Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

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

Reflections of the Performer: Isabel Zeng, Book 6 Violin Recital

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~by Isabel Zeng

In hindsight of my book 6 recital, I am satisfied with my performance despite some of its errors. My book 6 recital was composed of 8 pieces, one of which being a sonata with 4 movements, and it was also my first solo recital, meaning that I had more freedom with the order of the pieces, but I also didn’t have the support of a friend doing the same thing with me, nor did I get a longer break in between pieces. 

One of the challenges that I faced during the performance were the more technical aspects, such as fingerings. This was especially prominent in pieces such as the 2nd and 4th movements of Handel Sonata in D major, the runs in La Folia, etc where there are multiple shifts combined with (personally) awkward fingerings, in which I need to press on two strings. This was a large challenge, since when I was playing a fast piece and I messed up a few notes, it stayed in my head and made me nervous about the next section which I know to be difficult as well, which then causes my hand to tense up and makes it even more difficult to correctly play. During the recital, there were some things that I knew were going to be issues with, whilst there were others that were completely unexpected.

Another challenge was my posture, since I have a tendency to slouch after a period of time, and that impacts my contact point on the strings and overall tone. I tried to improve this by practicing with my scroll level with a fixed point, and whenever I realised that it was too low, I would reset my violin and continue playing, trying to fix my posture before it was too late. During the recital, I did the same, except without the option of putting my violin back on my shoulder.

Something that I am proud of is my Rameau Gavotte, which I personally think was my best played piece. However, during the middle of Gavotte II, I made a mistake which really shook up my previous confidence, but since I got back on track quickly, I was able to move on. In spite of this, I feel good with my vibrato and tone in Rameau Gavotte.

I feel that my performance of the Handel Sonata in D major was the worst, despite me focusing on it the most. In the 1st movement, there was an issue with counting that although I had made the error before, it hadn’t happened in the week or so beforehand, and the 2nd and 4th movements both had areas where I got off track, but thankfully remembered where I was in the music. The 3rd movement was mostly fine.

In order to prepare for the recital, I practiced often and focused on the aspects that needed improving, whether it was more technical or musical things, or listening to the piano recording to understand how my part fitted with Ms Sonomi’s. On the day of the recital, I focused on each piece and its sections, then ran through all of the pieces how I would in the recitall, including sitting and bowing. Afterwards, I didn’t practice, instead opting to listen to the recordings in order for me to relax a bit. I think that this helped me prepare for the recital because if I made a mistake during my practice, I would teach myself how to get back on track quickly and solve the problem, and also because being tense was one of my biggest issues and also caused (and causes) most of my mistakes.

For my book 7 recital, I hope to improve my organisation and planning skills in order to schedule rehearsals with Ms Sonomi, and to better allocate time to each piece so as to anticipate and deflect problems.

To Ms Sonomi, my collaborative pianist, thank you very much for taking time out of your daily life to rehearse with me for this, as well as helping me take my mind off worrying before the recital, and in general just being amazing! Thank you to Ms Diane for all her years of tutelage and helping me gain confidence in my playing, telling me what I need to improve on and how, and complimenting me when I do something well. You make my musical journey both fun and educational, and I truly wouldn’t be where I am now without you, both as a person and as a musician! 🙂 Finally, thank you to those who watched my performance, whether it be online or in person.

Reflections of the performer: ANDREW ZENG, Book 7 Violin Recital

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To begin with, my Book 7 Recital was my first solo recital, which meant that I was faced with the challenge of polishing up and putting together a much greater number of pieces with the piano. Playing through a total of 11 pieces (22 movements in total) over a period of ~1.5 hours was also quite demanding in terms of endurance. I relied on and was able to further develop my organisational and time management skills when scheduling rehearsals with Ms Sonomi and balancing my academic commitments with practice for the rehearsal. In terms of the pieces themselves, I found it uniquely rewarding to revisit pieces which I had learnt in the past and to rediscover and reinterpret them, making use of new technique, musical ideas and perspectives that I have since learnt and gained. In the new pieces that I had learnt, I was able to further polish up my technique and refine my interpretation. It was also interesting to listen to recordings made by others to open myself up to new interpretations to take inspiration from. I found decision making much more straightforward. It also gave me the freedom to pursue my own ideas.

