#suzukikids Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Reflection from the Performer: Cecilia’s Book 7 Recital

May 17, 2023 By Diane Slone

~by Cecilia Hao

Since I was performing on my own for the first time, my violin recital for book 7 was considerably different from my recital for book 6 in the past. I had to independently schedule rehearsal times with Ms. Sonomi and during the rehearsals, we had to communicate clearly so that the violin and piano parts would fit well together. I was able to improve my communication abilities and gain more confidence as a result of multiple practice sessions I had with Ms Sonomi. In addition, compared to the many rehearsals I’ve had, I felt more comfortable voicing my ideas this time. Because the success of this recital depended on how much I had prepared and how secure I was in myself, it encouraged me to be much more responsible. Despite some bumps in the road during the performance, I have to admit that I am very pleased with myself for such an outstanding achievement. Being able to balance the violin on top of school work more successfully than normal also made me feel more mature. There is still room for improvement in terms of interacting with the piano and having more strong opinions. I am beyond grateful for all the support I received from my parents, teachers and friends, and I eagerly anticipate my next recital.

Reflection of the Performer: Ha Jin’s Book 4 Viola Recital

May 3, 2023 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

~from Ha Jin

I think that in the end, my book 4 recital went better than I expected it too, despite the many setbacks I had while preparing for the recital. Originally my recital was scheduled to be in November, 2022, but after fracturing my wrist I wasn’t able to play for many weeks. It was a difficult time, as I had put a lot of effort into my playing prior to the injury and I was not able to perform. Even after getting my cast off, I almost had to relearn how to play my viola, and it was very challenging to get back to the level I had before I got injured. It took many more weeks to even get all of my fingers properly placed on the fingerboard. Then, I had to spend tremendous amounts of time to get other things back, such as my vibrato and my shifting. However, as I reflect back on my experience, I think that this delay of my book recital was for the better. It allowed me to slow down and focus more on the pieces. I practiced the pieces in ways I didn’t before my recital. Therefore, during the recital, I was able to play all of the pieces much more confidently. During the recital, I was anxious as I had been making mistakes in dress rehearsals and when I practiced. However, I told myself not to overthink anything and I was able to perform all of the pieces well. I was relieved to finally have performed. Overall, I think that my recital was very successful, and I learned a lot about myself and perseverance from this experience. I would like to thank everyone who made this book recital possible and those who have always encouraged me.

Thank you, Ms Sonomi!
Mom, HaJin, Ms Sonomi and Ms Susan. Great efforts by all!
Celebrating with Ms Susan!
Congratulatory comments from the Zoom audience
Recorded Duet with Ms Susan for the Telemann Double!

2022 Fall Solo Recitals

November 29, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

SMAHK’s Fall, 2022 Solo Recitals were held on Saturday, 26 November. It was wonderful to hear so many of the students share their music with one another. Thanks to the more relaxed restrictions, we enjoyed having full families including grandparents as part of the audience! Staff and parents alike have commented about how smoothly the recitals went, with one parent commenting about being able to notice the growth from the last Solo Recitals until now.

Please enjoy some of the photos from the event!

Reflections of the Performers: Eric, Hugo & Wesley Book 2 Recital

November 8, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Wesley, Hugo and Eric worked together to prepare and perform their Book 2 recital. Here are their reflections on the experience.

~from Eric

From this recital, I took away three things.

Firstly, I noticed how important it is to listen to each other when playing our joint pieces. An example is when you mentioned the balance all three of us needed to achieve in Musette. I needed to listen to Wesley to balance with him and then look at Hugo’s bow so that I and Wesley can balance Hugo. This made me realize how important listening and adapting to each other is, in any group performance.
Next, I noticed how a small pause is sometimes the most powerful way to start or end a piece. For example, when I ended Waltz, I wanted to pause after I finished the last note, to let the ringing tone sink in before I took a bow. I feel like this was a perfect ending touch to this piece. Silence is truly a part of music.

Finally, I noticed how much work we put into this recital. We planned, practiced, and improved over and over again until we had it perfect. This made me realize how much effort is put into a performance, and not just in music. The amount of teamwork and dedication needed for any performance we see is probably a lot more than how much we think it is. To conclude, I want to thank Wesley and Hugo. They were amazing to work with and we collaborated together really well. Furthermore, I want to thank Ms.Diane, Ms.Sonomi, and Ms.Mary Ann because they work hard every day to help us. Ms.Diane works for many hours a day and doesn’t even have time for a proper lunch on Saturdays. Ms.Sonomi accompanies so many pieces, and without her, our performance would not have been possible. Ms.Mary Ann assists countless things and gets so many things done for us to keep our school running.

~ from Hugo

I am proud of myself for completing my book 2 recital, I spent a lot of time polishing and improving my pieces and I am relieved it is over.

I think Eric, Wesley and I worked well together when we were practising our joint pieces. This is a rare opportunity to be able to play a trio with them, I also learnt something from each of them, I think Eric is very dedicated and loves his music a lot, and Wesley is very hard working and takes practising seriously. These are all good things I should follow.

At first, our trios were not very good, but after some individual practice at home, we got better each time we played together.

I overall enjoyed the experience even though there was some pressure during the process, especially in the week before the recital.

~from Wesley

Saturday’s recital was very good, I had one mistake for every piece and I think it was because I’m nervous when I was playing the first piece of the recital, my legs were shaking but I felt better afterwards. I think I also need to add more emotions to the piece, like swinging my body while playing the song.

As a group playing with Eric and Hugo, I learnt that when playing at a recital I have to put more emotion to the song. And for the joint pieces I have to match both Eric and Hugo’s rhythm, for both pieces. I also think I did well on the special notes in Judas since I could really hear the sound loud and clear around the room. For Musette I think I did decent with the overlapping bows. I can do better by really bringing up the overlapping sound more. For Gavotte, I think I can do better because I don’t think I did very well with the sixteenth notes.

International Live Virtual Concert!

October 11, 2022 By Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong

Several SMAHK students participated in the 22nd International Live Virtual Concert. This is the third time we have been fortunate to have students participate in this global event. The organisers are in Ireland and Spain. We are so grateful that our students are able to have this opportunity to connect with other young musicians from around the world.

For this concert, there was a special guest artist who was a young professional guitarist, also from Spain. In addition to Hong Kong, performers who played at this concert were from India, Indonesia, Ireland, Iran, Japan, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey. We were lucky to be able to have our SMAHK students perform at our school, so they had both the joy of playing in front of an in person audience, as well as the chance to interact with others from around the world.

Here are what the students have to say about the experience:

I have greatly enjoyed this afternoon, as it has allowed me to share my music with people from all around the world. Despite the technical difficulties, music was able to connect all of us, the concert providing a platform for different people at different stages of learning to share their music.

Having an opportunity to play in the international live concert was simply unimaginable for me. During the concert, I got the opportunity to listen to everyone across the world and learn the style of their playing with different instruments. For example the flute, the trombone, the guitar and many more. To me performing isn’t just performing. It’s like sharing part of my soul to others even though I might not be there. I enjoyed the experience very very much after that concert. I’ve reflected on my performance by reviewing the live stream after. In the future, I might want to add more dynamics to my piece to enhance the emotions of this song.