This is where I'll be sharing my love for music, specifically
instrumental music! A little disclaimer, I don't know much about
music, I just really like listening to it and formulating my opinions on
it, even though I lack a
lot of knowledge in the music genre. In this first section, you can see
some of my most favorite performances ever, musicians I find
inspirational, and just see me completely nerd out about music for a
little. In the next section, you'll see a couple of videos from my
favorite high school performances that I had either performed in or just
really enjoyed during my high school career. Hopefully, watching
some of these videos will help you gain a new sense of love for music
or help you be inspired by the sheer amount of skill, hard work,
and dedication radiating in these musician's performances.
Even if you're not a huge music nerd (specifically classical music), I'm
sure you'll find at least one performance you like. Stay awesome
and keep practicing ♫♪♬♫♩
My favorite performances of all time!
This section will be dedicated to my favorite instrumental performances!
Tchaikovsky Serenade, m. I - Pezzo in forma di Sonatina
Memory by A Far Cry
I really like this performance for many reasons: first, I really love
how beautiful and vibrant each note is. Next, the acoustics are
amazing and I love how everyone is standing up (besides the celli of
course) as opposed to the traditional orchestra. Since everyone
is standing up, there's so much movement and energy in the
performance. Lastly, since no one is reading sheet music,
they're all able to look at each other and connect, making the
peformance feel more interconnected. Everything about this
performance is phenomenal and I love it so much!
Take On Me - a-ha
Brooklyn Duo
I really like Brooklyn Duo's performances and arrangements, however, I
must say, this is one of my absolutely favorite performances
they have. There's so much energy in the music and everyone connects
so well! Everything feels balances and no
one overpowers each other. I really like the video movement because
the camera isn't static so the video feels energenic. One thing
that does bum me out whenever I watch this video is that the
performance was filmed at Carnegie Hall and my orchestra was
supposed
to go to Carnegie Hall this year to perform but then Corona happened.
｡･ﾟヾ(´；д；`)ﾉ｡ﾟ･｡
Chopin Etude Op 25 No.11
Valentina Lisitsa
Valentina Lisitsa's performances are always so amazing! This is one of
my favorite piano pieces to hear! I love her technique in this
video and I love how much energy is in the performance.
Passacaglia for Violin and Viola
Sun Jae Oak, Hayang Park
My favorite duet pieces of all time, and my favorite performance of
that piece of all time! Their phrasing is exceptional and their
connection with each other is amazing! It's so much more amazing when
you know that both performers were 15 at the time of this
performance! It's so amazing seeing how much skill they have at such a
young age! This piece is nicknamed the "Impossible Duet" because
of how difficult it is to learn and perform this piece so it's awesome
seeing two prodigies perform this. Totally doesn't destroy
my self-esteem.
Franz Liszt - La Campanella
Lang Lang
Lang Lang's performances are always so exceptional and this
performance is no different. I'm always in awe when I see his
technique
used in his pieces, especially in this piece. The amount of hours it
must've taken to be this graceful at such a technical piece is
just amazing.
Beethoven "Moonlight" Sonata, III "Presto Agitato"
Valentina Lisitsa
Valentina Lisitsa makes the list again! I absolutely love this
performance because of how clear and crisp each note is despite some
sections of the piece being very soft.
Paganini - Caprice 24
Hilary Hahn
I absolutely adore Hilary Hanh's performances and her technique is one
of the best! Her left hand technique is also nearly faultless
and perfect and I'm always amazed whenever I see videos like this
because of how breathless her technique is. That 4th finger
vibrato is amazing!!
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Ray Chen
One thing I like to look at when Ray Chen is performing is always his
eyebrows (besides his immaculate vibrato) lol! His face is so
full of emotions and it's so beautiful how it's translated into his
performance! One thing I definitely love about Ray Chen is his
connection and involvement with his community. He's been doing a lot
of streams lately where he gives insight on what it takes to be
a world class violinist (my favorite stream is the one where
he reviewed his own playing ), answers questions, and even reviews his fan's playing! The
fact that he's a world class violinist who is pretty close with his
community and fan base is so crazy to me. I love that he makes
time for his fans and stuff.
Mozart - Divertimento in D major, K. 136
New York Classical Players
This performance is well done! From the amazing bow usage to the
astounding sound quality and dynamics! This group of musicians
really blew this piece out of the park! It's always so nice looking at
how they utilize the bow and see the musicality!
N. Paganini - God save the King
Roman Kim
Regarded as one of the hardest violin pieces ever, it's awesome being
able to see someone perform it so beautifully!
Roman Kim's technique is so amazing and I love his interpretations.
However, I always get confused around 3:21 because I'm not even
sure if that's a technique, nonetheless, an amazing performance!
Paganini - Nel cor più non mi sento
Ziyu He
Another violin piece that's regarded as one of the hardest pieces to
perform on the violin! His technique, like everyone on this list,
is incredible. I would talk about what's so amazing about his
performance but I feel like I'm just repeating myself over and over
again.
Regardless, it's awesome that he has such awesome phrasing and amazing
technique at just 16 years old, I'm totally not jealous!
High School Peformances
This section will be dedicated to my favorite high school performances!
Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine
October 11, 2017
I remember performing this piece and feeling very confused because of
the rhythm near the end. This was extremely fun to perform
because the orchestra department was able to collaborate with the
guitar department and a fine arts middle school.
