This year is starting off right! Yesterday marked my first orchestra concert of 2020. I had a blast preparing these pieces and I believe we performed well! Here are the links – please let me know what you think!
Emory 2/2020 – Shostakovitch Waltz
Violin
My Debut Recital With Mr. Pu!
These past few months have been full of a lot of wonderful surprises and achievements. Rewinding back to summer, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the first annual Atlanta Festival Academy and there I met my now teacher Mr. William Pu, the former Associate Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Over the past few months I have been working with him on Haydn’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and finally it was ready enough to perform. I had my debut recital with Mr. Pu last weekend, and I was so excited! Here is the recording:
Halloween Macabre!
Happy Halloween – it’s time to eat all that leftover candy! I was put into the spooky mood by a Halloween Macabre Cabaret last weekend. I performed Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens and A Thousand Years from the Twilight Saga (a vampire movie series for those of you who have not seen it). Check out the recordings here!
Tower Of Talent 2019!
After much time and effort, the Tower of Talent performance has finally flown by! It is an annual fundraiser for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and I have had the honor to be a part of it three years in a row, hopefully going on four! I sang “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin at the performance, and had recorded my own video/audio track. It was played on a mega screen behind me (I did not expect it to be so big… wow). I was so lucky to have had the support of my incredible piano teacher, Ms. Irina, without whom this project would not have been possible. I was also thrilled to have my dear friends Mme. Maryse, Amelie, and Odin there to cheer me on. Thank you to my family and friends, all of whom took the time to come see me perform!
Here is the recording – please let me know what you think!
The video is also on Youtube at this link:
Atlanta Festival Academy
This summer, I had the honor of attending the first annual Atlanta Festival Academy. The festival academy was founded by Ms. Lin Wei, Ms. Amy Chang, and Mr. William Pu – who is now my teacher. This intensive is connected to the Menuhin violin competition, so I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Gordon Back, the artistic director of the contest and world-renowned pianist, and Chloe Chua, the 2018 winner. There were several other incredible professors, accompanists, and performers from all over the world, and it was incredible to get to work with and speak to all of them. I was part of an orchestra, and over the course of two weeks we prepared four pieces for the final performance. I also got two private violin lessons and a masterclass, both of which were incredible learning experiences. Below are the links to the pieces that we performed at the final concert. I am so excited for next year!
Atlanta Festival Academy Performance – 1
Atlanta Festival Academy Performance – 2
Atlanta Festival Academy Performance – 3
Violin Recital 2019
After much practice, I performed Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro last weekend. I have never played anything like it – five minutes of playing, with only one short rest! But boy was it fun! Now moving on to Mozart’s violin concertos. Check out the recording below – I hope you enjoy!
Final Emory Concerts!
The season is truly coming to an end! Last week marked my last Emory concert this school year! This has been a wonderful and fun experience.
A weekend or two ago, a large part of my orchestra went up to Nashville for the weekend. We toured various museums, listened to some fantastic music, made our own custom goo goos (those did not last very long… :-)), performed at Belmont University, and most importantly – we ate every 3 hours.
Check out the recordings at these links:
Another Cabaret!
…and yet another fun cabaret has gone by! This time, I performed two pieces I absolutely adore – America (West Side Story), and Je Veux (by Zaz). In America, I was honored to have been able to accompany Ms. Ashlyn, a phenomenal dancer. As a surprise, I prepared and dedicated Je Veux to Mme Maryse, my wonderful friend and French teacher.
I was honored that my family and friends came to see my performances! Check out the recordings below.
I cannot wait till the next cabaret! Please comment and let me know what you think.
My New Violin – Sweet Valentine!
I got my first full-size violin just a couple of weeks ago! Woo-hoo! And boy, do I love her – which is very appropriate since I got her on Valentine’s Day. In honor of this, I have named her my Sweet Valentine. Who knows – maybe she will be the violin I take with me through the rest of my life. Check out the pictures – isn’t she just beautiful? And she sounds so wonderful… like melted caramel.
Emory Orchestra Concert
Last week marked my second Emory Orchestra concert! I am so honored that I get to be a part of this wonderful orchestra. We performed a very nice program, I believe. Check out the recordings at the links below! Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Symphony in D Major, op. 11 Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2hm4zxiiok
Fantasia in F Tracey Rush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeM9CwyiKMw
Unter Donner Und Blitz, Schnell-Polka (Thunder and Lightning, Quick Polka)Johann Strauss Jr.:
a little peek into my world 