Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

"Music Exists for the purpose of growing an admirable heart" ~Shinichi Suzuki

HK meets NZ with NZ Suzuki Connect!

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New Zealand Connect Virtual Concert Hall

Recently, Lincoln had the chance to participate in a NZ Suzuki Connect Concert organised by the New Zealand Suzuki Institute. Here is his reflection on the experience:

One sunny day, I participated in an online concert hosted by New Zealand Suzuki Institute. 

My mom told me that it is a meaningful event because New Zealand is under a lockdown and people there need to stay at home, so it is good that we can cheer people up by sharing music!

I was practising the performance piece hard to prepare for the performance. 

There were 21 performers and 17 audiences. As New Zealand is turning to spring, we were required to wear spring clothes. Most people there were from Auckland, New Zealand and only me is from Hong Kong! They played piano, violin, cello and guitar. Most people played either Book 1 or 2. I believe I played my piece wonderfully, the host there said that I am “Well Done” and a student there said “Wow” after my performance. 

The audiences and performers who aren’t playing clapped in amazement for every performer that played their instrument. At the end of the concert, we took a funny group photo with virtual audience seats. It is a wonderful event and I enjoyed it very much!

Thank you very much for Ms Diane introducing this event to me.

Reflection from the Performer: Julian Mak

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One of the positive and exciting things that has come about as a result of the pandemic is the realisation by teachers worldwide that technology allows us to do things together no matter where in the world we might be!

Recently, SMAHK student Julian Mak had the opportunity to play for an international concert organised by the American Suzuki Institute as part of the lead-up to its (delayed) 50th Anniversary Celebration. Performers based in the ASI’s home of Stevens Point, Wisconsin played in person, while other students joined on zoom from around the world. Julian was the only performer from Asia, so the recital began at midnight Hong Kong time!

Here are his thoughts about the experience:

Last Saturday, I was invited to perform in a virtual studio recital which was based in Wisconsin.
Obviously, waking up at 7am and staying up until midnight is not the most promising sleep schedule for playing well in a concert, so I took a nap for around 4 hours, just in time to eat dinner. Dad also made a setup for the recital, which looked ridiculous. 
Overall, the concert was a very fun and new experience for me. I certainly never have had to stay up until midnight to perform in a concert, let alone a virtual one!   

PlayIn with the Philadelphia Orchestra!

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Thanks to COVID-19, one of the gifts that we’ve been given in this tumultuous year is people coming up with creative new ways to share music together. Recently, the Philadelphia Orchestra offered a chance for students worldwide to join in a Zoom PlayIn. One of our SMAHK students took advantage of the opportunity. Lincoln and his mum, Virginia, share with us about their experience:

by Lincoln Liu and Virginia Wan

from Lincoln

It was very good! During the PlayIN, I was so excited and forgot about the time in Hong Kong. After it finished, I suddenly found that I was tired because it was 12am. It was a very special and pleasant experience! I enjoyed it very much! It was a lot of fun!

From Virginia –
It was a golden opportunity to join the PlayIN with The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the “Big Five” American orchestras. When I knew that there would be such a great PlayIN opportunity, I struggled for a while as it would start at 11pm Hong Kong time and finish at around 12am and my boy would need to go to school in the next day. However, as it was really a fabulous opportunity, I thought of a solution – let the boy sleep in the afternoon so that he could sleep later. Looking back, both my boy and I think that it is really worth to join it! My boy enjoyed it so much and was so happy during that hour. I am very impressed that the teacher who led the playIN played the music pieces so well with great enthusiasm. She led us go into the music and made us feel how beautiful the music is! We experienced “Beautiful Heart, Beautiful Tone”!
There were more than 300 participants from around the world joining the PlayIN. How great being part of Suzuki community, we can enjoy and appreciate music together in different occasions, even in the difficult time with Covid-19. It is an invisible support to all of us.
Our special thanks to the lead teacher during the PlayIN, Dara Morales, and the organisers from the Philadelphia Orchestra, who shared the happy moments with the kids, especially in this difficult time with Covid-19, the kids are generally bored, lacking of social gatherings.
Last but not the least, thank you very much for Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong, who nurtures kids with beautiful music, let us know about this PlayIN opportunity and suggested us to participate in it!

MusiCares and ImpactHK

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After months of preparation and emails between MusiCares students and ImpactHK Founder and CEO Jeff Rotmeyer, the time for the Kindness Walk finally arrived!

MusiCares students took the bins of shirts and sneakers which had been donated by SMAHK families to give to the staff at the Guest Room. The donations were very warmly received.

