2015-16 school year in review

Treasure Mountain Junior High, Park City Utah

This blog started as an Honors English assignment.  I go to Treasure Mountain Junior High in Park City.  I would say that at the beginning of the year, blogging was the hardest thing for me, because I had no experience with this type of writing.  I never would have started a blog if it hadn't been part of an assignment.  I didn’t even really know what a blog was.  

I found an article on the importance of blogging.      

After we started to talk about the blog, I struggled to come up with a title and a topic.  I have no life outside of school and music, as you probably have read, and I didn’t think people want to read about all of the music things I did.  In the end, I did decide to write about music, but also add other fun things that I do.  I did however really like the title I came up with for a music blog.  “Persisting Perseverance with a Passion”  sounds very intense, but really, I am not practicing 8 hours a day.  If I was going into music, I would have to practice that much, but since I am not, 4-5 hours a day is plenty for me.  

The next thought I had was who the heck would actually read my blog.  I knew my english teacher would because he had to grade the blog.  Maybe some of my friends would read it, but I wasn’t even sure of that.     

I actually think that if I didn't have to turn in 3 blog posts a quarter, that I wouldn't post as much.  There are so many cool things that I do, but it does take time to write about them.  Sometimes, I don’t have the time to write about some things, so I don’t write about them until later.  That is not always good because sometimes I forget some important details.  After a couple months though, I learned that it is better to post constantly instead of waiting right until the due date.     

With this blog, I have tried to keep my posts entertaining, and fun.  I sometimes struggle with what to write, but I eventually figure it out.  Sometimes I start writing, and then I realize my post has way too many words.  There is just so much that I could say about a certain topic that I just get carried away.  Other times, I am struggling to make the minimal word count.       

Because I had to write this blog, I feel that I have improved my writing and story telling skills.  Writing has never been my strong point in English.  I am better at reading and comprehension, but this year, I feel that my writing skills have improved quite a lot.  I definitely enjoy it more than I used to.

While I still find blogging a little bit difficult sometimes, I have come to enjoy writing posts to add to my blog.  It is a great way to share my thoughts and passions.  I hope to continue to blog, even after 9th grade is over.     

Cowgirls

I went to an off-broadway musical called Cowgirls.  My grandparents had extra tickets, so they gave them to us.  The production was put on at the Pioneer Theater.  I went with my dad to watch it.

I had never heard of a musical called Cowgirls before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I will admit that I wasn't super excited because I am not into anything country.  My dad really wanted to go with me though, so I decided I would give it a try.

We got to the Pioneer Theater, and we were on the second floor balcony area and the third row back.  It was a very good seat and I could see everything.  The theater was pretty crowded, but there were a few empty seats.




The storyline of the play was actually very interesting.  A girl named Jo is trying to save Hiram Hall, her father's saloon.  She decides she wants cowgirls to perform.  She makes a few calls, and a trio of musicians shows up.  The only problem is that they are the Coghill Trio, instead of the Cowgirl trio Jo thought she was getting.  A little miscommunication on the phone really messed things up.  The Coghill Trio is actually a classical music trio and know nothing of country.   Jo tries to kick them out, but two of them want to help.  The third, named Mary Lou, is strictly a classical musician, and refuses to attempt country.

Jo owns Hiram Hall, but she also works with Mickey and Mo.  Mickey wants to become a singer and she thinks that singing at Hiram Hall is her only chance to become famous.  Mo is a quirky, friendly girl who wants to do everything she can to help Jo save the saloon.

One of my favorite songs was Chopin to Country.  It incorporated parts of classical pieces, with some country mixed in.  I was able to identify most of the classical pieces that they played, and I knew exactly what musical competition references they were using.  My dad was laughing at me for knowing all of that, but my mom says that he later said he was proud that I could identify those things.  All of my classical music training is apparently paying off.

My favorite character was Mary Lou.  She was the character who was reluctant to change her style.  I think I like her because she actually a lot like me.  I am sometimes not really into changing things, but once I do, I actually can.  While Mary Lou didn't want to change at first, she let herself try country, and she turns out to be really good.  