Lauren Bernofsky’s Heart of Fire
October 11, 2017
This was one of the first pieces I played at Stilwell. It was probably
a couple of days into my freshmen year and my orchestra teacher
gave
everyone 3 pieces (I don't remember the order specifically). It was
Wood Splitter Fanfare - Brian Balmages
,
Perseus - Soon Hee Newbold
and this piece, and he basically made us all sight-read us to
see what level we were all on collectively. I remember feeling
horrible because I could barely read the sheet music, count, and
play, and I remember feeling even worse when we had a rehearsal and
the seniors next to me sounded awesome compared to me. It's
crazy comparing my skill set from freshman year to now.
Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major: III Élégie
March 15, 2018
This isn't the professional recording, if you'd like to listen to the
professional recording, you can click the link here:
Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48: Élégie
Otherwise, have fun listening/watching this performance. This
was a rehearsal my orchestra did my school's gym (my school doesn't
have sports so our gym is tinier than the average gym) so
there's a couple mistakes here and there but the acoustics is
definitely nice! It brings me so much nostalgia watching this video
because I remember how much work I had to pour in to perform
these pieces. It's nice listening back to old videos because it
makes me think of a time where I dedicated A LOT of my time into
orchestra and makes me remember how I used to spend a lot of
time staying after school to rehearse with my orchestra.
Kirt Mosier’s Overture to the Wind
March 16, 2018
This piece was always super fun to play but it did get boring very
quickly. I have very fond memories of practicing this with the
orchestra. Once, the soloists played their solos out of key on purpose
and the whole orchestra laughed. That is one of my favorite
memories of orchestra during my freshmen year :)
UJohn Rutter’s Suite fo Strings First Movement: A-Roving
March 16, 2018
This was always a fun piece to perform because of the energy everyone
emitted whenever we performed this. One thing I'll always
remember from this piece was that I always associated the beginning to
the Wii theme song, so the first few rehearsals practicing this
piece was so hilarious to me. I remember singing along with friends to
this piece and being extra dramatic and obnoxious whenever
there was a pizz.
John Rutter’s Suite for Strings Fourth Movement: Dashing Away
March 16, 2018
Another performance I really enjoyed! I always picture myself back in
freshmen year bopping along to the rhythm with friends.
Egmont Overture - Ludwig van Beethoven
March 14, 2019
I didn't perform in this group, but dang, you gotta admit, everyone in
this group sounds so exceptional! Again for a professional
recording, click here:
Egmont Overture by Beethoven Arr. Robert D. McCashin
I remember being so proud of everyone in this group. They all
sound so amazing. One thing I definitely remember about the next day
(we had a performance) was my dinner. So, basically, my
orchestra left school early to get to the performance area and I
didn't have money to pay for dinner, and we were going to stay
there for a couple of more hours so I basically had to make do.
I remember that morning, I went to the cafeteria and grabbed a bowl of
chocolate cereal, which I later placed into my backpack (I
collect cereal from the cafeteria to snack on during school,
specifically during rehearsals) so I grabbed that out my
backpack for dinner. Unfortuntely, I wanted to eat it with milk but
I'm not a psychopath who carries milk
in their bookbag, so what I did was grab my water I always carry on me
and make do. I kid you not, the second I pour it into my cereal,
I look up to see a line of my classmates who're waiting in line
for their Chik-Fil-A food just start laughing like crazy and staring
at me. It was definitely a fond memory I have of my friends and
that performance.
String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421: IV. Allegretto Ma Non Troppo
May 9, 2019
As you can tell, I'm not performing, but I just wanted to add this to
my list because my friends sound amazing! They're an awesome
group of individuals who are so talented!! I really miss them,
alongside my other friends. Shout out to Angelly cuz I miss her
soccer mom vibes! Come back to Stilwell, gurlll ╥﹏╥
Gustav Holst - St. Paul’s Suite IV: Dargason
May 13, 2019
I'm not performing in this video. This was the senior's last
performance together. When the performance ended, I cried a
little because I had to say goodbye to so many amazing, talented
seniors. It definitely makes me excited for my eventual senior
showcase!
Themes from Moldau
May 13, 2019
At my school, we have an annual tradition with the seniors called
"Senior Showcase." Basically, the seniors in each department
will create their own program where every senior has a chance to
showcase their skills and what they learned throughout their
high school career (Each department has their own program - There's no
joint program with all the seniors from each department). That
year, one of the seniors wanted to showcase their conducting skills
and selected a small group of musicians to
perform while he conducts and yay, he picked me! This is the only
video on this blog where you can actually see me lol. Anyways, I
was honored and performed and it was really fun. I was moving with the
music and it was nice performing with my peers in a smaller
group. Because of Covid-19, there was unfortunately no senior showcase
this school year :( However, I'm super excited to
perform and help create the senior showcase program next year
alongside my fellow c/o 2021 orchestra classmates :D
Darkened Shadows - Joshua Reznicow
March 13, 2020
I'm not performing but I thought I should put this because even though
I don't know a majority of the people in that group and a
majority of them don't know me, I'm immensely proud of each and every
one of them! It's amazing listening to their first performance
to what they sound like now, and that definitely doesn't come from
nowhere - it comes from hours of hard work, dedication, and
mindful practice. I remember when I saw this performance, I teared up
because they sound incredible compared to what they sounded like
in the beginning of the year. Fun fact: this was the last day in
school before we eventually left because of Covid-19.
We left on a "good note" ;)