My Piano Quartet

Many people mistake a piano quartet for four pianos.   Nope!  It is actually a piano, a violin, a viola, and a cello all in a group.  I am part of an awesome quartet.  We are all crazy musicians and love to rehearse and perform together.  We have been together for about three years.  All the time we spend rehearsing and playing, we have gotten to know each other really well.  We are all such great friends that is it so much fun to work together.

We were first made a group through the Gifted Music School.  We are all a part of GMS and signed up for chamber.  We all take from different teachers, but when we rehearse, we usually have just one or two coaches to help us.    

My Quartet right after a winners recital performance.

Our group rehearses almost every Monday, Friday, and Saturday.  It is a whole lot of rehearsing, but most of the time we are working towards a specific performance or competition.  My quartet has competed in a few competitions including Youth Guild and The University of Utah Ensemble Competition.  So far, we have gotten first place and honorable mention at the Youth Guild, and first in the University Of Utah Ensemble Competition.  

We plan to compete in many more competitions coming up.  Our next big one is the Fishoff Ensemble Competition.  It is a national competition that people from all over come to compete.  You have to send in a DVD of your group playing two different pieces.  If you make it to the finals, you fly to Indiana and compete for first place.  It is the biggest competition we are going for.  The finals are in May, but we are still a long ways off from being done with our pieces.  We have to have a total of three pieces to play for the finals.  (If we make it that far.)

McCall

Being in a chamber group is such a cool thing for me.  I have so much fun with my quartet and they are some of my best friends.  We always hang out together and I do so many fun activities outside of music with them.  We go out to lunch a lot, go to Lagoon, and many other fun things.    

 Our quartet's violinist is McCall (15).  She is a funny girl who always makes us laugh.  She has won many solo competitions and is an amazing violinist.  She is the same age as me.  We previously did a couple of piano and violin duet pieces that were really cool.  

Kayden

Kayden (17)is the only Guy and he plays the Cello.  He is also a very funny guy in our Quartet.  He is awesome for putting up with three girls and still be willing to do everything with us.  He is good with balancing music, school, and baseball.      

Kayden and McCall together is crazy.  They get distracted so easily and off topic.  They both have really funny personalities, but sometimes it shows at the wrong time.  Which is during rehearsal.  They both work really hard though.      

Mackie (Mackenzie) (14)and I are usually the serious ones.  Always trying to get work done and keep McCall and Kayden in line.  Mackie plays the viola and is amazing.  She is a really hard worker.  

I love being part of my quartet.  They are such cool people to be around.  We have the most fun together.  It will be sad when we all go off to college.  Mackie and Kayden will be the first to go college.  We won't be able to be a quartet when they leave.  Hopefully in the future we will be able to work together after we are all out of college.  

Cardboard Boats? Do They Float?

 In Pre-engineering Technology, we designed and built cardboard boats.  My partner was Victoria Olsen.  We first researched different types of boats.  It was to help us come up with a design for our own boat.  I was in charge of researching the catamaran.  I really enjoy sailing on catamarans and I love the way that they glide through the water.  I think that is why we decided to use the catamaran as our design.

Our design was based on a catamaran at first, then it became more of a trimaran design.  It had a big hull in the middle and two smaller ones on the sides.  We would sit the middle one and the sides ones were to help it float.  We decided that that catamaran would be too hard to build since the main part is elevated above the water.  That part we put in the water so it became a trimaran.  

Me and Victoria with our boat at Ecker Aquatic Center

When we went to actually build the boat, we realized we didn't actually have that much time until we took them to the pool.  There was also a fight for cardboard.  Some groups got more, and some didn't get any.   We ended up getting two big boxes and some smaller pieces of cardboard.  We were given only two rolls of duct tape, a bottle of glue, and as much cardboard as we could get.

We used the big pieces of the cardboard for the bottom and the sides of the boat.  We glued them together, but we taped all of the seams.

We struggled to measure out all of the parts, and make each side of the boat even.  Sometimes the tape wouldn't even stay down and hold the boat together.


When the time came to paint it, we started with white.  The white ran out very quickly because so many people were using it.  We then had to switch to black.  I think that the black sides looked cooler, but we had one of the sides white.  There were no other colors we could decorate the rest of the boat with though.

Our team name was the Hawaiian Leis.  We tried to dress like were in Hawaii, so we wore our swim suits and I did my hair in an updo with a flower.  I also wore a sarong like I always do when we are in Hawaii.  We didn't have the most spirit, but we did have more than most of the boys.

