In early July, Camy and her family were fortunate to have the chance to attend the Suzuki Institute at Ithaca College. It was their first time of attending an institute. Camy shares some of her thoughts with us below.
Reflections from the Performer: Hanson’s Book 3 Recital
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!
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!
HK meets NZ with NZ Suzuki Connect!
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
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!
