Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

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

Reflections from the Performer: Hanson’s Book 3 Recital

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Although I was a bit worried and nervous before the book recital, but I also felt confident with practiced my recital pieces everyday. On the recital day, I felt more energy and confident when I saw my friends came to support me. I thought I performed my pieces smoothly throughout the book recital as I got many good comments from my family, friends and Ms Sonomi.

  • Ms Sonomi introduces the recital
  • Family greeting Ms Shoko on Zoom
  • Focus
  • Performer’s rainbow fingers
  • Thank you for attending my recital!
  • Acknowledging the audience
  • Hanson and Ms Sonomi
  • Performer and his family
  • Hanson and Ms Shoko
  • Hanson and Ms Shoko close-up!
  • Only one performer means friends could attend!

A Happy Halloween!

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What a joy to be back at Stanley – almost two years after our last public performance! While we have been fortunate to have some “in person” performances – these have been limited to very small audiences comprised of immediate family members. It was so exciting to share our music and our costumes with an audience that included people we didn’t know at all.

There were lots of opportunities for the audience to join in the performance as well: singing, dancing, clapping…sometimes it seemed that the spooky sounds were happening in “surround sound”.

We are all excited to have more chances like this in the future.

Please enjoy some of the sights of our performance!

  • lower strings
  • pianists watching carefully
  • Two Grenadiers!
  • Everyone joined in Witches Dance
  • Pianists playing Gabby Ghost
  • French Folk Song
  • Ms Sonomi had a great costume!
  • Ms Susan’s first play-in in Hong Kong!
  • waiting…
  • SMAHK staff dressed for Halloween

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!

Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong believes:

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