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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.

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.

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.

Reflections of the Performers: Book 1 Recital ~ Elise and Hanson

June 20, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Dear SMAHK

Thank you for teaching me and helping me with my Book 1 Recital. At first, I was really scared and nervous, but the more I practiced I got more and more comfortable with it. I thought the recital was very nice. It was nice to collaborate with someone I’ve never worked with. It was a wonderful experience for me, and for that I thank you.

Today is my first violin book recital. I usually play the piano with other people. This is the first time someone else has played the piano, and I am playing the violin. My partner is Elise, we didn’t play our pieces well together at first. After practicing in a few joint lessons, we got along better and better.

When I arrived at the school, I felt calm and confident because I had practiced so many times with Ms. Diane, Ms. Sonomi, Elise, and my mom. After we finished playing twinkle, I knew this recital would go well. Sadly, I was wrong. After Lightly Row, I started to make a few wrong notes and wrong bowings. I got more nervous. but I still kept going until the end. Even though I knew this recital was not 100% awesome, I still feel very proud of my first violin book recital!

Thank You!

Reflections from the Performer: Ayden’s Book 5 Piano Recital

June 8, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

At the beginning of the recital, my hands were clammy and I thought I was going to play badly, but then, I tried to stay calm by taking a few deep breaths and pretending like I was practising at home, I started feeling more confident and relaxed afterwards. Even so, I still forgot some repeats and made a few mistakes in the second half of the recital. I felt a little nervous at that time. But when I looked at Ms Sonomi and my mom after the bow, their eyes are full of encouragement and made me feel much better.

After the recital, I felt relaxed and thrilled. I’ve learnt that it’s fine even if I play some mistakes as long as I tried my very best. My mom said I performed very well, and my dad, Hanson and Abby all agreed. Most importantly, I want to thank Ms Sonomi makes me understand I should play like a cuckoo bird sound for “Cuckoo”. I want to thank her for spending her private time giving me comments on my practice video. I also want to thank my previous teacher, Ms Shoko. She taught me the most difficult graduation piece up to now – Bach Gigue in 2 years ago through Skype. She made the mission possible online. Without Ms Sonomi and Ms Shoko, I couldn’t play those pieces musically at all. And I was so happy to have my whole family as my live audience and my best Suzuki friends, Hugo and Lincoln to join on zoom. I hope they all enjoyed my piano book 5 recital! Like Ms Sonomi said at the end of the recital, I can’t wait to have my next piano book recital!!