Videos update

A few new recordings made at the Juilliard school this semester have been posted on my Youtube channel. This past Wednesday, I also had the pleasure of giving a concert at the American Lutheran Church in Sun City, Arizona as part of their Wednesday Night alive series (see here: http://www.alcsuncity.org/wednesday-night-alive-schedule/). A really loving community whose organisation is headed by Tom Ohnesorge, a super dedicated and energetic personality that I find represents the kind of spirit that music needs. Thank you to the American Lutheran and Mr. Ohnesorge!

I will upload a few pieces I played from this concert soon.


Youtube Update

I've uploaded new videos to my Youtube: Performance during the summer at Pianosummer Festival in SUNY New Paltz, and professional recordings by the Juilliard recording department.

The Performance I gave at Pianosummer was part of a gala concert that featured past top-prize winners of the festival's Jacob Flier piano competition, many of whom are close friends whom I hadn't seen in a long time. The performance marks the 20th anniversary of the Pianosummer festival, and there is a great deal of celebration as well as sentiment associated with this milestone for me as I owe a great deal of my musical experience to the Pianosummer festival. From my meetings with mentors, friends, and faculty artists, I have drawn inspiration that persists to this day, and it was an honor to be able to return if just for one concert.

This was a performance done in the summer of 2014 at Pianosummer festival in SUNY New Paltz. My performance was part of a gala concert for past top-prize winners of the Jacob Flier Piano competition to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the festival.

For the following recordings, I'd like to thank the Juilliard recording department, the staff and engineers of which are eternally busy but will go to the ends of the earth for you. 

An interesting thing that this sonata exemplifies in Mozart's style is the use of long, sentence-like melody lines. By the time Mozart composed this sonata, he was composing sonatas and piano concertos that contained elaborate, conversational melodies, one of many aspects that distinguished him from others composers of his day.

This prelude and fugue is one of Bach's most sublime in his Well-Tempered Clavier. Through its ascending scales and fugue subject, the piece evokes a transcendence of soul or mind that prevails throughout its entirety. -- This was a professional recording done with the Juilliard recording department in the winter of 2013.

2014 Music Academy of the West

Post by Music Academy of the West.

Recently, I was a piano fellow of the 2014 Music Academy of the West. This 8 week long festival consisted of more masterclasses and performances than I could have imagined and, more importantly, each of which was well-attended by an astoundingly involved community. Having at least 2 solo or chamber performances and masterclasses each week while orchestral musicians had rehearsals each morning and a symphony concert each weekend, this made out to be quite a busy summer for the fellows. 

The community of Montecito and other patrons who live in the Santa Barbara county give a life to music-making at the Academy that is truly unique from anything I have experienced before. Throughout every day of the festival's two months, the fellows were consistently greeted by audience members and curious fanatics of music. Masterclasses, which I have traditionally found to be scarcely attended events in the past, always held an enthusiastic crowd of people eager to listen and to find out the way musicians worked on their music. 

I've found that this community surrounding the Academy, if nothing else, is what truly separates the experience I had at Santa Barbara from others. Owing also to the small amount of fellows whom are chosen to attend the festival, I've also made friendships which I hope to make last beyond this summer. And, as I've also found out during my first year at Juilliard, one learns sometimes even more from one's peers than from the teacher. 

At some point, I hope to return to Santa Barbara, perhaps also to visit my two compeer couples, Ernie and Judy Getto and Patty and Daniel Weber, both of whom were essential in bringing me up close to life in Montecito and making me feel right at home. As of right now, it is time to get ready for my second year in college. 

www.musicacademy.org 

https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyoftheWest