Self-reflection from S.6M MA Ho Yeung (Vicko)
I have just won third prize at the 81st Steinway &Sons International Youth Piano Competition, and it was totally out of the blue. Therefore, I would like to share my experiences during this period of time.
I suffered numerous difficulties when I was preparing for the competition, such as perfecting my technique and understanding the feelings of the songs, which I found quite frustrating. I practiced two etudes composed by Czerny with the aim of finding a way to relax my fingers and improve my technique. For instance, I needed to correct the position of my right thumb. I still remember that one week before the competition, I found that I couldn’t play the running notes clearly. Yet the teacher told me to enjoy and try to understand the content and the feeling of the songs that I played. I felt very delighted after joining this competition, not because of winning third prize, but, more importantly, because one of the judges told me she was touched by my performance. It is of utmost importance to understand the feelings and the content of the songs, as that was far more important than the technique.
Joining this competition was an excellent opportunity and a memorable experience for me, as it was my first time performing for as long as 30 minutes on stage. It really changed me a lot in terms of understanding the theory and history of music, exploring more possibilities, and having the correct attitude when making music.
Here is the information about this competition:
http://www.tomleemusic.com.hk/events/steinway_comp/2017/index_en.html