Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

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

Reflections from the Performer: Ayden’s Book 5 Piano Recital

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       At the beginning of the recital, my hands were clammy and I thought I was going to play badly, but then, I tried to stay calm by taking a few deep breaths and pretending like I was practising at home, I started feeling more confident and relaxed afterwards. Even so, I still forgot some repeats and made a few mistakes in the second half of the recital.  I felt a little nervous at that time. But when I looked at Ms Sonomi and my mom after the bow, their eyes are full of encouragement and made me feel much better. 

After the recital, I felt relaxed and thrilled. I’ve learnt that it’s fine even if I play some mistakes as long as I tried my very best. My mom said I performed very well, and my dad, Hanson and Abby all agreed. Most importantly, I want to thank Ms Sonomi makes me understand I should play like a cuckoo bird sound for “Cuckoo”. I want to thank her for spending her private time giving me comments on my practice video. I also want to thank my previous teacher, Ms Shoko. She taught me the most difficult graduation piece up to now – Bach Gigue in 2 years ago through Skype. She made the mission possible online. Without Ms Sonomi and Ms Shoko, I couldn’t play those pieces musically at all. And I was so happy to have my whole family as my live audience and my best Suzuki friends, Hugo and Lincoln to join on zoom. I hope they all enjoyed my piano book 5 recital! Like Ms Sonomi said at the end of the recital, I can’t wait to have my next piano book recital!!

Reflections from the Performer: Hanson’s Book 3 Recital

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Although I was a bit worried and nervous before the book recital, but I also felt confident with practiced my recital pieces everyday. On the recital day, I felt more energy and confident when I saw my friends came to support me. I thought I performed my pieces smoothly throughout the book recital as I got many good comments from my family, friends and Ms Sonomi.

  • Ms Sonomi introduces the recital
  • Family greeting Ms Shoko on Zoom
  • Focus
  • Performer’s rainbow fingers
  • Thank you for attending my recital!
  • Acknowledging the audience
  • Hanson and Ms Sonomi
  • Performer and his family
  • Hanson and Ms Shoko
  • Hanson and Ms Shoko close-up!
  • Only one performer means friends could attend!

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

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. 

HK meets NZ with NZ Suzuki Connect!

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New Zealand Connect Virtual Concert Hall

Recently, Lincoln had the chance to participate in a NZ Suzuki Connect Concert organised by the New Zealand Suzuki Institute. Here is his reflection on the experience:

One sunny day, I participated in an online concert hosted by New Zealand Suzuki Institute. 

My mom told me that it is a meaningful event because New Zealand is under a lockdown and people there need to stay at home, so it is good that we can cheer people up by sharing music!

I was practising the performance piece hard to prepare for the performance. 

There were 21 performers and 17 audiences. As New Zealand is turning to spring, we were required to wear spring clothes. Most people there were from Auckland, New Zealand and only me is from Hong Kong! They played piano, violin, cello and guitar. Most people played either Book 1 or 2. I believe I played my piece wonderfully, the host there said that I am “Well Done” and a student there said “Wow” after my performance. 

The audiences and performers who aren’t playing clapped in amazement for every performer that played their instrument. At the end of the concert, we took a funny group photo with virtual audience seats. It is a wonderful event and I enjoyed it very much!

Thank you very much for Ms Diane introducing this event to me.

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