What I really liked about this musical was that there was no orchestra for the music.  The actors were also very talented musicians.  They played all of their instruments right on stage.  There was violin, cello, piano, guitar, mandolin, and some percussion.  It was truly amazing.  There were only 6 people onstage, all girls, and they were so much fun to watch.

I was so glad I went to the musical.  It was such an amazing experience, and I would totally love to go see something like that again.  

State Math Contest

I went to the State Math Contest at BYU.  I knew there would be a lot of really smart people there, but I just wanted to go for the experience.  My parents wanted me to go too, and you can't really argue with your parents.  Also my math teacher thought I should and didn't really give me much of a choice.  There were more kids than I thought would go to this.  I think some of the kids didn't have much of a choice either,


I will say that it was the most stressful test I have ever taken.  If there were seventh graders that could answer all of those questions, then I should just give up.  So much for being good at math.  If that is what people good at math can do, then I am no longer good at math.  They put is in a room and went over the rules.  We had 2 and a half hours to answer what we could.  The test had 40 questions, but it felt like a million when I was taking the test.

There were so many kids from different schools there.  I think the most intimidating ones were the ones wearing a school uniform.  Most of the kids in a uniform were from a private school, and I know that many private schools push kids harder so they probably know more math than I do.

In my math class, there are 5 ninth graders, with me included.  We are in math a year ahead of our grade, so we are in 10th grade math.  The 5 of us went to the state math contest, and we all agreed that it was a crazy hard test.  This was the junior test for seventh, eighth and ninth graders.  Even though we were in tenth grade math,

We also got to get lunch at BYU.  Free food is a good reason to do anything, right?  Being BYU, they didn't have any caffeinated drinks, and a lot of people were complaining.  There were so many kids there to take the test, so the lunch lines were really long and the lunch room was really crowded.

The next math class we had, we tried to go over some of the questions.  A couple of them were a little easier to figure out.  Others, we really couldn't figure out what the answer was.  Even my math teacher had trouble with some of the problems.    

After they posted the answers and I looked at them, I know I got a few correct, but I also know I got a lot of them incorrect.  If you answer a question correctly, you get 6 points.  An incorrect answer gets 0 points, and an unanswered question gets 1.5 points.  They try to discourage guessing on the questions.  The ones I know for sure I missed, I didn't even think to solve the problem the way they did.

I am pretty sure I didn't get a high enough score to win anything, but it was a pretty fun day.  I got to skip normal school for it, and I got to see what the BYU campus looked like.  (It was quite nice.)  Overall, I think it was a great experience, and I might do it again, even though it was very stressful.      

Gifted Music School Spring Gala

Every year, the Gifted Music School puts on a few concerts. We have the Fall Concert, and the Spring Gala.  The Spring Gala is usually the bigger concert and it obviously happens in the Spring.  For these concerts, the Gifted Music School brings in a special guest artist to perform with the orchestra.  Sometimes, they will play with us, and other times they will be conducting the orchestra.

Some of the pieces we play are really cool.  We have played pieces like Piazzolla Primavera Portena, Gershwin's Summertime, and we even got to do a world premier called Lux Aeterna.  Another popular piece we have played is Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

This years Spring Gala is on Thursday, May 19.  Our special guest artist this year is Bill McLaughlin.   He is most well known for being a Classical Music radio host.  He plays the trombone and has played in orchestras, and also conducted orchestras.  Bill McLaughlin will be conducting the Gifted Music School orchestra for the Spring Gala Concert this year.  He came in the past to conduct the 2013 Spring Gala, and he has agreed to come back to work with the orchestra.  Apparently he liked us well enough to put up with us for a week.

Our Repertoire this year includes Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, a Mozart piece, and my piano teacher and her husband (who are the founders of the Gifted Music School) will be doing a duet called Tango.  There will also be a couple more, but since I am not playing them, I don't know what they are.