Victoria, Claire, Meghan, and Me.  We are the only
 four girls in our class

Because of our time constraint, we couldn't build the side hulls and the finished product was a monohull.  Truthfully, it looked more like a cardboard box without a top.  The back and the front ended up more flat than pointed.

We went to the Ecker Aquatic Center to test the boats.  Since there were a total of nine boats, there were two heats.  Our boat went in the second heat.

Our boat actually did float, against all predictions.  We previously thought that we would get into the boat and it would sink like a rock all the way down to the bottom.  We had absolutely no confidence in our boat.

The flat front of the boat made it really hard to paddle across.  Our boat floated really well, but we had a hard time getting it across the pool.  The kick boards we used as paddles weren't working very well.  Our final time was 1 minute and 13 seconds.

There were a couple of boats that did end up sinking.  The boats came out of the pool as a blob of wet soggy cardboard.  Overall, everybody had a good time hanging out at the pool.

Halloween at GMS

This Halloween was on a Saturday this year.  Every Saturday, we have Gifted Music School (GMS).  In GMS, I am part of a piano quartet.  My quartet consists of a Violinist (McCall), Violist (Mackie), Cellist (Kayden), and me playing the piano.

This year, we decided we wanted to dress up for halloween, but sharing a theme.  The original idea was to go as characters from the Wizard of Oz.  I was going to be Dorothy.  Then McCall would be the Tin Man, Mackie the Cowardly Lion, and Kayden as the Scarecrow.

When I went to get my costume, though, I decided I didn't want to be Dorothy.  Instead, I found a costume for Little Red Riding Hood that I really liked.  I decided that I was going to be Little Red Riding hood and my quartet might not dress up as one theme.

When I told my friends that I was going as Little Red Riding Hood, Mackie immediately assigned new costumes.  She would go as the Wolf, McCall as the Woodsman, and Kayden as the Grandma.  It was a really funny thought of Kayden as the grandma.  I really didn't think he would wear the costume for us.

Little Red Riding Hood Characters:Left to Right: Mackie, Me, Kayden, and McCall.

On Saturday, October 31, I came to GMS and saw my group.  They all dressed as characters from Little Red Riding Hood.  It was so cool to have us all dressed like that.  We looked like we came just out of a fairytale.

Kayden liked his costume for about the first hour, then he said that the wig started to get itchy.  He didn't really like wearing the dress either.  I was so glad he agreed to be the grandma because our group looked so cool together.

There were many other people that dressed up at GMS as well.  Some people dressed as one of our music teachers.  We thought it was hilarious, but only people in GMS would understand the joke.  Other people were Zombies or doctors.  

In the evening, Mackie was the only one who could come trick-or-treating with me.  I was sad that our whole group couldn't go, but I was glad at least one other character could come with me.  I also went trick-or-treating with one of my other friends, Ava.  She came dressed as the Grimm Reaper.  Our story to tie us all together was that the Grimm Reaper was waiting for the Wolf to kill Little Red Riding Hood.  The Grimm Reaper could then take Little Red Riding Hood's soul.  The Grimm Reaper gets the Wolf's soul instead though.

We got so much candy even though we moved pretty slow.  We weren't in the mood for running and falling, so we took out time.  Many houses gave out full sized candy bars so we really got lots of good candy.    

California Adventure

On October 13, we went to Disney's California Adventure.  The lines at any Disney park are always really long and it is best to fast pass many rides.  When we first got in, it was already crowded.  Even though we were there before the door opened.  My dad went to stand in the fast pass line for Cars:Radiator Springs Racers.

Radiator Springs Racers

We went on Radiator Springs Racers first.  There was a line, but it wasn't too long.  Inside, it has different scenes from the cars movie.  The cars actually had eyes that moved and looked very realistic.  After, you go outside and you race another car.  They go really fast and actually race.  That ride is so popular that the normal line is always over an hour.

After, we went on Soarin'.  Another one of my favorite rides.   We always wait to get in the middle on the top.  It always gives you the best experience.  You sit in seats and get buckled in.  Then you are ready for takeoff.  The rides lifts you up and forward.  There is a screen in front of you that surrounds you.  They play the video and you are soaring over California.  It takes you different places across the state and ends with Disneyland at night with fireworks.  It is such a cool ride.     

 The Disney parades are always so fun to watch.  At California Adventure, they had a Pixar parade.  A lot of the characters from Pixar movies were in the parade.  Toy Story, the Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Bug's life, and so many more participated in the parade.  There were dancers, people on stilts, and amazing floats that sprayed water and had flames.  The parades happen at certain times during the day.  The Pixar parade was in the afternoon.

