Our members
General DirectorYan-Ming Liao
I joined the Children Orchestra and played pianica when I was 2nd grade. Now, I'm General Director and concertmaster. I knew Ms. Fang-Min Liu in my 4th grade music class. At that time, she was going to become the instructor of Children Orchestra. I really love music so I decided to enroll the Children Orchestra. I was assigned to the soprano accordion which often plays the theme of a song. We practiced Pirates of the Caribbean at that time. No pain no gain. I practiced it very hard. At first, we practiced by ourselves. Then we tried to play with other parts. I enjoyed it. Sometimes, the teacher would very angry because some students didn't do their job. At that time, I always tell myself to work harder and show myself as hard as I can. Finally, I got the solo part.
Time flies. Here comes the contest moon, December. We were very nervous and excited about the contest in Datong Junior High School. We ask our parents to help us move the instruments. We went to the stage in order and our teacher wanted us to relax a little. I played piano at that time. Before the teacher direct, one of us already started to play. I was very worried but we still keep playing till the end.
Our elect song was Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a mysterious, gloomy, and tense song. We tried to play its specialty to get more grade. The overture talked about the ghost boat is coming. Then the theme with drum like setting the sail. There are romantic, mysterious, even rock part in that song. I didn't do my best at that time but I still thought we might be better than other. When they announced theresult, we lost 0.8 point. I cannot believe it. My tear started dropping. Other members tried to comfort me but I still felt very sad about our failure.
Before the contest, the coach of track and field team invited me to join them but I refused. I wanted to stay in my beloved Children Orchestra and learning happily. After the contest, I blamed myself and my mom wanted me exercise more so I started thinking of join the track and field team. I didn't do it! I couldn't give up music so I stayed. Only the people have similar experience can understand the happiness of playing instrument with teammates.
Because of the unexpected failure, Ms. Liu didn't know what should we practice so we practiced "Jupiter" which she used before. We were learning harder skills and warning others not to relax. Practiced for the next contest. At that time, I started to play the xylophone. I didn't play it before but it's an important role of "Jupiter". After that, our teacher arranged a new piece, The Phantom of the Opera. I was back to the accordion again and fall in love with it again.
During the summer practice, the assigned song was decided. We practiced the assigned song and the performance at Changhua County Sports Meet. In the day of Changhua County Sports Meet, we went to school early and practice it again. At 8:00, our instrument van finally got there. We were delayed. When we arrived, the host was introducing us. We started to play immediately. My accordion belt was broken when we played Pirates of the Caribbean. Thanks Ms. Liu reminded me take one more accordion. Also thanks our Deputy Director helped me carry it. During the show, some people didn't pay their attention on the conductor and made mistakes. After the performance at Changhua County Sports Meet, we went back to our school. Our teacher started to review the show and warned the people who made mistakes. I believed they would be more careful since the experience.
One year passed. It's the day of Changhua County Music Competition again, 9th Dec. We march to the position and played the assigned song "English Folk Song Suite 3rd Mov." We followed the lead of the the conductor and played it well.
The following part was our elective song, The Phantom of The Opera. It was a beautiful musical which plays by orchestra. Ms. Liu really loves the song so she rearranged the piece for us to play it. The musical is talking about a love story between Christine and Raul. The face of phantom was spooky so he hid in the sewer under the opera house. Sometimes the song was the soprano of Christine. Sometimes the song was the romance between Christine & Raul. Sometimes the song was the powerful words from the Phantom to Christine. The first strong note was the phantom came out. Then the bass was words from the Phantom to Christine. The soprano and bass combined together made the song rich. After that was Christine's song which soloed by soprano accordion. Then every part played together. Perfect! Here came the rock park. Our drummer played the beet and everyone were high. I soloed a part of Christine's soprano among them. I thought the judges enjoyed our performance a lot. The last part of the song was "The Music of The Night". It was talking about the love confession of the phantom to Christine. It started with a solo of tenor. After that, soprano solo and tenor solo combined together perfectly. The timpani got the climax of the song. The ending was very touching. The phantom sang his confession sadly. The song ended with the timpani. When we bow, I saw the judges' smile. We not only won the first place, but advanced!
During the experiences, I cherished every practice. By joining Children Orchestra, my music skill improved, I also learn the importance of cooperation.
Source: Innovative Musical Notes
