Wesley and Alice performed their Book 1 recital, with Ms. Shoko assisting on piano. Here are their thoughts about their performance!

~from Wesley

I felt nervous and happy when I was playing the recital. I thought I would make some mistakes and the audience would laugh, so I played carefully. After all, I think I did well especially on Andantino but I could have done better.

~from Alice

I was nervous at the starting. But when I played Twinkle I felt better. I felt a surge of proudness echo through my body, I was ready for my first solo! As soon as Twinkles ended I knew it would be Perpetual Motion. I took a deep breath, did a nervous smile and stepped onto the stage. I felt soooo special that I smiled for nothing. I just couldn’t stop that smile until I finished bowing the last bow and sat down. All solos worked just like this and here came Gavotte (F.J. Gossec). Luckily the slurs were alright. I had finished the recital, (alive) and I played the pieces all right. I was proud.

by Students of MusiCares

Title: SAI KUNG STRAY FRIENDS WRITE-UP
The journey to Sai Kung Stray Friends was a memorable one.
On that day, the weather was quite chilly and the air felt a bit frosty, I would say. But the festive mood, lights, food, and decorations of the Sai Kung Stray Friends campsite (or headquarters) brightened the day up, so although we still had to play with cold and stiff fingers, which was obviously not that ideal, but it was still an experience that I enjoyed and didn’t regret.
The staffs, volunteers, and guests there were extremely friendly and vibrant! They helped us introduce ourselves, applauded when we finished, and generously offered to refill our stomachs, enjoy/relax, and have an immersive experience with the Stray Friends community with their wide variety of festive foods and games. All this encouragement gave me the energy to do my best! They made us feel like a part of their community, a part of them.
– Charlotte CHEUNG

 

Though it was cold, it was fun playing for the people (and they clapped!) The hot dogs and samosas were nice. (Vera)

 

 

I liked the food, the cupcakes tasted really good. (MaryChun)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great experience going to perform music at Sai Kung Stray Friends. Since it was my second year in a row going there, I found out more about their community. It was also pretty cold on the day of the performance and the food the volunteers cooked was very nice.(Gareth)

 

The dogs were cute, the people were nice, we had fun. (Amarbir)

 

It was a fun and interesting experience and the dogs were really cute (Oliver)

In my opinion, it was great experience. I got very happy to play for a charity and got lunch at the same time. Even thought therewwere times I thought we were ignored, we still got some applause, so it was still good (Roger)

 

It was a bit cold, but it was fun playing in Sai Kung. The food was nice and the dogs were funny. (Marcus)

The burger and the potato salad was bomb! (Bryan)

 

Altogether, SKSF raised over $26,000 to go toward supporting the dogs in their care.  Congratulations, MusiCares for your contributions!

 

The rain stayed away, and the temperatures were mild for our annual performance at the Stanley Christmas Market.  There was a great crowd, and appreciative audience for our students as they shared Christmas music with visitors to the market, as well as with our own families.

The Market is such a fun way to welcome the holiday season!

Please enjoy some photos of the event

 

 

 

Aslan and Stephen gave their Book 1 viola recital on 24 November.  Here are their thoughts.

 

 

by Aslan:

On the 24th of November 2018, Saturday I had my book 1 recital. The first song was Gossec Gavotte. Me and Stephen were playing good until Stephen forgot the repeat for the first part, but the rest of the song was good, The next song was me it was Etude it was good except the doubles, which was not that good. Then it was Stephen’s turn he played Minuet No. 2 it was good better than my Etude. Then after Minuet No. 2 it was my turn to play Go Tell Aunt Rhody. This song was the best one so far, because I had only slight mistakes not big ones. Then after Stephen’s next one it was me playing Minuet No. 3 it was not bad until I forgot a note which totally confused me. Again it was Stephen’s turn. Then it is more me again. I played May Song that wasn’t that bad. It was my second best one so far. The next was Allegro with Stephen. I first played the duet then normal. It was great because I never got something wrong, neither did him. Then it was my turn again. It was Andantino. It wasn’t all that bad. The next song I played was the Happy Farmer. I think it was the worst one of all because it had the most mistakes. In Long, Long Ago it was pretty good it wasn’t bad. Also French Folk Song was probably the best one out of all of them. And for Twinkles I played Melody for Variation C, E and Theme and that was the end of the recital.

 

 

by Stephen

I had been practicing for weeks then came the recital. I played Gossec Gavotte. I think I need a bit more work for remembering the repeats. I think Minuet 2 was my song that I played the best so far and my Twinkle song I was glad I remembered when I was playing the duet. In Allegro I think it was also quite good I just needed to remember the high 2s in Allegro. Allegretto I think I needed to make the bows a little more shorter. Minuet 1 I was glad I remembered to count 3 in the long bows.