Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

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

Reflections from the Performers: Camy & Emma W Book 4&5 Violin Recital

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~from Emma

To prepare for this recital, Camy and I spent a gruelling four months preparing with each other, our first rehearsal together was in the US, back in February. Since then, we exchanged multiple video recordings with each other, and had a few zoom meetings now and then to discuss possible articulations or dynamic levels. Then upon meeting up with each other a week before the recital, we spent a few hours finalising everything together. In the end, I believe our hard work together paid off. 

Of course there were mishaps along the way: long distance communication with each other being one of the more difficult aspects; or finding the right time to have rehearsals together, school or jet lag being something we had to work around; or when Camy and I went out to eat lunch before our rehearsal, and it immediately started raining heavily. Despite all of these challenges, big and small, we were able to persist to the end, and I believe that shows through our recital. 

One of the main things I learnt while preparing, is the importance of balance between two parts. While playing the Bach Double, the goal wasn’t always to be the same level of volume, but to support each other through our playing. If Camy’s part had the melody, while I had the supporting part, it would be my job to enhance what Camy is playing, not to overtake her, vice versa. With that in mind, I feel like Camy and I were able to successfully incorporate this idea into the Bach Double. All in all, I had a lot of fun playing the Bach Double during the concert. 

When it comes to my own solo pieces, the mistakes were evident, and it could have been prevented, had I prepared more mindfully. At the end of the day, mistakes were made, and I unfortunately cannot go back in time to fix them. This was a lesson I learned, and a preparation mistake that will not happen in my future book recitals. 

Thank you Ms Diane, Ms Sonomi, and Ms Marie Ann for helping us along the way, and thank you Camy for taking the time to prepare and perform this recital with me.

~from Camy

My book 4/5 recital on June 20, 2026 was my second recital with Emma and it was nice to be able to see everyone and work together in Hong Kong! The book 4/5 recital is the first recital where the students have to take most of the responsibilities, including deciding our rehearsal times, working together independently, and making decisions on how to use articulation, phrasing, and bow divisions in our playing. This was especially challenging for me and Emma because we lived halfway across the world from each other.

Fortunately, we had the opportunity to meet up in person before I came to Hong Kong, at the SAA Suzuki music educators’ conference in San Francisco in February. Both Emma and I (plus Hanson and Linnaea) were selected to participate in the Early Music Ensemble hosted during the conference, which focused on playing in the baroque style. We had the chance to use baroque bows for the first time and learn bowing techniques from violinist Rachel Barton Pine and her daughter, and we performed an orchestral version of the Bach Double during the conference. This was beneficial for me and Emma to learn more about the articulation used in the baroque style because we were working on the Bach Double for our recital. When working together in San Francisco, on Acapella, and in person, we experimented with both the modern bow and baroque bow to see which style we preferred to use during the recital. Although we are more used to playing with our modern bows, we decided to use the baroque bows during the recital for the Bach Double because it was more fitting for the articulations we chose to use.

At the recital, we decided to make the Bach Double our grand finale. Although we took it considerably faster than when we practiced, it ended up sounding really good and pretty balanced between the parts. We spent the majority of our independent rehearsals as well as a good part of our joint lessons discussing the articulation we should use, how we wanted to use phrasing and dynamics to add depth to our playing, how to balance the parts and when to bring out specific sections, and how we wanted to do the bow divisions for the Bach Double. 

Another big highlight of the book 4/5 recital is that we each had the opportunity to perform a whole Vivaldi concerto with 3 movements. I played the Vivaldi A Minor concerto, and a main focus I worked on in my lessons with Ms. Diane was how to transition between the different movements. This is because it is important to make sure you are prepared with the appropriate energy required for each movement. For example, between the first (Allegro) and second (Largo) movements, I took a longer time to adjust to the lower level of energy for the second movement. The second transition from the second to the third (Presto) movement was much shorter because it was easier to transition from lower to higher energy. The experience of playing a whole concerto helped me understand the relationship between the movements and how their styles were different but related.

My other solo pieces were German Dance, Seitz 5/3, and Perpetual Motion. The things I needed to work on were different throughout each piece, including how the cues needed to happen, the ritards, phrasing, tone, and much more. I thought I have improved a lot in all the pieces since when I first learned them a few years ago and also from when I started working on them at the beginning of this year to prepare for the recital. Even though some things still could use adjustments when I performed them, I think I still did a good job with the dynamics, articulation, and other specific things I worked on in the pieces.

