CCTV Competition

By Celina To
October 20, 2007

The Six Golden Flowers entered the CCTV Competition, but we were really busy before competing. We first needed to record our songs in DVD and sent it to American Regional Committee and if they like our playing of Colors of the Wind and Ye Lai Xiang, we could enter the semi-final. However, if we also win the semi-final, we are asked to go to China for the final.

Teacher Weishan made her decision in recording the DVD at my house. It should fit about six gu-zhengs and we had the honor to have Elsie’s uncle to record us playing Colors of the Wind and Ye Lai Xiang. He’s from Hong Kong and I heard he’s also a professional with recording and photography. It was a lot of work to get the song right. Teacher used her judge instincts to tell us how she felt about our playing and she commented it was too flat. She didn’t like it until we played really lively. Everybody worked extremely hard for three hours straight and we didn’t get water, food, or shade from the lights. We all wanted to enter the competition to go to the China final.

Among over 190 candidates, we were picked to compete in the semi-finals on 10-7-2007. The CCTV competition at Santa Clara was devastating. I woke up at 6:35 to eat breakfast and prepared to go to Santa Clara with my parents and we didn’t get to go outside to eat lunch. We didn’t eat dinner till 11:00. The competition was fun, but it was very tiring. We played Color of the Winds and Battling the Typhoon in the semi-final and Butterfly Lake in the final. We all did pretty well, but Teacher said we could have done much better. One of my friends knocked off four bridges on my gu-zheng maybe because she was a bit nervous because it was her turn to play a solo in the competition, but I comforted her by telling her not to worry about it.

I grew a bit cold and stiff when the group was playing in the semi-final. I really don’t know why, but I didn’t warm up. Regina’s hands were really warm probably because she had already warmed up from her solo. Everyone was happy that we got into the regional final and winning ourselves a first place trophy. We cheered each other on and learned some of the techniques from other people who were playing in the competition. The next steps we need to encounter are the competitions over at China. China would be a real treat for our hard work, but I wonder how I am going to arrange the trip with my packed high school schedule.

We went to watch the My Dream Concert in the Masonic Theatre the same night after the competition and joined the disabled performers on stage for one of their shows. The disabled performers were really amazing. I can’t believe a guy who lost his two arms when he was five can actually do many tricks. The blind can play the piano, erhu, dizi, cello, and the yang gin. I’m sorry to admit it, but they are even better than many people without disabilities. It made me feel ashamed because we often complained how hard and how long we practice but there would be no comparison to the hardship these disabled performers had to overcome. It was a long but great day for all of us. I hope we all can go to China!

My Experience As a Composer

By Celina To
September 22, 2007

After I watched Dae Jang Geum, I was inspired to compose a solo on the main melody. With Teacher's help, I have my first taste of the hardship as a composer--to tell you the truth, it’s not that easy. It takes many tries and techniques to shape the music into a more beautiful piece. I love Dae Jang Geum because I like the song and the melody. It comes in Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese. The worse part of composing a song is to think of ideas to make the melody come out, but my mind got nothing--it’s blank at the time Teacher asked me to compose it! Sometimes the more I tried to think, the more empty thought that I got.

After working on the piece for about five months, I still felt that it was too plain. I tried very hard to make it perfect, so I thought I needed to make it long and complicated. I finally figured that I was wrong at the whole time. No matter how easy or simple a piece can be, the Jasmine Song for example, it’s still hard to play it beautifully with the appropriate expression. The feeling and the techniques are the way performers use to embrace their audience with their musical world.

The most important technique I need in this piece is to express it with the right feeling. Without the feeling, the audience won’t be able to image the character of Jang Geum and the positive attitude she has for her fate. The song can show audience the confidence inside of her, and she never gave up even though there were many obstacles and challenges in her life. When I performed Dae Jang Geum the first time at the Chinese Culture Center, my friends from the youth ensemble were the vocalists for the song. We had impressed the audience together with this special piece.

This is a great lesson for me to experience the pressure as a composer. If Teacher wasn’t there helping me to get this piece right, I wouldn’t know where to start. I know I’m not perfect as professionals in China, but my efforts on trying to compose pieces that I like to play help me grow on a different dimension.

The Performance at the Moon Festival

By Celina To
September 19, 2007

The Six Golden Flowers performed in the Moon Festival at Sunset on 9-15-07. However, only five of the six actually went to the performance. The group of course felt really sad, but we made the audience really happy with our new song, The Colors of the Wind. I think performing Western pieces on a Chinese instrument is unique because it brings something new to the crowd who always listen to Chinese music.