The Pixar parade had lots of amazing floats and special effects.

The California Screamin' in a very popular ride.  I went on it six times with my brother.  The Screamin' is located on Paradise Pier.  That is where all my favorite rides are.  You go around a bend after you pull out of the station.  It then keeps you waiting for a few seconds.  It is very suspenseful.  Then you shoot off.  That is the scariest part of the whole ride.  You go so fast and shoot up the first hill.  The ride goes so fast the whole way and has really fun drops and twists.  It only has one loop right in the middle of the ride.  It isn't a very big loop though.      

I really liked Toy Story Mania on Paradise Pier.  It is a 3D ride that you shoot at targets.  It uses Toy Story characters to present the targets.  I got the highest score in my family.  The line for this is also very long and you can't fastpass it.  When my dad first stood in line for it, it broke right when he got to the front.  They let us cut in line later in the afternoon when it was working again.  

At the very end of the day, they had the world of color show.  We stayed to watch it a little bit, but we decided to leave part way through so we could catch the shuttle back to the hotel.  The part that we watched was really cool.  They showed Walt Disney and how he originally made disney characters.  It was all projected on water and they used cool lights and bursts of water.

Disneyland

On Wednesday, October 14, we went to Disneyland.  They opened at 8:00 am and closed at 6:00 pm.  We got there at 9:00 and it was already starting to get crowded.

At Disneyland, the have something called fast pass.  With your entry ticket, you could fast pass certain rides and bypass most of the line.  You can only get a certain amount per hour and only some of the rides had it.  The moment we got to Disneyland, my dad went to fast pass some of the rides and we went on the matterhorn first.

The Matterhorn Bobsleds goes through and around the mountain.  Inside, there are abominable snowmen that you go racing past.

Among the most crowded rides was Splash Mountain.  It was really hot so I could see why.  Sometimes the line was at 50 minutes, but other times it was over 80 minutes.  You could fast pass it, but it was still quite a wait.  The inside was based on the movie "Song of the South".  It had a bunch of scenes and music from the movie.  There were about four drops into the water.  The biggest was a 50-foot drop.  It was such a cool ride.

Splash Mountain

Autopia is a really cool ride that you drive a car around.  There is a track built into the ground that you steer over.  If you turn to hard, you will hit the middle track and get jerked around a lot.  The cars are really old fashioned and you smell the gas it uses.  I used to be really bad at it and would jerk the car around a lot.  This time though, I was actually okay.  I bumped the middle railing a few times, but it wasn't that jerky.  Those are definitely harder to drive than a real car.  Except for you don't have to worry about other cars.

One of my personal favorites is It's a Small World.  It has dolls from all countries.  Clothing and props match the culture and also many of the dances.  Throughout the course of the ride, it changes the theme song of it's a small to many different languages.  The two languages I was able to understand were Korean and English.

Inside of the ride

It's a small world

We went during the halloween party time, and my dad bought us tickets to the Halloween party.  The halloween party went from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm.  We got to wear our costumes around the park and trick or treat.  I dressed up as little red riding hood.  All over the park, there were treat lines.  You would go through the line and people would put candy in your bag.  You could also get some healthy snacks too.  Apples. carrots, pretzels, apple crisps, and yogurt covered cranberries were all part of the healthier treats.

Mickey's Halloween Party

Since the halloween party required an extra ticket, there weren't as many people in line for the rides.  A lot of the more crowded rides were less crowded and we went on a lot more rides during the party.

Disneyland Map

Magic Mountain-Six Flags

We went to Magic Mountain on October 12.  It was the first time I had ever been there.  I wouldn't recommend taking little kids there, though.  They do have a section of the park with little kids rides, but there isn't that much for them to do.  Magic Mountain is a park with gigantic rollercoasters that hold records.

Full Throttle is the tallest looping coaster.  I got to sit in the front seat with a stranger because my dad and my brother didn't want to go on it.  You get strapped in, and then you shoot up.  You start with the biggest loop at a really fast speed.  There is one really  

Full Throttle: The tallest looping coaster.

We went on Tatsu first thing in the morning.  They opened at 9:00 am and we got there right as it opened.  Tatsu has the track above you and you hang with your feet dangling.  The catch is that they tilt you so your face is almost parallel to the ground.  You really feel like you are flying.  I think that the scariest part was when you go on the loop.  Since the seats are suspended and tilted, you are going on the loop headfirst and you can't really see where you are going.  There is also so much g-force created that it feels like your face is peeling off. 

