Kangwei's music road

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▲Whether it is his preference and talent for music, the best teachers, unique performance experience and outstanding music development, Conway Kuo sincerely thanks Heavenly Father for his guidance along the way.

The eldest son Kang Wei recently forwarded by email a photo published in the New York Times on February 24, 2014, which turned out to be the last performance of the New York City Opera and Symphony Orchestra. After the performance, all members of the ensemble stood up and thanked the audience together with the world-famous tenor Placido Domingo. Seeing Kang Wei in the front row, holding the violin, and taking his last breaths on the stage with Domingo in style, I couldn't help but think of how he learned the violin since he was a child. It was really not an easy path!

▲On December 24, 2014, the last performance of the New York City Opera House, the entire symphony orchestra and world tenor Domigo (front row, right) took their final bow to the audience. Conway Kuo (front row, third from left) sent this photo to support all the way his parents. (Photo credit: New York Times)

Reading the Bible to overcome study depression

When Kangwei was young, we often sang and listened to music together at home. He started learning piano at the age of five. Generally, five-year-old children's fingers are almost fully developed and they are more capable of self-control. They can also understand the teacher's instructions and requests and express their wishes. However, the attention span of young children can only last for thirty minutes at most. At that time, they only thought that learning piano can cultivate their temperament, cultivate character, and fulfill their childhood dreams (I loved music when I was a child, but I had no environment for learning piano, so I really wanted to provide it for my children. This opportunity) finally opened up Kang Wei’s music career.

Unexpectedly, he loved music so much that he would even choose music as his major in the future. Later I discovered that there are so many benefits to learning an instrument, such as: helping brain development, enhancing listening and math learning, activating creativity, enhancing expression skills, overcoming difficulties and fears, understanding other countries' cultures, making friends with similar interests, etc. .

Kang Wei was very interested in learning the piano when he first started, but every few months he no longer wanted to continue learning. I probably saw that many neighbor children of the same age were playing every day, but he had to practice piano and learn Chinese. Whenever he wanted to give up, his husband would persuade him in the room. In just ten minutes, the child agreed to continue learning. My husband told him gently: "God has given you such a talent and you can learn quickly. If you give up casually and waste your time, you will regret it in the future." When he was young, we often asked him to copy and recite the Bible, especially:“Whatever you put your hand to do, do it with all your might…” (Refer to Ecclesiastes 9:10)He just continued to learn.

Ingenious talent and teachings from famous teachers

When Kang Wei was in the third grade of elementary school and almost nine years old, the school informed him that various musical instrument classes were available during the summer. At that time, he wanted to learn trumpet, and I discussed with him: "If you have asthma, a wind instrument is not suitable. You should choose a string instrument, and the violin is better." He agreed. Unexpectedly, in the first lesson, he just learned how to hold the piano and didn't even touch the bow. Kang Wei fell in love with it. Because the piano has a treble spectrum and a bass spectrum, both hands have to play at the same time, while the violin only has a treble spectrum, which is too simple for him. He has an excellent sense of voice, and there was never any squeaky "chicken-killing sound" when he first started learning.

In addition to Kang Wei's excellent memory since he was a child, another good thing is that he is very attentive. Parents often ask me how to get him to practice piano. In fact, he fell in love with the violin and never needed me to keep an eye on him. In fact, every time he went to a friend's house for dinner, he was eager to go home and practice piano. At a young age, one stop lasted forty-five minutes, and I didn’t need to accompany him most of the time.

When I first started playing the violin, the school rented it from a musical instrument store. After a year or two, I had to buy it myself. During the summer, I found Mr. Larry Grika, a violinist of the Philadelphia Orchestra nearby. This middle-aged Jew was a good teacher with a tall build but a gentle voice. Mr. Grika likes Kang Wei very much and thinks he is very talented and willing to work hard. I studied with him for three years, and my friend’s daughter happened to be studying violin with Ms. Givens, who was in the preparatory class at the Juilliard School. We discussed with Mr. Grika whether we should let Kangwei talk to Ms. Givens, and he was very encouraging.

When Ms. Givens finished listening, she told us: "Although I am very busy, your son is talented and I still have to teach him. But Kang Wei cannot learn from two teachers at the same time." So we had to tell Mr. Grika, He also had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he did not want to lose this talented person, but on the other hand, he was happy that Kang Wei could be taught by a teacher in the Juilliard Preparatory Class. Later, when I looked back, I realized that Kangwei learned some special skills from each teacher and mastered them all.