We joined with the morning group and that was the best performance we had as a huge group. The morning group did really well in their Golden Snake Dance, but they could have done much better. Out of the songs we played, I really like the last song -- Colors of the Wind -- because we always save the best for last. I believe everyone loves us playing Battling the Typhoon, but right now, Colors of the Wind made me smile for the first time. Teacher Weishan and my parents always ask me why I don’t smile. Maybe because I love this piece so much, I wanted to smile. The flow of freedom made me relax; it was probably the first that really went deep into my heart.

However, there were also some negative feelings about the performance. All the songs were great, but we could have done better in Colors of the Wind and Ye Lai Xiang. If the stage crew didn’t turn the microphone that loud, our songs would come out fine, but it turned out to be horrible because everything sounded like thunder. There were no crescendos or decrescendos if you were the audience. Sometimes, the microphone didn’t even work in the middle of our playing. Elsie was almost stung by a bee and that was very unfortunate. The wind kept playing with my hair, so it began to fall over my face. I would put more hairspray and clips to hold up my hair next time.

Right after the performance, we headed to Teacher’s house and went over how we felt about the performance. I commented that we didn’t end together in Colors of the Wind and Regina said it was too flat. Teacher believed it wasn’t our fault because the sound system made it seem so loud. I didn’t realize it until I saw my mom’s recording on the performance. We then worked very hard in shaping the piece at Teacher’s house. We only focused on that song and inch by inch, we almost got the piece down. At the end, we celebrated with some cake and lemonade for my 14th birthday. I was really happy having such a warm community.

For the people who watched us play, all the parents, the group, and Teacher, thanks for being there for us. All of you help make me feel more confident in myself every time I perform. I really don’t know which performance was the best, but I hope our concert will turn out great in August 2008. We all have to prepare, so that we can improve our techniques before the CCTV competition and the 2008 concert. Good luck to the Six Golden Flowers!

Guzheng and Me

By Celina To

I want to share with you what I´ve learned so far as a member of the Gu-zheng Music Society. The Chinese zither provides an understanding of Chinese music and culture to the audience. I have learned it for six years and I´ve already picked up the techniques, practice, and stage experience from performances.

The Chinese zither has 21 to 25 silk strings on a 47-inch wood board with the support from wood bridges. If you move the bridges from left to right, then you would be able to change the tone of the zither. In order to pluck the strings, you would need picks. The picks come in different materials: some are sea shells, others made from plastics, and more valuable ones are made from turtle shells. These picks help avoid blisters and pain on your fingers while you´re practicing or performing on the instrument. The Chinese zither belongs to a family of long zithers. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments in China. It dates back 2500 years and was first started in the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC).

The quote, "Practice makes perfect," is an important way of improving my techniques as a musician. I practice for about an hour and a half each day, but people in China practice from 8 to 10 hours. The skills taught by my teacher, Wei Shan Liu, are very advanced for my group including me. The techniques used in the Chinese zither are trembling, plucking the strings, and running up and down on the strings.

Stage Experience was a big challenge to overcome. I performed in annual concerts at the Herbst Theatre with my group ever since we were 8, and for the first time, we experienced stage fright. Before performing on stage, everyone needs to take deep breaths and warm up, so that their hands won't tighten up. Professional adult performers are even more nervous than young performers because of the high expectations from the audience.

We joined our teacher to lecture and perform at different venues such as the Conservatory of Music, various public libraries, senior homes, Asian Art Museum, and public community events. It´s a good experience to meet with different communities and audiences. It´s also a chance where I get to learn more about the Chinese zither and its historical background.

Even though I love this instrument so much, it can be a burden carrying it around from performance to performance. Just imagine you have to carry a super heavy surfing board around in the City. However, I still like the melodious tones and the wonderful experience that I receive from performance. And as I grow older, I have to work my best to maintain my skills in order to succeed in life.

I remembered I was very nervous on the stage and at the same time uncomfortable. I was too nervous to remember to adjust my chair and the stands, so I was feeling uncomfortable playing my solo, Dance of Yao. Even though my legs and my arms were shaking, my techniques help me cover it. Thanks to teacher, I couldn't have done it without her. She help me overcome my fears toward the stage and learn the tachniques to cover my nervousness.

I have learn this solo piece for a long time and this song made me very relax. To prepare for the performance, I practice for hours and hours until I get it right. After this, I have learned that a lot of hard work have to be done to prepare for a performance. Now I know how to get ready for a solo and to learn from my mistakes instead of redoing them over again.

People also encourage me not to give up and try harder. My friends help me get through my fears and told me that I did my best. Without them, I would have given up and disappoint my parents. They were really happy and proud when I told them I'm going to do a solo piece for the performance. If I give up, they would be so disappointed in me. I didn't give up and not let a solo piece put me down. I have to stand up and keep trying. After all the appreciation, I feel very happy that I finish the song from the beginning to the end. I'm sure that I have better experience and confidence on my next performance.

Celina To, 10