Last November, I had the honor of performing as soloist with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra for a Young Peoples Concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.  This was my first time playing as soloist with an orchestra. The Oregon Symphony called my teacher, Kathryn Gray, and asked her if she had a student that she would recommend for an opportunity to perform the 3rd movement of Autumn from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and she asked me. I was initially told that this piece was fairly easy, but on the contrary I found it to be quite a challenge to polish, due to the combination of double-stops and fast runs. David Kerr, one of my mentors, was kind enough to pull together a quartet of musicians from the Baroque Opera Workshop to rehearse the Vivaldi on multiple occasions, so that I would be very comfortable playing it with an ensemble by the time I had to play it with the Symphony. This was very helpful, as it allowed me to experience the piece with string instruments (rather than piano), and learn much more about what was going on in the orchestra. Also, I had the fortune of a lesson on the Vivaldi with Monica Hugget of the Portland Baroque Orchestra, which was extremely inspiring. About a week before the performance, I had a meeting with Mr. Paul Kim, the resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony, who conducted my concert. I played for him, and we discussed tempo’s, my interpretation, etc. I only got one 20-minute rehearsal the day of the performance. By the day of the concert, however, I knew the Vivaldi extremely well and was very confident in my preparation and ability to play the piece. Despite this, I was very nervous, and did not play at my best for the rehearsal. We ran the piece twice, and then I went upstairs to a practice room where I practice until the performance. The performance itself went very well, and I was very successful at getting beyond the bare mechanics of the piece, diving into the musical and personal aspects of the piece. As soon as I began playing, all my nervousness left me, leaving me with an unforgettable and ecstatic experience.

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