One of the newer rides in the park was Twisted Colossus.  We went on it twice because it was so cool.  My dad said it was around when he was a kid, but not really the same.  It used to be an old wooden rollercoaster.  Since the remade it, it is a rollercoaster "where wood meets steel."  There are two tracks, a blue and a green.  You go on the blue one first, and then switch over to the green.  It makes it a really long rollercoaster.  Some people who went on it didn't realize it had two tracks and wanted to get off after going on the blue track.  They couldn't do that though so they had to hang on through the green track as well.  One of my favorite parts was the zero g-roll.  You went upside down and felt like you were floating for a split second.  

One of the most popular rides at Magic Mountain was Goliath.  I couldn't get my dad or my brother to come with me, so I went by myself.  You get in the train, and it takes you up for a really long time.  It doesn't go up very fast, and it goes really high up.  The very first drop is 255 feet and very steep.  That wasn't really scary though.  It goes so fast on the rest of the ride.  At one point, I started to see black spots and then I couldn't see.  It was so cool but it did hurt your eyes.  Now I can say I went on Goliath.  

My brother's favorite ride was called Ninja.  This ride also had a lot of g-force, but it wasn't very big.  You are in a car that has a track above you.  It had springs so that you can swing back and forth as the ride turns.  

Overall, we had an amazing trip.  I was so worn out, but it was a totally fun vacation.  I really want to go there again, but I would take my friends to go on some of the really big rides.    

56th Annual Salute to Youth

On September 22, 2015, there was the 56th annual Salute to Youth concert.  With a total of thirteen performers, it was quite a fun concert to attend.  Salute to Youth is a concerto competition for kids ages 8-22.  Anywhere from five to ten performers are chosen to play with the Utah Symphony and can play any instrument.  

In order to make it to the live audition, you have to send in a CD recording of your piece and then the judges decide if they want to hear your piece live.  There are always many competitors and it is a very tough competition to win.  The live audition is behind a screen and there a about five judges who give you comments on your playing.  The screen is to make the competition as fair as possible and the judges know your age.    

I competed in Salute to Youth for four years before I was finally picked in 2014 for the 55th Annual Salute to Youth.  I was so excited to finally be able to play Chopin piano concerto no. 2 with the Utah Symphony.  It was one of the greatest moments in my life.  It took many hours of practicing each day and multiple lessons a week to be prepared enough to compete, then be picked.  There were only seven performers the year that I played.  55th Annual Salute to Youth Performace.   

Me playing in 2014
55th Annual Salute to Youth

This year, I couldn't compete since I won last year.  Instead I went to go support some of my friends who were chosen to play this year.  I had seven friends who performed amazingly.  There were two ensemble groups.  One was a violin quartet consisting of McCall Anderson, Will Yavornitzky, Erika Hubbard, and Jeremy Lewis.  They played Vivaldi's four violin concerto and sounded amazing.  The second group played Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola.  Rachel Call played violin and Madison Marshall played viola.  56th Annual Salute to Youth Performance

56th Annual Salute to Youth

The Vivaldi Four Violin Quartet, left to right: Jeremy Lewis, McCall Anderson, Erika Hubbard, and Will Yavornitzky.

Soonyoung Kwon
56th Annual Salute to Youth Performance

Rachel Call and Madison Marshall
56th Annual Salute to Youth Performance

I always find it really fun to go and support your friends performing in a concert.  I know it’s nice to have all of your friends to come watch you play.  I know all of the handwork that was put into being able to play at that level with the Utah Symphony.  I heard them rehearsing all the time, and usually there was always something they could fix.  The finally result was really amazing though.  

There is usually a reception after the performance that people can attend.  All the performers were given gigantic posters with their face on it, presented by people from the Deseret News.  Deseret news also sponsored the reception, took pictures, and wrote an article about the performers and their performances.    

This year, the Utah Symphony got a new assistant conductor who made her debut with the Utah Symphony conducting the 2015 Salute to Youth performance.  I didn’t actually get to meet her, but everybody says that she is really nice.

If I choose to compete next year and get picked, I know I will be really happy because big performances like this are so much fun to play in.  Being with your friends and other performers backstage was one of the most fun parts.  The dressing and practice rooms had those fancy mirrors with lightbulbs all around them so you could check your make-up and hair.  I would love to be able to perform again sometime with the Utah Symphony in Salute to Youth.