Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

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

Reflections from the Performers: Viola! Book 2 ~ Yeh Joon, Linnaea and Aslan

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Linnaea, Aslan and Yeh Joon worked together to prepare their Book 2 recital, starting from the beginning of the Fall Term. All of their efforts culminated in their performance on Saturday. Here are the performers’ reflections on the experience:

from Aslan

Over the course of the past few months i have been preparing for my book 2 recital and thought it went better than i thought as i didn’t mess up as much as i thought i would, I put a lot of effort into bochorreni minute as i couldn’t get the slurs to be fast enough or long enough and in the recital i executed it quite well. With the help of Linnea and Yeah Joon we got to play chorus from Judas maccabaeus in harmony which in my opinion sounded quite nice plus we also got to play musette as a harmony too. My three solo pieces are quite nice as i didn’t mess up as much as i did before and i remembered the trigger notes of D,D,B,B in Bourree. In the two grenadiers i thought i had great dynamics and showed the different moods of the piece. Although in witches dance i messed up a bit but i still kept on beat and continued playing the song. Twinkles were great. 🙂

from Yeh Joon

In this book2 recital, I felt more nervous than book 1 recital because they are harder pieces. One thing I enjoyed the most about this book recital was how we as a group collaborated well with one another. In my Gavotte from Mignon, I rushed the piece and my best piece was Long Long Ago. I learned that I should prepare more to make me feel better when preforming. Will remember this for next time.  

from Linnaea

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

Reflections from the Performers: Andrew and Cecilia, Book 6 Violin Recital

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Cecilia and Andrew have unique perspectives on Book Recitals.

They were also paired for their Book 4/5 recital, originally scheduled during Spring Term, 2020. Because of the Pandemic, their plans changed numerous times. The vast majority of their preparation was held online. Their Spring Term, 2020 recital was eventually held in Fall Term, 2020…online from home with the joint pieces “performed” as Acapella videos. Book 4/5 is the first time a violin student performs a full concerto; for Cecilia and Andrew, this meant performing with an app doing the accompaniment!

One year later, they have had a very different preparation and performance experience for the in person Book 6 recital. Here are their reflections on the experience.

from Andrew

To finally be able to perform with one another in person with a live audience after collaborating with each other through videos, apps and zoom is a great experience and refresher. Practicing with each other in person allows us to communicate easier both in discussion and playing the violin together. Being able to perform the finished recital in person also creates a greater sense of accomplishment and allows us to share the achievements of our violin journey with others. As we rehearsed for our recital, it was quite difficult to get used to the formalities of an in person performance such as the paths to walk, when to bow and giving a que. I am very pleased with the final result although I still hoped that we could polish up the pieces a bit more. In conclusion, I enjoyed doing my Violin Book 6 Recital in person, collaborating with others and being able to share the results of our journey with others.

from Cecilia

This recital was definitely more memorable than the book 4-5 recital because it was in person, and I was able to play with Andrew together. We had a hard time practising together since it was so different, we had trouble communicating with one another, and we sometimes just start playing on our own, forgetting that we’re actually playing together. I felt a lot more anxious and scared since there were actual people in real life watching my performance, and I wasn’t really prepared for that due to the many recitals and performances I’ve had online. This recital was better than the last one because I got to really talk to my partner about things that we needed to work on. Although I made mistakes while playing, I really enjoyed this recital and I look forward to the next one. 

Reflection from the Performers: Hugo, Gwen-Sofia and Chloe

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Chloe, Gwen-Sofia and Hugo gave their first recital on Saturday, 24 April. It was wonderful to hear their performances as they “looked back” at the Book 1 pieces from their perspectives as Book 2 students! For both cello and piano, Minuet 2 is the piece for Graduation Level 1. Hugo graduated from Level 1 in 2020; Gwen-Sofia and Chloe will graduate from Level 1 in May, 2021.

Please enjoy Gwen-Sofia, Hugo, and Chloe’s reflections on their experience:

from Hugo

Before the recital I felt very nervous I thought everyone would hate my performance.  After the recital I felt very proud of myself of finally finishing book 1. During the recital I took deep breaths to calm myself down.  I would tell other kids that are going to have recitals to not look at the audience and focus on playing.  I liked my perpetual motion the most.

from Chloe

Hi my name is Chloe Chung and on Saturday April 24, 2021 3pm, I had my first cello recital in Hong Kong. 

Let’s start. I felt very worried and I had butterflies in my tummy. I don’t like it. First song I played was Long Long Ago. It was a beautiful song and I loved it.  There were Hugo my cello classmate and Gwen Sofia the piano student too. We played Allegro and Twinkle variations together.  Later, I felt less and less worried and I started to enjoy my playing. My parents said it was really good. 

After we left school, my mom said she would buy me a new toy on Sunday but I was so tired, I took a day off school today.  I think I worked hard with my mom and I felt proud of myself. It is an amazing feeling.  Maybe next time I will spend more time practicing even more slowly, and I will listen to the CD more.  But I think the graduation went well and I really loved it because I feel more confident starting Book 2 now.

Thank you Miss Sandra, Ms Sonomi and Miss Lan for your help, and Dad, mom and Caleb for helping me and listening to my pretend recitals this month. I love my cellito very much and I am calling her ‘Harmony’ now cos I can play some harmonies now too! 

  • Hugo and family
  • Gwen-Sofia and family
  • Chloe and family
  • Performers and teachers
  • performers
  • Trio

Reflections from the Performers: Alice and Ayden

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Our last Book Recital of 2020-2021 was a Book 3 violin recital performed by Ayden and Alice. Please enjoy their reflections on the experience.

from Ayden

It was a very fun and exciting experience being able to perform in front of friends and family. I felt proud that I was able to do duets with people. Most pieces that I played were very exciting and I couldn’t wait to play them all. Even though I played a few wrong notes, I shrugged it off and continued to perform with confident. This was the best recital I have ever done!


from Alice

  • Ayden and family
  • Alice and parents
  • The performers with Ms Sonomi and Ms Diane
  • Alice and Ayden with Ms Diane
  • Ayden and Alice
  • greeting their zoom audience
  • performing one of the duets
  • waiting for the recital to begin

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