Bellaire hosted its annual freshmen and sophomore winter piano recital in the auditorium with around 50 people in attendance on Dec. 8.
The recital featured 30 individual pianists, each playing one to two pieces. Freshmen and sophomores prepared for the recital by practicing daily, while Orchestra and Piano Director Laurette Reynosa monitored their progress by having each student perform on the upright piano for group feedback. Most of the preparation, however, came from the students themselves, freshman Liem Vora said.
“From time to time, Ms. Reynosa would assess our progress in the pieces that we chose,” Vora said. “But, it is mostly up to ourselves and our private teacher to do most of the work.”
Vora performed “Bygone Days,” his own piano arrangement of a piece by Joe Hisaishi, along with Manuel Ponce’s “Romanza de Amor.” Despite months of preparation, Vora said he did not feel proud of his performance.
“After that specific performance, I didn’t feel proud of myself as I normally do, mainly because I hadn’t prepared my jazz piece in time, and that caused my classical piece to have interruptions,” Vora said. “Normally, I feel a sense of accomplishment and nervousness after my performance.”
For sophomore Sabrina Robinson, she prepared in a different way for this recital.
“I watched videos of other people playing the same piece to make sure I was performing it correctly,” Robinson said. “On the day of the recital, I went down to the auditorium and practiced on the grand piano, so I could feel comfortable playing on a different instrument.”
Robinson said she enjoys playing the piano because of her ability to create “beautiful” music and the way she can share her performance with others. She had also been inspired by her father, who had been a musician early on in her life.
“My dad is a very musical person, and he would always play the piano or the guitar when I was little, which made me want to learn an instrument so I could be like him,” Robinson said. “When my mom told me how she regretted quitting the piano, it made me want to learn even more.”
Robinson performed “Dancing in a Dream” written by William Gillock in the recital. Despite some nerves, Robinson felt proud of her performance in the end.
“After my performance, I felt proud of how I played. I worried I might mess up,” Robinson said. “I was nervous, like my heart felt like it was going to fall out of my chest.”
While many of the pieces performed at the recital were composed and performed by American pianists, sophomore Zihan Xu approached his piece differently by selecting and performing a traditional Chinese piece. Xu had played “Hong Dou” written by Liu Zhongyan. “Hong Dou” translates to “red bean” in English, which is a symbol of love and romance in China. Xu ultimately liked how his performance went.
“I like the sense of achievement when I learn a new song and the fact that I can play my favorite songs by myself,” Xu said. “I felt very relaxed after the performance because I was a little nervous before going on stage.”
To keep up or get in contact with Bellaire Orchestra and Piano, email Laurette Reynosa at [email protected] or follow their Instagram @bhsorchpiano. You can also visit their website at bellaireorchestrapiano.org.
