Awards/Competitions
Silver Award, 2022 Alba Music Competition, Spain; Golden Award, 2021 Royal Music Competition, UK; Bronze Award, 2020 New Talent Music Competition, UK; Silver Award, 2018 Competition at Hong Kong International Music Festival
Appearances
Orchestral Academy at Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, 2020–22; Hong Kong International Music Festival, 2018; Hangzhou International Chamber Music Festival, 2021; Bard Music Festival, 2023; Berlin Opera Academy, 2024
What is your earliest memory of classical music?
One day when I was in elementary school I turned on the TV, randomly looking for my favorite channel, and suddenly I saw a video of Gustavo Dudamel conducting an orchestra. I can’t remember the exact music and orchestra, but I was hooked!
Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
There are so many, so I’d like to talk about two of my most recent teachers. The first is Maestro Yong-Yan Hu, who inspired me to be courageous in making music. Another is Erica Kiesewetter, my violin teacher at Bard Conservatory of Music. She taught me to be honest while playing music.
How did you hear about TŌN? What inspired you to apply?
I was a graduate student at Bard College Conservatory of Music the past two years. During my time at Bard, I had a lot of opportunities to be a substitute violinist in TŌN, where I found my passion for orchestra playing. Also, my professor Erica Kiesewetter encouraged me to apply for the program after my master’s degree, so here’s to the next step of my journey as a musician.
What is the most memorable performance you ever had?
In 2020, the year of Beethoven’s 250th birthday, I participated in an orchestra which performed Beethoven’s five piano concertos. It was a really meaningful and impressive performance to celebrate the great composer’s birthday, and to collaborate with my best friend, who was the soloist.
What is your proudest achievement as a musician?
There was one time when I finished playing the second movement of Strauss’ Violin Sonata, and a lady came to me from the audience with tears in her eyes, telling me how touched she was while listening to that tune. I felt my value to society as a musician.
Can you share any memorable onstage mishaps?
Once when I was performing in a winner’s concert, the composer of the piece was also sitting in the audience. At that time I was only a middle school kid, a young musician who was not experienced enough to handle stress. When I got to the climax of the music, I was too enthusiastic and I accidentally plugged the strings and the violin went totally out of tune. The composer tried to calm me down, asked me to tune my instrument and start somewhere in the score. After that chaos, I never got nervous on stage again.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
I would definitely want to be a curator. It’s hard to imagine a life without music, but working as a curator is still related to music and also something that I’m interested in.
What is the biggest challenge and/or surprise about playing in an orchestra?
Performing as a solo violinist and sectional violinist is totally different. The biggest challenge for me about playing in an orchestra is that although we have our own unique interpretation of the music, we still need to learn how to work as a group and blend in with each other’s sound.