On Saturday, August 25th, 2018, the East Cobb Young Musicians went to Atria Johnson Ferry, Sunrise Senior, and Arbor Terrace and performed there to bring happy and joyful music for the seniors to enjoy. It is the first performance in 2018-2019 school year, the team will try to performance at least once a month and will have intensive performance during holiday season.
Katherine Sha started her first opening speech and closing statement at Atria Johnson Ferry, she got more help and experience from Susanna Huang. Katherine practiced her introduction at home so much that when she talked to the audience on Saturday, she was calm, relaxed and knew exactly what she was going to say. There, we managed to see Connie, who will turn 101 this November! She was very excited to hear us play along with all the seniors.
In addition, we have Eileen Zhang, an amazing dancer, joined the performing group. She was the only dancer out of the entire group, but that pressing matter did not affect her. Her high spirits and joyful mood could not be struck down and smothered by anything like that. Therefore, when she performed for the seniors, her graceful movements and sudden twirls and spins deeply intrigued the seniors, and as the dance came to an end, applause burst out louder than ever.
That day, there was as many duets as solos. There were piano soloists, string duets, violin soloists, a clarinet duet, a flute and piano duet, and a quintet ensemble of two violins and clarinets with a piano. As seen, a variety of musicians and performers were present that afternoon, and their songs were ranging from vibrant to emotional to sorrowful. To interpret that feeling and mood in a piece is essential in mastering the piece itself because music is a work of art that can be heard. To convey that feeling is to make the music more intriguing to the audience. The more emotional and engaged the performer is, the more enhanced the performance becomes.
Especially if the audience once had a personal connection to the music that was performed, the music would prompt them back to their happy and tender memories of the past. For an example, one senior later asked us after a performance, “Did the tall pianist graduate?” As we understood that she was referring to one of the high schoolers, we told her that he was still in eleventh grade. What she said next was essential. “You know, he used to play one of my favorite songs.” That is the power of music. Music helps them release the stressing present and relive their wonderful past.
When we entered each senior center, we were greeted with great applause and warm smiles as everyone wanted to listen to us perform. Then, they were extremely kind and told us where we could practice, put our instruments, etc. Now we had become part of their family and they knew just how to help us!
Attendance: Susanna Huang (3.5 hrs), Selina Huang (3.5 hrs), Katherine Sha (3.5 hrs) Asad Yamin (3.5 hrs), Cynthia Ruan (3.5 hrs), Rachel Li (3.5 hrs), Maxwell Jiang (3.5 hrs), Eileen Zhang (2.5 hrs), Jack Xu (1 hour), Chloe Chen (3.5 hrs), Howard Hua (3.5 hrs), Diane Chen (3.5 hrs)
Reported by Susanna Huang
Edited by Maxwell Jiang
