Hello, I hope your winter is going well. These next few months are going to be incredibly busy for me — I have my S.A.T. coming up (the final exam in American schools), as well as several piano competitions in the spring – one for concerti, two for solo works. Now’s my chance to finally build my reputation as a pianist. I’ve been waiting for this chance for years, and now that it’s come, I’m going to lock onto it with a grip of steel. If I win, I’ll get a step closer to achieving that scene I described on the Dream Repertory page. In fact, the only reason I’m not practicing right now is because my family brought me on a road trip.
Among my most difficult pieces are Chopin’s Second Ballade, his Nocturne 48 no. 1, and Beethoven’s Pathétique; currently I’m studying Beethoven’s Third Concerto. A typical concert pianist can play all this and more when they’re, like, twelve; I’m incredibly behind, and my chances of making it big as a pianist are practically zero. But I recently stumbled upon this video of Nikolai Lugansky testing a piano in a store by practicing Rachmaninoff 3. In it, despite having no orchestra, no venue, and an audience of only a few random people, incredible passion and artistic depth still shone through. Even if music’s greatest joys are beyond me, there’s still a whole world of art in my reach, and whatever is in that reach, I shall work my very hardest to get. Besides, I’ve experienced many other joys that money and stage time can’t always bring you — I’ve inspired people to study music, I’ve made friends through it, I’ve had neighbors who wander in front of my house just to hear me play. I’m planning to start teaching and finding gigs soon, too. If I could get a lifetime of experiences like these, it’d be quite fulfilling already.
As for how my road trip went, my family and I toured some old Floridian universities, then went to New Orleans. This was among the most interesting, distinctive American cities I’ve visited. Much of it catered to tourists, but there was a mix of the very wealthy and very poor, of stately cathedrals and wild bars and clubs, of people from all countries and walks of life. There were numerous local artists and musicians, and colorful architecture in florid, antiquated styles. It was a thick soup of culture, history, and people — there were so many lifestyles converging at once, so much to see and learn. Some of the famous restaurants were stuffed with tourists, but the food was unique and pretty good.
Thank you for your interest :) if you’d like, here’s a playlist I’ve been working on. Happy New Year’s!