My least favorite part of the Spring Gala is the many long rehearsals we have to have.  The String players have to rehearse every Saturday for about 3 and a half hours.  I join in for the last 2 and half hours for the Appalachian Spring.  The week of the Concert, they add 3 more rehearsals for 3 hours each so we can work with our guest artist.

The other thing I hate about performing is the Concert outfits we have to wear.  Boys just wear a tux and a bowtie.  The girls have to wear a black velvet top and a long black skirt.  If you wear a jacket over the top of the velvet top, you might end up with a bunch of pink fuzz stuck to it.  I know from personal experience.  The problem with the skirts are that they are so long.  I have had the same skirt since I joined GMS and I just barely grew into it.  I used to have to roll the top of it down so it wouldn't drag too much on the floor.  One year, we were walking out onstage, and I was wearing that skirt and too big shoes.  There was a little lip as we walked out the door and I tripped over it/my skirt/my shoes.  Luckily the pianists were in the back of the line and nobody really saw because my friend caught me.  I learned to wear heels to be a little taller, and make sure my shoes actually fit.

I am actually really excited for the concert this year because I am playing the piano part to Appalachian Spring.  It is such a cool piece, but there are those awkward pages where I just sit there and have nothing to play.

I hope a lot of people come to this, because I think that it is going to be a great concert.  The Spring Gala always has a pretty good turnout and most people love to come and listen.

Gifted Music School

The Gifted Music School is a music school (duh!) for high school students.  It takes place outside of normal school.  There are two divisions; the full scholarship division and the preparatory division that anybody can audition for.

The preparatory division is for anyone of any age.  Most kids start there and can take private lessons.  There are many teachers that are really amazing.  Some are graduates of top music colleges.  They do have to pay a tuition for the GMSPD.  The full scholarship division is all payed for for every student.  The classes and orchestra rehearsals are free.  The ages are anywhere from eight to eighteen years old.

Kids in the Gifted Music School  choose to spend their Saturdays at the Gifted Music School taking more classes, but all involved with music.  I have been in the program since i was nine years old.  That is seven years.  I love the Gifted Music School because I feel everyone there is someone I can relate to.  Many of my absolute best friends come from the Gifted Music School.

Many of the students of the Gifted Music School go on to many different good colleges.  Some people choose to go into music, while others go into academics.  We have had people going to Curtis, Julliard, New England, Peabody, Colburn, and many more to study music.  Kids who go into academics have made top schools like Stanford.

The Gifted Music School brings in famous music artists from all over the country. From left to right: Bill McLaughlin, Roberto Diaz, Jenny Oaks Baker, Robert Lipsett, Joseph Silverstein, Fry Street Quartet, and Leon Fleisher.

The Gifted Music School is similar to actual school because we take different classes that are each at a specific time.  The pianists have a slightly different schedule than the string players. 

 The pianists start with music literature.  We learn about different composers and go over the pieces they wrote.  Some of the pieces we go really into the form and the meanings behind the piece.  Our next class is Keyboard skills.  We learn to read all five clefs and get really good at sight-reading music.  I am really horrible at that class because it is hard for my brain to think that fast.  

After keyboard skills, everybody gets a half-hour lunch break.  We usually eat lunch and just talk.  Sometimes we go outside and walk around.  Once in a while, people will bring in lunch for us.  Those are the best days because it is usually really good food.  

After lunch we have solfege and ear-training.  It is exactly what it sounds like.  We have to train our ears to help us with our music and get perfect pitch.  After that, we go to theory.  Theory is divided by ability.  I am in theory four which is the highest level this year.  I have done theory for the past five years.  

There are at least three concerts a school year.  We have a fall, winter, and spring concert.  The orchestra rehearses during the first three hours of GMS.  That is when they work on their pieces for the concerts.  Most of the concerts get a special guest to come and conduct or play with the orchestra.  There are usually lots of people who come to watch the orchestra and many are very impressed with how good the kids are.  We even got to premier a brand new piece in one of the concerts.  Sometimes we also have some solos instead of the whole orchestra.  We even include the Suzuki preparatory division in the concerts.   

