I began playing the violin at the age of 8. I had the choice of either piano lessons or violin lessons, and I chose the latter because I considered it to be more "exotic." As I progressed with my level of skill, I started to improvise and compose my own musical creations, aside from doing the assigned work from my weekly private lessons. Then, at the age of 12, I took up viola as my primary instrument. I enjoyed the lower register of the viola and, more importantly, the warmth of timbre that could be brought about from a truly skilled player. Once I switched to viola, my true abilities started to shine through. I joined a small youth symphony after 2 weeks with the instrument, and then joined a much more skilled organization (Santa Rosa Youth Symphony) a year later. During this stay, I was given the opportunity to attend a Master Class with the composer Kenji Bunch. He was very impressed with the piece I had written, as I found out later via a forwarded email from the event organizer.
Once my first and only season with that youth symphony was over, I then reached even higher, auditioning for the San Francisco Youth Symphony (known to be one of the top youth symphonies in the United States) at the age of 14. I was granted access, and stayed there for a total of 3 years, enjoying routine performances at Davies Symphony Hall in front of 3500 people as well as working with celebrity guests such as Kurt Masur and Florence Henderson. During this time, I was also accepted into an intensive Summer composition program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Only 15 individuals in the world were allowed to attend this program.
Unfortunately, once I had finished up my third year with the SFYO, I realized that performing, for me, was too exhausting. I was shy, and this combined with the immensely competitive environment of such a renowned youth Symphony just wore me out. I stopped taking private lessons and decided that my musical career, at least at such an intense level, was over.
But then I discovered teaching. Suddenly a door was opened, one that allowed me to engage in doing what I do best, without the worry of people judging me, waiting for my mistakes. I realized that I had an equal (if not greater) talent in the ability to teach than in my ability to perform. It was from this epiphany that I started to enjoy giving the passion and excitement of playing violin and viola to others. Everyone I taught loved my methods and rapidly improved upon taking lessons from me. I felt successful and fulfilled, and they did as well.