The entire experience was led by Mr. Jeff. He began by talking with the group about how the whole starting point of what ImpactHK does is to spread kindness, develop friendships and build trust. He gave several examples of people who either still are, or had been, homeless – what their current situation is, as well as what events led to them becoming homeless.

Some things we learned:

  • #kindnessmatters
  • They have existed for 2 years
  • They have gotten 200 people off the streets in 2 years
  • They have homed 5 people since the beginning of 2020
  • They offer three meals every day at the Guest Room
    • They had almost 50 people at lunch on Saturday
  • They do a Kindness Walk around 4 times every day
  • In addition to meals, the Guest Room offers people
    • A place to gather
    • A way to do laundry
    • A place to take a shower
  • ImpactHK also offers
    • Counselling services
    • Yoga classes
    • Other helpful things

MusiCares students had this to say about the experience:

“Today was a very touching, very wonderful, eye opening experience for me. Before, I thought that if we show care for street cleaners and the homeless, they would feel insulted as it would hurt their pride. Now I know that #kindness matters, and that kindness can’t go wrong. That acting kindly, and intrinsicly, and empathetically is all that matters. Now, whenever I walk on the street, I will treat street cleaners/the poor much more differently with confidence! To spread the seeds of love!”

“I learned a lot more about the homeless people in Hong Kong and what I thought was a norm which is now a definitely mean thing to think.”

“I learned that we should love and care for the homeless people everywhere. And I will help other people in the future.”

“This kindness walk has furthered my understanding of how to view the homeless and to treat them with care.”

“This kindness walk was a very new experience to me and I enjoyed it very much. Before this, I had no idea that so many people in Hong Kong needed our help. Giving the homeless people food really made their day and it also made me feel better and happier.”

“Doing the Kindness walk today, and from past kindness walks, helped me better understand what ImpactHK is. As well as this, I was able to see what the conditions were when we got to each person, because the past walks I’ve been on I didn’t see the people at their ‘homes’. Today was also niece to see the other people’s opinion of ImpactHK since none of them had experienced it before.”

“I think it was a very eye opening experience for me and I had lots of fun. I hope I can get to have another chance to help the homeless and offer them a better opportunity.”

“Today, I started to understand more about the homeless and found out that they need more help than I thought. I gave out eggs to the homeless and when I saw the smile on their faces that made me feel very good. I learned that I need to pay more attention to the homeless and be nicer to them. The homeless really need help and I hope they get the help they need.”

“This was an eye-opening experience for me. During this adventure, I learned the importance of kindness, the value of giving love and caring for people. Just a simple act of giving a banana can bring a smile to someone’s face, helping them and spreading joy. Us humans should all be a little more caring, more altruistic and spend some time making somebody’s day just a bit better.”

100% of the required $4000 donation to participate in a kindness walk is used to help the homeless. On average, it costs over $30,000 in real money, in addition to the hours of time and volunteer services, for one person to move through the process from homeless to employed and with a home. We hope that you will continue to donate so that we can wind up giving ImpactHK much more than the required donation!

(Ms Diane is very proud that several of the MusiCares students have already made contributions from their own pocket money!).

MusiCares Performance: St James’ Settlement Wun Sha Elderly Centre

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MusiCares students donated their time on 14 December to perform for the elderly at St. James’ Settlement Wun Sha Elderly Centre. It was the first visit to an elderly home for some MusiCares members, and it was great that the audience was so engaged in the performance! Here are some of the MusiCares members’ reflections on the experience:

“I experienced altruism”

“The community there was very enthusiastic and interacted with our playing, making for a very heartwarming experience.”

“From this experience of playing violin at the elderly home, I really enjoyed the audience clapping along with us while we played, and interacting as well.”

“I genuinely enjoyed this experience, as I got to see the wonderful interactions between the music and the elderly. Such a pleasure to see!”

“I enjoyed this experience. This is the first time that I go to an elderly home and perform. I enjoyed the performance today, and I hope I can go to perform again next time”

“I enjoyed this unique experience very much. I was very, very glad to see the elderly be so happy because of the music. I am happy because I have the privilege to spread joy”

“This experience made me understand music can bring happiness to others. I enjoyed this experience very much. Next time I wish that more people can come and enjoy our performance”

“This experience made me really happy to see others so happy. I really hope that next time the same feeling will come and that more people will come to enjoy the sound of music”

“The opportunity today for people is one that doesn’t occur very often, and because of that, I found this experience very special. It makes me happy to bring some music to the elderly home and share the Christmas Spirit with them”

“Even though it was my first time I think I enjoyed it as much as everyone else did”

  • Presenting gifts to the audience members
  • After the performance, gift-giving
  • The audience suddenly started clapping along during one of the pieces, so we encouraged them to continue!
  • Charlotte was our spokesperson at this performance

Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong believes:

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