On July 4th. 2019, 17 members of East Cobb Young Musicians performed at three different senior centers. Each performer or performing group took time and effort out of their eventful summers to prepare and perform songs for the seniors to enjoy on Independence Day. You could clearly hear the work each performer put into preparing their piece. There were many kinds of instruments at the Independence Day performances. There were string players, pianists, woodwind players, brass players, and even singers. Many of the performers had taken the time to learn multiple pieces to play for the seniors. There were even some people who had taken the time to learn multiple songs on more than one instrument.
Although it was a very patriotic holiday, not all the songs performed were patriotic. Most of the musicians chose to play classical. Of all of the musicians that chose to play classical pieces, most of them were soloists although there was a duet or two. A couple groups did choose to play patriotic songs, and one or two groups even played religiously relating songs. At the performances there were soloists, duets, and even two quartets. Though there were different types of songs and groups, all the performers worked together to make a memorable performance.
The group closed each performance by having everyone sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” and Country Road’s “Take Me Home”. Each song had a piano accompaniment as well as someone conducting to keep time. The seniors seemed to thoroughly enjoy the songs that we sang, and one even began singing along. Many of the seniors said they would have liked us to project our voices more, not only during the songs, but while we were introducing ourselves and the songs we were playing. After the performances, many of the seniors came over to chat with some of the performers and give their feedback. One or two of the seniors said that they would have liked to hear more popular songs. Although there were a few bumps along the way, overall the performance went smoothly, and both the seniors and performers seemed to thoroughly enjoy each performance.
Attendance: Selina huang (3.5 hours), Jerry Xu (3.5 hours), Jack Xu (3.5 hours), Nathan Hsu (1.5 hours), Cynthia Ruan (3.5 hours), Asad Yamin (3.5 hours), Michael Fu (2.5 hours), David Qu (2.5 hours), Susanna Huang (3.5 hours), Katherine Sha (3.5 hours), Amy Lu (3.5 hours), Anoushka (1 hours), Jay Pan (3.5 hours), Brian Kuang (3.5 hours), Jeffrey Kuang (3.5 hours), Kevin Shen (3.5 hours), Gary Mei (3.5 hours),
Reported by Amy Lu