All of these classes can get a little bit hard sometimes, but I learn so much that it is worth my time to take all of these.  I will be so sad when I graduate high school and I can't come back to the Gifted Music School.  The school has grown every year.  More students join, more teachers come, and more people come to the concerts.  

GMS Outreach Concert

On Wednesday March 2, I was asked to play and speak in a music outreach concert.  An outreach concert is where we go to title 1 schools and give music concerts to introduce them to music.  Title 1 schools are schools that have a lot of mixed ethnicity and not very much money.            

My very first sleepover was the night before this outreach concert.  I went to Brigham City with my friends McCall and Mackie.  It wasn't a real sleepover though.  We had to plan what we were going to say and how to introduce the Gifted Music School and the pieces we would play.  We were so nervous and didn't really know what to say about our pieces.  It took us over an hour to get it all done.  Once we were done though, we went right to bed instead of staying up and talking all night.  

Mountain View Elementary School

 The first school we went to was Mountain View Elementary School.  We played at the middle school building, which had a really big auditorium with nice seats.  It also had a nice stage that we set up on.  The piano wasn't the best, but it definitely wasn't the worst piano I have ever played.  It was a baby grand piano.

I got put in charge of talking about our quartet.  I told the kids about our name, the Kuruma Quartet, and why we are called that.  Kuruma means car in Japanese and since we drive so much we are always in the car to get to rehearsals.  Kuruma Quartet sounds cooler than Car Quartet.  I also told the kids that we first formed as a group three years ago and that none of us really wanted to do it, but our parents made us.  We then came to love working with each other and became great friends.

The first performance, I totally forgot about half of my speech.  I forgot to say our group name and give an example of the main theme.  I told the kids to count how many times the main theme came back and that I would ask them afterwards.  Of course I forgot to ask them after.  I was totally scattered throughout the whole first performance.

The second performance went a lot better.  I found I could talk a little more confidently and remember what i was supposed to say.  The audience was really good with participation and actually did try counting the number of times the theme came back in our quartet piece.  Some of the kids were really close with their counting and I was surprised.  

The second school we went to was Woodstock Elementary School.  Their multipurpose room was a lot smaller.  The stage barely fit all of the orchestra members.

The piano didn't fit on the stage, so I had to sit down on the side.  It was awkward when I wasn't playing.  The piano was an upright that I am positive hadn't been used in ten years.  It was so out of tune and bad.  It was also covered in lots of dust.  As I was playing, my fingers got really dusty and dirty.  It was kind of grossing me out.  The pedal on the piano was also way to high up.  I could barely do it because I have really small feet that didn't quite allow my heel to be on the ground if I wanted to use the pedal.

I would say that my talking turned out better than my playing that Woodstock elementary.  It was fun to skip school to give concerts though.  I also loved having a sleepover with my best friends.  

Julliard Head Pianist Masterclass

On Saturday, I performed in a piano masterclass with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky.  Now, you probably are wondering who the heck that is.  Many people in the world don't know who she is, but in the music world, she is so famous.  She is the head of the piano department of Julliard.  Julliard is a prestigious music school located in New York.

Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky 

Yoheved Kapllinsky is a renown pianist and teacher.  People are willing to pay lots of money for her to give them a lesson.  The Gifted Music School payed to bring her out to Salt Lake City form New York.  Gifted Music School held auditions to see who would play in the Masterclass.  All of the pianists auditioned, but only two of us got picked to play. 

I was really scared for this masterclass.  She is a top teacher and pianist.  I was really hoping to impress her.I was only supposed to play 30 minutes, but I ended up having a 45 minute masterclass.  When I first played through my piece, I played it my absolute best.  Dr. Kaplinsky mainly gave me comments about putting emotion into my piece.  