In the joint pieces, Emma and I had to spend a lot of time coordinating the parts on how we wanted to do different aspects of each piece. One thing that was difficult for us was surprisingly the Twinkle Variations. For the Book 4/5 recital, Ms. Diane asked us to play the variations in multiple keys and 6 different positions to demonstrate our advancing technique. The challenge was even tougher because we didn’t practice the Twinkles as much as the other joint pieces, but also because we changed the keys and positions for each variation multiple times and only finalized the decision at the dress rehearsal two days before the recital. 

In Seitz 2/3, I spent a lot of time working on the cues for Emma and Ms. Sonomi because there are a lot of ritards and places that need me to cue the next section. In the performance, I think I improved the cues in the ending of the piece and the middle compared with the dress rehearsal, when it was difficult for me to cue properly in those sections at first. I was accidentally giving a double cue for the ending note, but I worked to make my motion a smoother and bigger bow circle to provide a clearer cue for my partners. I think the cue in the middle of the piece could have been better because I should have matched the next section’s tempo slightly better, but it was definitely improved since the last time. 

In the Veracini Gigue, the main issues Emma and I both worked on were using our elbows properly throughout the piece and also how to do the grace notes consistently. I think I could have improved my use of my elbow in the recital, but I think Emma and I worked out the grace notes and decided on a consistent solution.

I think we did well in both Gossec Gavotte and Bach Bourree, although the Bourree 2 was pretty slow compared to Bourree 1 when they were supposed to be similar in tempo. Other than that, I think our phrasing, bow divisions, and articulation matched well in both pieces.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who helped me prepare and make the recital happen. Thank you to Emma for being a wonderful recital partner and willing to work with me overseas and have many rehearsals on two different continents. Thank you to Ms. Diane for being a great teacher and helping us work on the recital together, improve our playing, and take more independent responsibility for making decisions. A big thank you to Ms. Sonomi for being an awesome collaborative pianist and taking the time and effort to accompany us during the 4-hour dress rehearsal and recital (on top of several other recitals and performances). Special thanks to Ms. Marie Ann for being so welcoming and making sure everything runs smoothly. Thank you to my family and everyone who came to support us and listen to our recital—both in person and on Zoom.

Reflections from the Performer: Isabel Zeng Book 8 Violin Recital

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My Book 8 Recital was the culmination of so, so many hours of practice and rehearsals. So while yes, it did have mistakes and rougher sections, I would consider it an immense accomplishment overall.

Something that I am especially proud of was the progress I made especially in the week leading up to the recital. Before that, I was juggling academics and finals, so once finals week was over, I was able to better engage in practicing. Furthermore, because my dress rehearsal was only two days before the recital, this forced me to really hone in on the specific rhythmic errors that I had in addition to the musical elements that I worked on in my lessons. I think that my last lesson before the recital was extremely pivotal to how I was able to express the phrasings and dynamics in pieces like the 1st movement in the Veracini Sonata and the 3rd movement of Eccles Sonata. While the dynamics of the Veracini were challenging to remember at first, I later faced more difficulty with the triplet rhythms — something that was a common theme across many of my pieces. However, I am overall quite proud of how those pieces turned out.

A sonata I’d like to focus on is the Bach Sonata in C Major, which I played the 3rd and 4th movements of. These pieces were definitely a challenge on many fronts (the phrasing in the 3rd movement, memorising the 4th movement, lines, dynamics, shape, just to name a few), but the most interesting of them was switching to playing with a baroque bow. At first, I couldn’t get used to how the bow didn’t feel like it was actually on the string, which made me press harder to compensate and then created a scratchy sound. However, I learnt to use my arm more and have a better contact point, which is something that helped greatly in creating a smoother sound (though it is very much still in progress).

Above all, the Book 8 Recital reflected huge development in both me as a musician and as a person. With the added responsibilities of scheduling all of my rehearsals with Ms. Sonomi and creating my recital poster and programme, the recital was a large undertaking and something that I am very proud of having accomplished (and happy to have had completed!)

