by Ms. Monica

On Saturday, 30 April, we celebrated the accomplishments of three students, Ben, Stacey and Liam.  Through their hard work and dedication, they performed all of the pieces in Violin Book One!  KSMA reports:

KSMA: Do you think you’re ready for book 2 now?

B: Yes

KSMA:  What did you think about the Book 1 Recital?

friends and family: Great!

KSMA: Did the performers seem prepared?

friends and family:  Yeah

KSMA: What was your favorite part of the recital?

friends and family: I like the part when everybody was playing together.

KSMA: What was your favorite part of the recital?

L: The start!

KSMA:  Why?
L: Because I like Gavotte.

KSMA:  Did you like playing it together?

L: Yeah

KSMA: What’s different about playing in a group?

L: It sounds louder.

KSMA: What did you think about having rehearsals before the performance? Do you think that was a good thing?

S: *nods yes*

KSMA:  Why is it important to have the rehearsals?

S: Rehearsal is better because we can practice.

KSMA: Together?
S: Yup!

Assisted by Mr. Jason, Aston Tandiono and Bryan Tse performed their Book 4 & 5 recital on Saturday, 23 April.   Here are their post-recital thoughts:

Aston

It was my first joint recital and what a great experience for me. It was a pleasure to perform with my friend Bryan and I enjoyed playing for all the songs especially Bach Double. Overall, I have learnt a valuable lesson from this whole recital. In order to perform well in a duet, we need a lot of individual practice as well as teamwork with the partner. Also, as most of the pieces are very long, staying focused and maintaining eye contact with the partner are vital for a successful performance. I am looking forward to performing in my next recital!

Bryan

I never knew a recital could be that fun. The best song that I thought me and Aston did was the Bach Double, as well as the whole concertos we had to play. I had fun playing and what an audience. At least I felt good about it.

On Saturday, 16 April, Tom Chiang and Nicole Lee presented their Book 4 & 5 recital.   Here are the thoughts they had to share with all of us after the experience:

Nicole:

The recital was an interesting experience. It was more fun than doing a graduation because I got to do it with a partner and there were less solos. There were a few rehearsals and I felt pretty prepared for the recital beforehand. Now that it’s finished, I feel like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders. The recital has also taught me a few lessons on teamwork and collaboration. It’s a lot different working with a partner during a performance and working on your own. Sometimes it’s simpler, sometimes it’s harder. I’m excited for my next recital.

Tom:

The recital was fab! It was so much fun. I got to perform solo pieces and some joint repertoires. There were some long solo pieces, such as the G minor in book 5 by Vivaldi. I had to play the whole entire Concerto! That was very tiring playing such a long piece.  At least that’s over now! From this recital, I learned that when we play a song together or play a duet together we need to listen to each other in order to perform a great song, like the Bach Double in book 5. It was a lot of work and practice, but I’m glad I did it. I can’t wait for my book 6 recital!

I am beyond proud of our cello, piano and viola students, not to mention their parents + four of our faculty members!  In spite of an (extremely) inconvenient change of venue, Aidan, Benjamin, Cosette, Felix, Jay, Lucas, Ryan and Zara spent their Sunday sharing their music to help others.

Oxfam’s purpose is eradicate poverty and social injustice throughout the world.   The Musical Marathon, held this year for the 26th time, is one of many ways in which Oxfam allows people to be actively involved in helping others.

I interviewed several of the students after the performance.  I asked two questions:

1)What was the best thing about the performing experience today?

• Star Wars (Zara & Ryan performed this together)
• Playing a solo
• Liked that lots of people were watching even though I was a bit nervous
• Car ride

2)How does it feel to know that by playing your instrument here today, you are doing something to help other children have food and clothes and other things?

• It feels good to help others
• Makes me feel like I’m doing a good thing helping people
• It makes me feel quite happy that I’m actually doing something good for people
• I think it’s good for us to share what we have with others

Many thanks to the parents – and to Mr. Graham, Mr. Jason, Ms. Monica and Ms. Sandra – for taking the time out of your Sunday to make it possible for your students to have this opportunity to use their music to help others!   This is the perfect embodiment of Dr. Suzuki’s philosophy and spirit.