“Duquesne wasn’t a name I was familiar with back home,” she said. “A couple people replied on a Reddit thread saying Duquesne has a good track record. And so I looked it up, and the school just seemed really welcoming, and it had a good vibe.”

Khor said she started playing piano as a 3-year-old. Since then, she’s found success, winning about 30 awards, including the 2021 London Youth Piano Competition and placed first in the 2025 Keystone Scholarships. Most recently, Khor performed a recital as one of six winners to perform in the Pittsburgh Concert Society’s Major Winners Concert.

“Obviously, it’s nice to be validated. And the best thing is that I got a chance to perform because I could invite my friends … it’s a nice way to share music,” she said.

The prizes are nice, Khor said, but they’re not the reason she’s on the piano six hours every day. Rather, it’s her Christian faith that drives her.

“I believe that God gave all of us talents … We have to take an active approach in making sure we’re doing everything we can to nurture them,” Khor said. “Sometimes it’s really hard to stay in the practice room when it’s sunny or there’s something more fun to do. But, you know you can do better.”

Khor said she was raised by Christian parents, who were the first in her family to convert. Before them, her family loosely followed a mosaic faith of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucianist ideals as members of the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia.

“It wasn’t really a big cultural thing for us. We wouldn’t really celebrate Christmas, even. We would barely go to church for Easter,” she said.

Shortly before she moved to the U.S., her parents “renewed their faith,” she said.

“That ticked me off before I became Christian because I was like, ‘Chill out, man. You don’t gotta be doing these Bible studies every night,’” Khor said.

Despite being “ticked” about her parent’s new-found devotion, she soon found herself taking Christianity just as seriously.

In addition to her faith, Khor credits much of her recent success to Kevin Lee Sun, an associate professor of piano at Duquesne, and David Wehr, the dean of the Mary Pappert School of Music and a professor of piano.

“They’ve both been really pushing me to find my own artistic voice without holding back expression,” she said. “Even if you feel like pouring out all your emotions … you can’t because it doesn’t make sense in the context.”

Khor said she’s learned how to look at music like a scientist, figuring out why composers wrote pieces the way they did, and how to properly execute them.

“There are just so many components when we’re learning new music that we have to look at. It’s very tempting to just kind of rush into a new piece and play it however you like to play it,” she said.

Wehr first met Khor during her audition to get into the music school via Zoom in 2023. He was immediately impressed with her.

“There was no question that she would be admitted as a music performance major and she was extremely talented,” he said.

More than anything, Wehr said, he’s impressed by the chance Khor took, along with the other international students, by moving to the U.S. to attend Duquesne.

“They take a leap of faith by leaving their home country to come to the United States, to leave their family, to come to a place where they’re speaking a language that is different from what they grew up speaking,” he said.

Khor speaks multiple languages and also plays multiple genres, including classical, jazz and R&B. That variety is part of what makes teaching her a “privilege,” Sun said.

“She is so open-minded to learning about all sorts of musical styles from the 1600s to the present day. And she works her tail off,” he said.

Outside of school, Khor works as a pianist and choir leader for Mount Hope Community Church in Penn Hills and plays for ballet classes at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

She said she sees the U.S. as one of the best places to be a musician, which is why she hopes to stay after she graduates.

“I love the U.S. very much. I say that with my whole heart,” she Khor said. “The art scene here in the U.S. is why I moved here … that is what actually gives me life.”

Khor is performing as a soloist with the Duquesne Chamber Orchestra at Friendship Village of South Hills on Nov. 21.

Eliyahu Gasson can be reached at gassone@duq.edu