But most importantly, I would like to give a massive thank you to Ms. Sonomi for all her hours of rehearsals and practice with me and for tolerating all of my slip-ups and tempo inconsistencies while helping me through them all. To Ms. Diane, thank you so much for going over the same mistakes with me over and over and helping me through them while making the end goal feel perfectly attainable. Last but not least, thank you Ms. Marie Ann for your amazing administrative work and moral support — none of this would be possible without you!

Reflections from the performers: Isabel & Nicole Book 3 Recital

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~from Isabel

This Book Recital was the most challenging recital I’ve had. Both Nicole and I had to work together under multiple time constraints. We had to change the dates of our practices numerous times in order to fit our schedules. The biggest challenge for me was, even though I had time to practise I didn’t practise efficiently or effectively. So when it came time to the dress rehearsal I was mostly unprepared, especially on my solo pieces. So I decided I needed to start practising efficiently. Throughout the week I slowly learned how to use my time efficiently and make each practise count. In the end I managed to play all of my pieces pretty well and me and Nicole worked really well together at the concert. On top of that I also learned a valuable lesson. I learned how to be efficient and manage my time. Overall I think this concert was very good given the challenges we faced.

~from Nicole

I was really glad when I heard that my partner would be Isabel. Since Isabel and I have known each other from school, we have collaborated exceptionally well on our book recital, even when we had to reschedule many of our rehearsals, demonstrating a strong partnership that enhanced our overall performance.
During joint lessons, we worked on the flow of each joint piece. For the twinkle variations, we practiced playing the twinkles at a consistent speed (80), with the right articulation and bow division. For Minuet in G, I felt like the first time we played the piece together, we were challenged because Isabel had just started learning it, and I hadn’t practiced the harmony well enough. However, as we began to focus on coordinating our parts and improving each section, the specific places where a ritard was needed, we were able to play the piece well. 
I felt like I had good energy towards the end of the recital, especially in the Gavotte in D major and the Martini Gavotte. I also liked how I played Humoresque. Although some of my shifts did not land correctly, I felt like I had good contrast when the dynamic and energy changed. In Bach Bourrée, I felt like my bow divisions and dynamics were clear, but I could have made some notes clearer rather than rushed, especially in the B section. For Gossec Gavotte, I felt my articulation slowly became more noticeable, but I could have practiced the notes in the C and D sections to make them sound clearer.
I want to thank Ms. Diane for teaching me all the pieces I performed and for supporting me. Ms. Sonomi, for collaborating with me and also teaching and giving tips to Isabel and I during the joint lessons. Ms. Marie Ann, for organizing everything. My family for supporting me. Isabel’s parents for supporting Isabel and me during the joint lessons, dress rehearsal, and book recital. I would also like to thank everyone who was involved in the recital process. Everyone was very flexible when all the schedule changes! Finally, Isabel, for being such a great friend and recital partner! 

Reflections from the Performers: Elise and Sebastien’s Book 1 Cello Recital

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Sebastien and Elise prepared and performed their Book 1 Cello Recital together. Please enjoy their thoughts about the experience!

~from Sebbie

Yesterday, I played cello in front of a lot of people. I was a little scared. I felt a little weird. While I waited backstage I felt bored… (no offence). When I started I was a little nervous but I kept on playing. I felt the ringing of music in my ears when I was playing. I got a mistake in O Come Little Children and I fixed it. I like playing solo more because it is more easier because I can go at my own speed and I can do my own tone after that. I loved eating all the snacks that I brought there were also cupcakes and cookies but still my favourites were the beef sticks. There was also other drinks like grape juice orange juice and apple it was great. I also gave cards to the teachers. And I enjoyed the recital!

~from Elise

I enjoyed when we went to get food because then I felt like I graduated from Book 1. I felt really nervous when we were waiting in the small room but after we played the Twinkles I didn’t feel as scared. I am thankful for my teachers and family.

Reflections from the Performers: Charlotte & Sophie’s Book 1 Violin Recital

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Sophie and Charlotte prepared and performed their Book 1 Recital together! Here are their reflections on their first-ever full recital experience!

~from Sophie

I am very glad that my recital was successful. I really liked how the audience was very supportive. I also think that we (me and Charlotte) did well. We remembered the important things and worked together well. Though I think that if I were to have another recital, I want to make sure that we weren’t as nervous and laugh a little less when we were walking.

~from Charlotte

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