January brought KSMA’s first-ever chamber music program concert!

Students have been working together with coaches Ms. Elizabeth, Mr. Graham, Mr. Jason, Ms. Monica, and Ms. Yuko since September.  Some of what they have been working on are the skills that are part of being a member of a chamber group, which is very different from playing in an orchestra or group class.

At the beginning of the concert, Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Monica talked a bit about all of the things on which the groups have been working, and had the students answer some questions.

In a chamber group, each person plays a different part, and all of the parts interact with one another.  Every person is very important to the success of the experience of the whole group!

Please enjoy the students’ (and some coaches’) performances!

The Athena’s Trio

Couldn’t Think of a Name

The Duck Quartet

Empty Pizza Box

Rainbow Unicorns

Congratulations to all of the students and coaches for their work!   We are already looking forward to the next concert in May!

Ryan and Hermione recently performed their Book 3 recital together.   Here is what they have to share with us about their experience:

by Ryan Cheng

This was my first recital pairing up with anyone. I had no idea how it would be like. Ms Monica didn’t tell me I would be facing 4 teachers but I still practiced a lot.

 I felt it very boring and frustrating as I had to play various songs again and again. It really was hard to memorize 2 duets and 5 melodies at the same time! I hardly had any time to play. I know that I had around 3 – 4 weeks to work on it, but hey, who had more time than me? I bet a whole batch of students had. Anyway, I had most of the lessons polishing the minuet duet’s D section, so I had only 10-15 minutes on the other songs.

 On the day of the recital, I was kind of nervous. Now I’m just happy as the recital has passed, and I’m able to learn other pieces of music in Book 4 and play again.

by Hermione Au

I was very nervous during my recital because this is the first time I have performed in front of soooooooo much people and it took me a long time to learn the duet a super hard at part F, that’s why I did not know how to play it, it was easy to learn part A, and it was easy because that was the first time I have done a duet, but I practised a lot of part A so it got easier. And the rest was easy, except I always forget about the repeats and it feels better to do my recital early so I don’t have to worry about it after I finish my book 3 recital and that’s all. I liked my Book 3 recital. It was very (super and great) fun. Best, super, very, 100 percent Book 3 Recital!

On Saturday, 26 November, Colin, Ashley and Andrew gave their long-awaited Book 2 recital!

Here’s what they had to say about their performances:

When I was performing Bourree I didn’t know why but I felt like I had some sort of stage fright, I just couldn’t play the dynamics properly, I felt very weird and once it was over I thought why did it happen. When the graduation was over, Colin was very kind to give Ashley and I a package of chocolates. I had so much in my mind that I left my jacket in Ms Diane’s room and Colin gave it to me when we were waiting for the lift. Thank you Colin!

by Colin Chiu

This morning, I woke up very early because I was so nervous about the recital this afternoon. I used to practise the violin with my parents, my teacher or by myself, but I need to perform in front of a crowd of people today. In order to calm me down, my mum brought me a big box of LEGO. I was touched.

In the afternoon, my dad drove me to the violin school in Wan Chai. I thought my family would not come. To my surprise, my family showed up suddenly during my recital. I was surprised. Sadly, I didn’t play well because I was shaking all the time. I hope I will do better next time. Today is memorable.

by Ashley Chiu

Last Saturday, it was me, Andrew and Colin’s Book Two Recital.  We were all excited and nervous, but my mom is not here, so she could not see us perform. So I was a bit sad. Colin’s mom was a little late so she lost a bit of our show. First we place two peace together, then we had three solo peace then it keep going on until we all take a bow and take pictures at last. When I pack my violin Colin gave me a pack of chocolate. This is the best day ever!

by Ms. Elizabeth

This past Saturday, the KSMA Vivace and Allegro orchestras presented their first performance since beginning work together this past August.  Orchestra students have been working for the past 3 months to learn not only how to play together as a group, but also about teamwork and individual responsibility.

      

Book 2 Cello Recital

By Lucas Cheng

Hello everyone! I had been waiting to do my cello recital for many months and finally on 22nd October 2016, it happened! I was very excited, nervous, happy and ready for this special event.

It was little different from my other recitals as I got the chance to play a few duets with my cello mate Zara. Not only did these duets sound awesome, they were also interesting to learn and fun to play. My favorite pieces were Musette – where I played the harmony part and also the many Twinkle variations in which Zara and I both took turns to play the theme and harmony.

We will be playing these duets again during musical moment on 12th Nov so if you happen to be around, come listen to us!!

A big thank you to everyone who helped and came to my recital …  Ms Sandra, my mum, my brother,  Zara’s mum and dad, Mr Jason, Ms Elizabeth, Ms Lan and Ms Diane.

The Recital

On October 22 the music school had a recital in the Vine. It was a book two recital. The players where Lucas and Zara. All our family and teachers were there.

(Zara’s point of view)

When Lucas and I played  together  we really sounded like one cello. I especially enjoyed it when Lucas and I where playing the harmony and melody pieces.  We really sounded nice together.

I have played some recitals by my self which is nice but I think I prefer to play with 2 people. When you play with 2 people I think if  one person plays the harmony and the other the melody,  together they sound very emotional.

When you play with the piano it is also a good sound, because the piano keeps the beat and the cello(s) mostly always plays the harmony. That is what we did in the recital and it sounded great.