Juilliard School top student

Taking my son to Manhattan, New York City to learn piano from Ms. Givens was not an easy task for me, who is not good at driving. Because of the long distance, I first needed to drive to the train station in Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, take the train to Penn Station in New York, and then change to the subway to go to my teacher’s house. It takes three hours on the road, so I plan to go once every two weeks and have two hours of classes each time. Every time I go home, it's already dark, and I have to make arrangements in advance for my younger son to go to a friend's house after school.

At that time, Ms. Givens was teaching Master Class at the Aspen Music Festival during the summer vacation, and she hoped that Kang Wei would also go. He was only thirteen at the time and I had to tag along. My younger brother can't stay at home by himself, so he "studies with me" together. In fact, the younger brother is very happy; he has time to go fishing with friends, and also teaches himself English calligraphy (calligraphy), because the younger brother also plays the violin himself, and sometimes goes to various concerts. It was like this every summer after that, until Kangwei went on his own during his senior year of high school.

In high school, the principal was very disapproving of Kangwei's absence from a full day of class every two weeks, thinking that no student in the school had ever done this and it would greatly affect his performance. We didn't say much at the time. We just asked the principal to wait until the results were announced and see what the results were. So every time he came back after missing a day of class, he would immediately ask his classmates or teachers to catch up on his studies, hand in homework on time, make up exams, etc. At the end of the semester, my grades were all A's, and the principal finally had nothing to say.

Kangwei participated in the school orchestra throughout high school. From the second year of high school to graduation, he was the chief. During the summer vacation when he was fourteen years old, he decided to pursue music as a major. We have always encouraged him, supported him 100%, and have been his cheerleaders for many years. Because he loves music, he never thinks practicing piano is a chore, and he is very attentive, so we let him go with confidence. Once he made a decision, he moved forward bravely and never changed his original intention. His classmates and teachers knew that Kang Wei had talent and interest in music, and they were very supportive.

When I was in high school, I would go home at three o'clock in the afternoon, eat snacks, finish my homework, and practice piano for at least four hours every day. Kangwei told us: "If I don't get into Juilliard, I won't study music." As a result, 19 people were admitted out of more than 100 people, and he passed!

Unique and smooth performance experience

Since childhood, when there were guests at home, Kang Wei played the piano as an after-dinner entertainment. The work-study scholarship when I was in college was to play the piano for the elderly in nursing homes, which brought them infinite joy. During the summer vacation when he was 20 years old, Kangwei was invited to play the piano for half an hour a day on the ferry "Queen Elizabeth 2" from New York to England, with free room and board. Kang Wei has many unique performance experiences; he has been performing in various churches since he was twelve years old. Later, because of his music major, he had the opportunity to perform several times in Japan and Italy, where he met world-class conductors.

Kang Wei studied under Mr. Kawasaki at Juilliard for four years and was successfully admitted to the master’s class after graduation. The teacher at that time was Glenne Dicterow, principal violinist of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Dicterow has always given Kang Wei free reign to develop his own personal style. Kang Wei also learned that sometimes there is not enough time to practice piano, but you must practice effectively. He has kept these teachings in mind to this day and has found endless use in them. Before graduating from the master's program, he was admitted to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Three years later, he entered the New York City Ballet Symphony Orchestra, and later also entered the New York City Opera Symphony Orchestra. Kang Wei's career is going smoothly, thanks to the many excellent teachers he met throughout his life. These are God's preparations and His infinite grace.

Heavenly Father is our life director

Once, we asked him: "Have you found your passion and purpose in life?" Kangwei replied: "Yes, I like living in New York, where I can often play classical and jazz with professional musicians, and record for movies and plays. , and can perform on Broadway in musicals such as "Lion King", "Matilda", and "Kinky Boots", and now also forms the Bateira Trio (www. bateiratrio. com), and having an agent to help me, my working hours are flexible, and I can spend more time with my children. It’s great!”

常有人問我們如何教出音樂天才？其實我們作父母的不敢居功，只是供應他好的學習環境，找好老師來栽培他，從小當他的啦啦隊，讓他建立自信。但他自己守紀律，肯花時間精力，非常負責任，又能建立好的人際關係，使他能在紐約音樂領域中佔有一席之地。最感恩的是，神親自為他供應一切所需，如名師、毅力、把喜樂傳播給眾人的愛心。其實，天父也同樣在「栽培」我們。祂把你我放在不同的環境、不同的人身旁，讓我們受裝備，使我們得長進並學習與人和睦。天父是交響樂團的生命指揮，我們作神兒女的要能同心、互補，才能拉出悅耳的音樂。神要我們發揮祂給我們的恩賜和潛力，這樣才不辜負祂對我們的愛和命定。