Let me explain my piece.  It is called Liszt Paraphrase on Verdi’s Rigoletto.  Rigoletto is an opera by the composer Verdi.  It is a fairly well known opera. The composer Liszt loved the opera so much that he decided to make a paraphrase of it.  A paraphrase and a transcription are two different things, although they are very similar.  A transcript is taking the piece and having it be almost exact, but for different instruments.  A paraphrase has a little more freedom for the person who is making the paraphrase.  It takes all of the important themes and melodies, but then adds some of their own flairs to it.  

The themes in my piece are mainly based off of four of the characters in the opera.  Rigoletto is one of them.  He is a hunchback clown that performs for the Duke.  His daughter is Gilda.  She falls in love with the Duke.  The duke flirts with every woman he meets and "says" that he loves them.  Then he moves on.  The Duke meets Gilda and tells her that he loves her.  The next moment, he is off with another woman named Magdelena.  These four people sing the main themes of the opera so they are in the paraphrase.  

When Dr. Kaplinsky gave me the comments on putting emotions into my playing, she used the word capricious to describe the duke.  I didn't know that capricious meant.  Then she used the synonym whimsical.  I didn't know what that meant either.  We were both at a loss of what to say.  She asked me if I spoke Chinese, but I said I spoke Korean.  When she asked the audience if anybody knew the word capricious in Korean, I was thinking that that wouldn't help me.  Korean is my second language.  We eventually said fickle.  Then I understood what she wanted me to think about.   

After the whole masterclass was over, both my piano teacher (Dr. Vera Ousestsskia Watanabe) and her husband (Eugene Watanabe) told me I had played my personal best.  I was so happy that I played really impressively.  If my piano teacher tells you that you played well, then you really played well.  She will tell you the truth about how to played and makes sure that whenever you perform, you play perfectly.  

I had a lot of fun during the masterclass.  It was really scary, but it was so fun and it was cool to work with someone so famous in the music world.  This was really a great experience for me.    

Ideal reader for my blog

Dear Delta Goodrem,

Delta Goodrem

I originally planned my blog to be about music and the hard work it takes to be able to play well.  I also added posts about my home life and trips I take.  It turned out to have mostly posts about my home life and fun things that I do.  

I have made some posts about my quartet and all that we have done together.  They are some of my best friends and we work hard together to be able to compete and play in concerts.  I am hoping that even after college, we will still be able to play music together.  Maybe even some fun pop song arrangements rather than the classical music we are currently doing.  

I am currently doing classical piano, but I really enjoy playing some pop songs and singing to them as well.  I love being good enough to just sight read some fun pop songs and play through them.  I also love to sing, but not in front of people.  I love to play through my Disney song book, but also my pop song books.  

The best songs I like to play are ones that have piano and vocals because it sounds better when I try to cover it.  Being able to play the piano at the level that I can is great because I can actually make it sound like the actual song


I really admire the pop stars that are able to not only sing, but also be able to play piano really well too.  So, Delta Goodrem, you are one of my favorite singers.  Not only do you  have an amazing voice, but you also are really good at the piano.  When you play, you have fast fingers and play the piano at some of your live concerts.  I love to watch how engaged you are when you play the piano and sing.

The piano is a great instrument to play because you can pair it with anything.  Piano is a great accompaniment and solo instrument.  Especially vocals sound great with piano.  Piano is an instrument that everybody should be able to play because it helps you with so much.

I know that I practice about 3-5 hours everyday.  Sometimes I even have to put in more time.  The most I have put in is 8 hours and 45 minutes.  That was a lot of practicing for me, but sometimes that is the amount of work it requires to achieve something.

Almost all of your songs have piano in them and it really compliments your voice.  I really like all of your songs and they have great lyrics and melodies to them.  

I have always dreamed about becoming a singer who played the piano as well.  I don't think that will happen, but possibly playing more pop related piano music.  I want to be able to entertain people more with piano music.  Many people don't like to listen to classical music.  I agree that it can sometimes get a little boring.

Piano and keyboards can create such cool effects for music and is a great foundation for many songs.  I don't always like practicing, but at the end of the day, I am always glad that I stick with piano.




