Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong, Author at Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Reflections of the Performers: Eric, Hugo & Wesley Book 2 Recital

November 8, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Wesley, Hugo and Eric worked together to prepare and perform their Book 2 recital. Here are their reflections on the experience.

~from Eric

From this recital, I took away three things.

Firstly, I noticed how important it is to listen to each other when playing our joint pieces. An example is when you mentioned the balance all three of us needed to achieve in Musette. I needed to listen to Wesley to balance with him and then look at Hugo’s bow so that I and Wesley can balance Hugo. This made me realize how important listening and adapting to each other is, in any group performance.
Next, I noticed how a small pause is sometimes the most powerful way to start or end a piece. For example, when I ended Waltz, I wanted to pause after I finished the last note, to let the ringing tone sink in before I took a bow. I feel like this was a perfect ending touch to this piece. Silence is truly a part of music.

Finally, I noticed how much work we put into this recital. We planned, practiced, and improved over and over again until we had it perfect. This made me realize how much effort is put into a performance, and not just in music. The amount of teamwork and dedication needed for any performance we see is probably a lot more than how much we think it is. To conclude, I want to thank Wesley and Hugo. They were amazing to work with and we collaborated together really well. Furthermore, I want to thank Ms.Diane, Ms.Sonomi, and Ms.Mary Ann because they work hard every day to help us. Ms.Diane works for many hours a day and doesn’t even have time for a proper lunch on Saturdays. Ms.Sonomi accompanies so many pieces, and without her, our performance would not have been possible. Ms.Mary Ann assists countless things and gets so many things done for us to keep our school running.

~ from Hugo

I am proud of myself for completing my book 2 recital, I spent a lot of time polishing and improving my pieces and I am relieved it is over.

I think Eric, Wesley and I worked well together when we were practising our joint pieces. This is a rare opportunity to be able to play a trio with them, I also learnt something from each of them, I think Eric is very dedicated and loves his music a lot, and Wesley is very hard working and takes practising seriously. These are all good things I should follow.

At first, our trios were not very good, but after some individual practice at home, we got better each time we played together.

I overall enjoyed the experience even though there was some pressure during the process, especially in the week before the recital.

~from Wesley

Saturday’s recital was very good, I had one mistake for every piece and I think it was because I’m nervous when I was playing the first piece of the recital, my legs were shaking but I felt better afterwards. I think I also need to add more emotions to the piece, like swinging my body while playing the song.

As a group playing with Eric and Hugo, I learnt that when playing at a recital I have to put more emotion to the song. And for the joint pieces I have to match both Eric and Hugo’s rhythm, for both pieces. I also think I did well on the special notes in Judas since I could really hear the sound loud and clear around the room. For Musette I think I did decent with the overlapping bows. I can do better by really bringing up the overlapping sound more. For Gavotte, I think I can do better because I don’t think I did very well with the sixteenth notes.

International Live Virtual Concert!

October 11, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Several SMAHK students participated in the 22nd International Live Virtual Concert. This is the third time we have been fortunate to have students participate in this global event. The organisers are in Ireland and Spain. We are so grateful that our students are able to have this opportunity to connect with other young musicians from around the world.

For this concert, there was a special guest artist who was a young professional guitarist, also from Spain. In addition to Hong Kong, performers who played at this concert were from India, Indonesia, Ireland, Iran, Japan, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey. We were lucky to be able to have our SMAHK students perform at our school, so they had both the joy of playing in front of an in person audience, as well as the chance to interact with others from around the world.

Here are what the students have to say about the experience:

I have greatly enjoyed this afternoon, as it has allowed me to share my music with people from all around the world. Despite the technical difficulties, music was able to connect all of us, the concert providing a platform for different people at different stages of learning to share their music.

Having an opportunity to play in the international live concert was simply unimaginable for me. During the concert, I got the opportunity to listen to everyone across the world and learn the style of their playing with different instruments. For example the flute, the trombone, the guitar and many more. To me performing isn’t just performing. It’s like sharing part of my soul to others even though I might not be there. I enjoyed the experience very very much after that concert. I’ve reflected on my performance by reviewing the live stream after. In the future, I might want to add more dynamics to my piece to enhance the emotions of this song.

The full concert is available to view on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kDXW54-k0wk. Please enjoy all of the performances!

Reflections from the Performer: Hanson’s Book 4 Piano Recital

October 10, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

On 9 October, we had our first Book Recital of the school year. The recital included audience in person and online. Here are Hanson’s reflections from his experience.

I was delighted I can finally have my piano book 4 recital. I felt relaxed because I have been practicing all pieces for a year. However, when I realized my friends were on zoom, I became increasingly anxious. I hid my feeling and tried to stay calm. When I was sitting on my seat by the wall and looking at the pieces that I was going to play, I thought of what Ms. Sonomi taught me to do before I had my bow. Then I tried my very best to focus on my performance, to make nice tone and avoid having mistakes. When the recital was over, I was happy to receive all the comments from my friends and family. I look forward to having my next book recital soon.

Summer Suzuki Institute Reflection ~ Camy

July 18, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

In early July, Camy and her family were fortunate to have the chance to attend the Suzuki Institute at Ithaca College. It was their first time of attending an institute. Camy shares some of her thoughts with us below.

Reflections from the Performers: Book 4&5 Recital – Hermione and Isabel

June 21, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

The preparation for this recital specifically was a little stressful because I had to manage my time with practising the many pieces while also being able to study for school exams. Despite all the crazy emotions I felt during the past month preparing for the recital, I was mostly super excited to play all of the pieces in front of some people who have watched me play the violin since day 1 and people who’ve barely seen me play. I was still a bit nervous as the most challenging parts such as managing time, playing the harder pieces (e.g. Vivaldi g minor) and trying to get all of the pieces to my expectation got me on a emotional roller coaster. But overall, I am extremely thankful because I got an opportunity to show my skills that have developed over the years and had enough support to get me through this challenge.

Thinking back to my book 4/5 recital, I think that it was relatively well done. I feel like a worked really hard on it, practicing a lot both individually and with my partner Hermione. Now that it’s over, I am kind of glad, because the week leading up to it was extremely nerve-wracking. During the recital, I was even more nervous-if that was even possible, but after a few pieces, I started to gain more confidence and it became more enjoyable. I would like to thank Ms Diane, Ms Susan, and Ms Sonomi for helping both me and Hermione on this book 4/5 recital, because without them, it wouldn’t have been possible.