News - Page 33 of 43 - Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Piano Triolet Recital

February 20, 2017 By Diane Slone

The experienced piano students had a wonderful opportunity this month: they performed on a Triolet Concert!

Catherine McMichael, a wonderful Suzuki piano teacher and composer, wrote string parts to use as accompaniment or chamber music with many of the pieces from the Suzuki piano repertoire.

Mr. Jason decided which piece each student should play, and then KSMA purchased the music for all of the pieces. Together with Ms. Sandra and Ms. Diane, Mr. Jason and each piano student rehearsed their piece, getting used to the sound of the string parts together with the piano, as well as working on things like giving cues for beginning the piece.

On the day of the concert, all of the performers wore Chinese clothing, which made the performance even more festive!

The students and the audience all enjoyed the concert a lot…when is the next one?!

Reflections from the Performers: Marcus and Gareth, Book 4/5 Recital

January 25, 2017 By Diane Slone

On Saturday, 21 January, Gareth and Marcus joined together to perform their Book 4/5 recital. Here are their thoughts after the experience!

By Marcus

This was my first time doing a recital with another person. It was fun to practice with my friend Gareth and learn from each other. It is not easy to be a good leader and a follower at the same time. Overall, I was quite pleased with my results as I just recovered from sickness and needed to catch up with more practices.

In this experience, I realise that it is very important to learn properly and practice slowly for any new piece. Otherwise, it is hard to correct mistakes.

I would like to thank Ms. Diane for organizing this event and all her valuable advice, thank Mr. Graham for his heartful teaching and as well for Ms. Sonomi to polish my solo pieces.

It was a great experience. I look forward to learn more new songs with my new teacher Ms. Ryoko and improve next time. Yeah!

~ Marcus Poon

by Gareth

This recital was pretty good after all, some parts were great but some parts still needed more improvement. We can improve our mistakes by practicing and listening to the piece, this will make us a better and skilled player. We needed a lot of practice to make us sound how we sounded in the recital and how we sound today. I know that both Marcus and I made some mistakes in the performance so we should both try to correct it. I would like to thank my parents, Ms. Diane, Mr. Graham and Ms. Sonomi for helping me and Marcus make our recital sound good. Starting from book 6, I will try to play as good as possible and practice a lot everyday. Overall, I thought that this recital was pretty good and hope that my next recital will be even better.

~ Gareth Au

Alice’s Night with Iskandar (and Dad)

January 23, 2017 By Diane Slone

by Ming and Alice Wan

Once a violinist said “there is no right age limit. Some kids can sit still in a concert for a couple hours at age 6, some have to wait until age 13. Every child is different so don’t try to force the issues. You will know when your child is ready.”

Last November Alice and I went to a young violinist Iskandar Widjaja’s Hong Kong recital debut. This concert was recommended by Ms. Diane.

It was not the first time Alice and I went to concert. But still I was concerned about whether Alice can sit through the whole recital given it is a 100-minute concert. C. Franck, Bach, Handel, Schuman, will she really understand all those?

We arrived in City Hall twenty minutes earlier. So, Alice had enough time to get ready, and I can remind her to keep quiet during the performance. I had been promoting that Iskandar was once a Suzuki student, which got Alice excited.

Iskandar was young, energetic and handsome, and his varied techniques on sonic nuances and facets were impressive. Alice concentrated on the violinist’s performance and seemed much enjoyed. The second piece was C. Franck’s Sonata in A major, 28 minutes long. That raised some challenges to Alice and she started to move around in her chair. Then I had to place my hand on her shoulder to remind her.

Alice and I left the concert a bit earlier than its ending. Alice told me two things: first, she thought the violinist’s dress looked funny, and secondly, she wanted to become a violinist just like Iskandar. When I asked Alice if she enjoyed the concert, she gave me a firm “yes”.

Bringing kids to concert is challenging as it is usually hard for our kids to sit through a concert. However, sharing beautiful classic music is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give their child and each concert can encourage children’s imagination and creativity. I’m glad that I brought Alice to the concert and will continue doing so.

Last, FYI, the American violinist Rachel Barton Pine will perform in the coming June in HK. Rachel was a Suzuki student and once taught by Ms. Diane at a summer camp. This time she is going to play two pieces from the Suzuki repertoire!

Thank you to the Lee family!

January 23, 2017 By Diane Slone

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Many thanks to the Lee family who have donated their piano to KSMA! We are thrilled that both Mr. Jason and Ms. Shoko will be able to have two pianos in their studios.

Please help us continue to express our gratitude to Yolandy, Nicole and Nathan when you see them around school!

Chamber Music Concert

January 23, 2017 By Diane Slone

January brought KSMA’s first-ever chamber music program concert!

Students have been working together with coaches Ms. Elizabeth, Mr. Graham, Mr. Jason, Ms. Monica, and Ms. Yuko since September. Some of what they have been working on are the skills that are part of being a member of a chamber group, which is very different from playing in an orchestra or group class.

At the beginning of the concert, Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Monica talked a bit about all of the things on which the groups have been working, and had the students answer some questions.

In a chamber group, each person plays a different part, and all of the parts interact with one another. Every person is very important to the success of the experience of the whole group!

Please enjoy the students’ (and some coaches’) performances!