Hugo gave a Book 4 recital that included a heartfelt dedication to those impacted by the Tai Po fire. Please enjoy his reflections on his Book 4 recital experience:
This recital was very stressful, tiring and nerve-racking. However, it was also fun, heartwarming, and something I am proud of. In the weeks preceding the recital, I had to not only juggle the workload of my various end-of-term assessments but also practise for the solo recital and upcoming friendship concert in addition to my book 4 recital. So naturally, I procrastinated.
I did not seriously practise for my recital until 2 weeks before, which is also 1 week before the final rehearsal. Uh oh. I wasn’t even able to play through the entire book without the music. In these 2 weeks, I also had an above-average amount of homework, meaning I had little to no time to do other things. I would go home, do my homework, and practise when my dad returned from work before going to sleep.
I was stressed and tired and exhausted for the entire 2 weeks. But in the end, I think it was all worth it. So many people came to watch me play, from my close family to my fellow Suzuki friends. This, while heartwarming. Also had a small, teeny side effect. Making me perhaps the most nervous I had been the whole year, I was sweating and internally freaking out. The pressure of performing in front of so many people, and the fact that I had worked so hard during the past 2 weeks, made me lose focus, mess up, and stutter my words before playing Chanson Triste. I honestly am a bit mad at myself for messing up my speech; I had a wonderful opportunity to give my heart and condolences to those affected by the fire. And at the moment, I just couldn’t do that. I really hope I can do better in the friendship concert.
For the minuet, I felt like I did fairly well; I had good tone and vibrato and only rushed a little bit at the end of the second minuet.
For the Breval sonata, I feel like I did decently well. I did vibrato for the majority of the piece and had good intonation, except for the double stops at the end of the first phrase.
I feel the most proud of chanson triste. I had good tone and vibrato and had good dynamics.
Finally, for the Marcello sonata, it is the piece I feel I could improve the most on. I rushed a lot on the second movement and got a lot of wrong notes and got stuck on multiple spots; however, the first movement went fine.