Looking at the recital as a whole, there were some mistakes which occurred and countless things that I could have done better. Some pieces also left me feeling unsatisfied with the fact that I was unable to fully express all of my musical ideas as a result of not having practiced enough (In particular, the seemingly ‘easier’ pieces that I had neglected to practice as much). However, overall, my experience was a positive one. In a live performance, not everything can always go the way you practiced or had hoped for. As with anything, things can go wrong and it takes resilience to deal with mistakes or failures and carry on. In between pieces, I was able to move past those mistakes and re-energise and motivate myself to focus on the sole objective of playing what comes next to the best of my ability. I am extremely pleased with the end result and found this entire process hugely enjoyable and rewarding. I was able to apply myself to play with expression and share the results of my violin journey which began 9 years ago with others. Looking ahead, by the time my next recital comes around, I hope to become a more expressive player who takes more liberties and is more imaginative with musical ideas. Music is an immensely beautiful language which allows us to express emotions, certain ideas, or aspects of the human experience that we otherwise could not with language. That is the reason for its tremendous appeal and ability to transcend time, people and cultures among many other things. Therefore I feel extremely privileged to have an understanding of this language and to have the ability to share it with others.

I would like to give a great thanks to the brilliant Ms Sonomi for spending so much time rehearsing with me, supporting me and helping me gain confidence in my playing. I would also like to thank Ms Diane for all her years of teaching and guidance. Finally, I would like to thank those who joined us for my recital.

Reflections from the Performer: Ayden’s Book 6 Piano Recital

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~from Ayden

Although I have had two piano solo recitals before, I felt this time is much different as the
pieces are more complex and needed more color and expressive feelings. I practiced every
recital piece on the recital day, and particularly focused on a piece that I wasn’t as
comfortable with as there were complicated movements and techniques in the pieces.
During the recital, I first felt sort of underwhelmed playing in front of the audience as it was
something I’ve experienced many times before. I started feeling anxious and kept playing
quicker once I got to more difficult pieces. I felt like I rushed through the first section and
didn’t pay enough attention to the tonality. So after realising this, I took a deep breath and
pretended I was just practicing in the tense atmosphere. Slowly I started getting more
relaxed to play smoothly and naturally. Towards the end, I played one of the most
challenging pieces in book 6, this piece is full of excitement, passion and fun. I was able to
show extensive wide variations in mood and tonality for the challenging pieces. I became
more confident and motivated to perform for my friends and family who were supporting me
in person and on zoom.


After the recital, I felt very grateful to friends and family for coming to my recital despite the
red rain as well as relieved that I had finished the recital with not messed anything up too
badly. Thank you Ms Sonomi for your inspiration and guidance, helping me encounter the
piece I don’t fully master. I am very proud that I was able to perform my book recital with full
confidence and dedication to the end.

Reflections from the Performers: Camy and Emma Book 3 Recital

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~from Camy

~from Emma

This book three recital was much more different than my last graduation recital, I thought using Acapella was a brilliant idea because me and my partner, Camy were far from each other.

I personally thought the Bach Bourree was enthusiastic, exciting and “jumpy”! I felt like it was a brilliant way to start off the recital.

I think I could’ve done better on following the dynamics in the beginning for Gossec Gavotte, otherwise everything else was fine.

Nothing was out of the ordinary for the Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Variations.

I think Martini Gavotte was well represented as a Gavotte (a dance) most of the time, at first I hadn’t really thought about my dynamics for the A sections, this made around a third of the time really boring.

Overall I think my harmony part for Minuet Three was pretty great! The only part I would change then at the end would be making eye contact with Ms Sonomi before the end (I did do this, but I would’ve been able to make the last three notes and the retard more grand if I’d made eye contact a bit more sooner).

We first practiced and learnt our parts then played along with our partners from a video to get to know each others playing style, when me and Camy played together in person, I didn’t feel anticipation on what kind of articulation or dynamics Camy would do next, I found this strategy very helpful.

As for my solo pieces, I feel like my dynamics could’ve been more exaggerated during Gavotte in G Minor. I feel most proud about my Gavotte in D Major, it had a range of articulation (something I had to be reminded about a few times by Ms Diane), it was probably the most fun piece and the piece I enjoyed the most in the recital.

Thank you to everyone that helped make this recital possible, a big thank you for Ms Diane for helping me and Camy along the way as well as Ms Sonomi for playing the accompaniment on the piano for us! it was a great experience!

Reflection from the Performer: Cecilia’s Book 7 Recital

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~by Cecilia Hao

Since I was performing on my own for the first time, my violin recital for book 7 was considerably different from my recital for book 6 in the past. I had to independently schedule rehearsal times with Ms. Sonomi and during the rehearsals, we had to communicate clearly so that the violin and piano parts would fit well together. I was able to improve my communication abilities and gain more confidence as a result of multiple practice sessions I had with Ms Sonomi. In addition, compared to the many rehearsals I’ve had, I felt more comfortable voicing my ideas this time. Because the success of this recital depended on how much I had prepared and how secure I was in myself, it encouraged me to be much more responsible. Despite some bumps in the road during the performance, I have to admit that I am very pleased with myself for such an outstanding achievement. Being able to balance the violin on top of school work more successfully than normal also made me feel more mature. There is still room for improvement in terms of interacting with the piano and having more strong opinions. I am beyond grateful for all the support I received from my parents, teachers and friends, and I eagerly anticipate my next recital.

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