Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

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

KSMA Orchestras Debut!

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by Ms. Elizabeth

img_0254jpgThis 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.

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The performance this past weekend was at Island ECC and students were able to perform not only for their own parents, but for all of the other students and parents in the school!  This performance began with the Vivace Orchestra.  Raymond first talked about orchestra member responsibilities before rehearsal.  These included bringing materials (pencil, music, stand, instrument) and practicing your part before rehearsal.  Next, Ella Marie talked about responsibilities during rehearsal including not talking, paying attention, and marking any mistakes in your part.  The Vivace Orchestra then played an arrangement of BWV 262, a chorale written by J.S. Bach (introduced by Julian).  The group sounded so great, and they were able to show their knowledge of dynamics, breathing together, and playing the correct bowings during their performance.
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Next, the Allegro Orchestra took the stage.  They first performed the Peace Canon (introduced by Zoe) in unison and in a round.  Zara did a great job of explaining canons (or rounds) to the audience.  Next, the group played Swing Low (introduced by Roger) and Oh When the Saints (introduced by Lucas).  Finally, they played both of these tunes with a harmony part (introduced by Alicia).  Wow, what an amazing sound when everything came together!
It may have been short, but the orchestra performance was polished and the students were great examples of what it means to be an attentive, responsible orchestra musician.  I’m already looking forward to the next time we get to share our work together!
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Check out the videos of our performance!
https://youtu.be/qaZ18DBsqsU     (Vivace)                https://youtu.be/1DX2KtwPTh0  (Allegro)

Reflections from the Performers: Lucas and Zara, Book 2 Recital

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Book 2 Cello Recital

By Lucas Cheng

img_9956jpgHello 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.

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The Recital

img_9955jpgOn 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.

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Reflections from the Performers: Naphat and Nithit, Book 3 Recital

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img_0220jpgWhen I heard Ms Yuko said, “We are going to have book 3 recital”, I was extremely happy because I was going to play with Naphat, my sister. It was easy to practice because we had to do it once a day every song. The hard part was we had to play duet. We had to listen to each other and play at the same speed.

On the recital day, I tried my best to play in a nice tune. The duet part was quite good. I was delighted because I played very well.

In the end, I was very excited because I was going to get an ice cream after the book 3 recital. I had a great day!

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REFLECTION FOR THE BOOK 3 RECITAL

BY: NAPHAT CHANPONGSANG

img_0213jpgWhen I started knowing more about the violin book 3 recital, I was very excited because I knew that it was going to be a very fun chance for me to play a duet with my brother Nithit. The year before when I had my book 2 recital, I did not really practice the duets from face to face. We had only a few practices together unlike this book recital with my brother. I could practice face to face every day with him.

Before the recital, I had to practice all the pieces ready for the book recital. There were altogether 9 pieces that we had to play. There were

  1. Martini Gavotte (duet)
  2. Bach Minuet (duet)
  3. Gavotte in G Minor (Bach) By Naphat
  4. Humoresque (Dvorak) By Nithit
  5. Gavotte (Becker) By Nithit
  6. Gavotte in D Major (Bach) By Naphat
  7. Bach Bourée(together)
  8. Gossec Gavotte (together)
  9. Twinkle Variations (duet)

It was a hard job as I had to find all my precious time managing all my school home works and projects and practicing for my coming up assessments and book recital. Every day when I practiced, I felt like it was the real recital. I had to be serious and tried not to laugh when Nithit and I accidentally played something funny. In the end, it was a success when we were playing those pieces in the book 3 recital day.

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I felt very proud of myself and my brother as without our hard work, we would not have been successful for our book 3 recital. I would also like to thank my mum and Ms. Yuko for helping me and my brother practice and polish the pieces for the recital.

THANK YOU FOR LOOKING AT MY RECITAL REFLECTION BYE!!!!!!!

From the Performer: Melanie Au, Book 7 Recital

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img_9824jpgby Melanie Au

I think the first half was better than the second half.  I was more concentrated with the songs in the beginning that afterwards because I was getting more and more tired. But overall it was okay (I think). For the second half, even though I took a rest before starting again I was still tired. The worst one was the Bach a minor 3rd movement because I was exhausted from standing for so long.  I’m not sure what or how you think it was but I think it was not as good as I thought it would be.img_9837jpg

Nicole’s experience with Iskandar Wdjaja

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img_8328jpgAt the Suzuki convention this summer in Bali, I had a masterclass with Iskandar Wdjaja. It was a fun experience and I learnt a lot.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the masterclass was that there were other people too. There were a least a dozen people watching the person playing, so I was pretty nervous. When it was my turn, I played Fiocco Allegro. He gave me some advice and we went through the piece together a few times, with some more tips along the way.

It was definitely an enriching class and I feel a lot more confident playing that piece now. Mr Wdjaja was a good teacher and was very helpful and encouraging.

 

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Iskandar Wdjaja is giving a recital in Hong Kong!

His program even includes a piece from the Suzuki repertoire…the Handel Sonata No. 4 in D major that’s in Book 6!

Here is the information so that you can take advantage of this amazing opportunity:

http://www.pphk.org/concerts/recitals/iskandar-widjaja/iskandar

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