 

New Years Resolutions

New years resolutions.  Does anybody every keep them for the whole year?  I know mine last about a week before they are out the door.  I set a lot of them but remembering them and actually doing them is a whole other story.  

Now you probably want to know what are my New Years Resolutions.  

1)  Keep my room clean and organized.  I always have serious problems putting my clothes away and putting books back on the shelves.  I want to totally rearrange my room and organize my clothes, makeup, and hair stuff.    

2) This goes along with the last one.  Make my bed every morning.  I feel like it takes so much time, and I have a queen sized bed.  It does make me feel good to be able to have it made and nice looking.  

3) Read 50 books or more this year.  I love to read books.  Mostly science fiction and fantasy genres.  Probably I should make at least 15 of the books different genres.  I read books really fast, so this might be the one goal I am able to keep.  

4) Get my permit and drive enough to get my license in September.  Maybe?  I am a really timid driver and my parents make fun of me for driving so slow.  I prefer to be in the passenger seat while my mom or dad drives.  Driving makes me nervous, especially when you have other people in the car with you.  The second time I got behind the wheel, I got honked at for going too slow.   

5) This is a big one.  Be nice to and get along my little brother.  We are always fighting and yelling at each other.  I mean, he drives me absolutely crazy!  He is eleven years old and in fifth grade.  My towel is always on the bathroom floor, and he even used my toothbrush because he wasn't paying attention.  Seriously?!?!?  I was yelling at him and he went "ehhhhh.  Whatever."  That resolution isn't going to last long.  

6) There are also goals I set for every year.  Get good grades and do well in school.  That is an obvious goal though.

7) Learn how to cook.  I am a total failure at cooking.  I wanted to learn to cook something new every Sunday.  So far I have learned to cook Spaghetti.  I can of course make Top Ramen, Mac & Cheese,  and foods you can microwave or cook in the oven.  That might be all that I eat in college.

8)  A lot of my goals have to do with organization, so here is another one.  Organize all of my music I have so much music that I can't always find what I need and know what I have.  It is nice to know that everything is organized.  

9)  I also teach piano and I want to teach more piano this year.  So far, I have two students.  I really love to teach and I find it so much fun to see the improvement they make.  

Temple Square

I went to Temple Square to look at the Temple lights.  I went with my mom, dad, and little brother, Kaj.   We went when it was pretty dark outside.  All of the trees had colorful lights on them.  Also, many of the bushes had fun light designs on them.

It was really cold and really crowded.  It seemed like everyone wanted to look at the temple lights.  I mean, it wasn't a bad idea because it was so pretty.

I really enjoyed looking at the nativity sets.  The nativities were from different places.  There were indians,



There were little paper bags that had different languages and Christmas words on it.  I found all of the languages that I know, but there were so many other languages.  I found Chinese, Danish, and Korean.  The words were written in the different languages, but had english translations underneath.

This is the Chinese character for love.  It is made of a paper bag with little holes poked into it to show the light that is inside the bag.  I wonder how long it took for the artists to make these.

It is so hard to get decent pictures of my brother.  He is always making funny faces or moving around too much to get a good shot.  This picture took a few tries, but he finally sat still enough for me to take the picture.  He actually looked pretty cute.  
















After we went to the Temple lights, we went to the Grand America Hotel.  They had such cute Christmas displays.  Each window had a Christmas scene in it.  There was one with the Grinch's head going up and down the chimney.  Some had moving parts in them, but others were just set pictures.  There was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Snowy Owls, and so many more.

The way they were crafted were so artistic and fun to look at.  There were big windows and little windows.  Some of the little windows had scenes made of marshmallows.  I wish I had windows that looked as neat as these did.

The Grand America was such a nice hotel.  Not only were the windows awesome, but they also had many beautifully decorated trees.  There was even a life size gingerbread house.  It was made with real ginger bread and frosting with gigantic candy canes.




I had a really fun night with my family.  We were really cold after being outside, but there were so many fun things to see