“Hey, don’t you remember I was runner-up in Chopin?”
“A Chopin runner-up is actually a tolerable sense of winning the competition. Now it’s about time for a real runner-up.”
“Wow, that’s really too much. Are you my friends?”
“Ah, what are you doing? Ron’s performance was so good. First of all, it was nice to see Ron enjoying himself so much. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone perform at a competition?”
“I did it with that feeling too! I did!”
“Uh, but I see you a little too often…”
They were mischievous friends who resembled Heather. It was when Rowoon was laughing weakly among them. A woman with blond hair in a trench coat came slowly toward them.
“Heather!”
“Oh, Alice! You really are here!”
“Of course you should come. who is the contest And… thanks to that, I seem to have found an unexpected gemstone.”
Alice looked at Rowoon as she said that. she asked, raising a corner of her mouth.
“hello. My name is Alice. I am the Head Leader of the Modern Classical Music Department. header. Is this the friend Heather talked about? I have a very attractive friend.”
“What is it, Heather? Did you talk to the reporter like that? Is it attractive?”
“Oh, Heather…”
“Oh no! Alice! What if you say that! I just said I have a funny friend!”
“Oh, did you?”
Alice smiled and turned to Rowoon. she shrugged.
“But it wouldn’t be strange if I said he was an attractive friend. I heard you play well. Mr Lee. I have to say that it was a performance that I was really looking forward to. It’s a boring expression, but please don’t think that even my sentiments are boring. It really shocked me more than I thought.”
“Ah yes. thank you.”
“This is my business card. I wish I could have an interview sometime… I’m going to the California Conservatory. How about this?”
“Is there anything I can do for an interview? People probably don’t know me yet…”
“Getting to know the people you need to know. That’s a journalist’s duty. and Mr. Lee. You are a pianisto worthy of being known by the public.”
Rowoon was weak at such open compliments. As he was flustered, his ear lobe slightly reddened, Heather sighed and stopped Alice.
“Alice. I know he’s excited, but since he’s short-tempered, he’s not used to things like this. I’ll talk about it later. Also, do you have any reviews of my stage? Only Rowoon cares too much.”
“Ah, Luoun… Ryoun? Do you pronounce it that way? You should practice.”
“……Well, it’s similar, but. But I suddenly feel like an extra.”
Heather bowed her head with a slightly gloomy expression. Alice giggled and put her hand on Heather’s shoulder.
“I was kidding. header. It was a great performance as always. playing header down. You know I’m always cheering you on, right?”
“Hmm… Then what do you think of Alice? Who do you think will win? I?”
Alice momentarily glanced at Rowoon at Heather’s question. And soon he replied with a strange smile.
“A runner-up is also a championship, right?”
Did Alice’s words become seeds?
a few hours later. The runner-up trophy was held in the arms of Heather, who seemed to be pouting somewhere.
Who became the owner of the championship trophy?
well.
Who would it be?
＜ LA International Piano Competition (6) ＞ End
＜ Bucket List (1) ＞
Los Angeles International Piano Competition Points to the Future of Westside Classical Music
— Alice Pepper, “Modern Classics”
There was a time when the West was considered one of the barren places for classical music in the United States. However, the atmosphere that the East represents American classical music, centered on large cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Seattle, is gradually fading.
The LA International Piano Competition is an ambitious competition prepared by LA County in the midst of such a trend. California’s pride, legendary pianist Jennifer ······(Omitted)······· And, among them, the most likely winner is Heather Hong, who also won the Chopin Competition Junior runner-up, and last year’s Philadelphia Competition, presented a fantastic Beethoven. It was Anton Kozlov who won the championship.
They performed as well as the audience expected. However, if there is a reason why they couldn’t win the championship cup, it would be that the performance was exactly as expected. That’s why they had no choice but to fade in the performance of this unknown young pianist.
Rowley Lee. The young pianist, from the same California Conservatory of Music as Heather Hong, defied everyone’s expectations and won the trophy. Jennifer, who was in charge of judging this contest, refers to him…
From noble mtl dot com
#
I feel like I’ve lost my soul somewhere.
‘I won.’
I still didn’t feel it. I didn’t think I wouldn’t win, but I didn’t think I would win either. To be precise, at some point, Rowoon didn’t care too much about winning.
I wanted to show a good performance. I thought it was that simple
‘Maybe I won thanks to its simplicity.’
Music only has value when treated as music. People who have nothing to do with music would of course admit that they were right, but I thought it took a long time to realize that.
It was when I was looking down at the sandwich in his hand while thinking about that. A quiet voice reached my ears.
“Why are you so blank?”
“Oh, just. I don’t feel it.”
“Winning the contest?”
“What is it?”
“amazing. The LA Piano Competition is still one of the most prestigious in the area. If you go up step by step in the future… Now you can challenge both Queen Elizabeth and Chopin.”
“I like you because of these things.”
In response to Jungwoo’s words, Rowoon posted a slightly erratic answer. Jungwoo asked with a slightly perplexed expression.
“uh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“It just happened. Chopin Competition. Queen Elizabeth Competition. Either way, most pianists naturally think that it is a competition that they cannot even challenge, but seniors talk about it as if it were a matter of course.”
“······Well, if it’s a dream that is difficult to achieve in reality, shouldn’t it be easy to say?”
“Brother is right. If it’s hard to say, I don’t think I’ll really take on the challenge at all.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t go to cheer for the contest. I’ve been a little busy.”
“no. Thank you for just saying this. Thanks bro.”
“The kids all praised it? What were you playing?”
“Chopin’s Ballade No. 2, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 2, and Liszt Mazepa.”
“He chose only the very difficult ones. Besides, they all have different personalities… He’s definitely the most anticipated freshman.”
“Heather probably wouldn’t agree with that, but well, that sounds good. It is said that he is the biggest expectation.”
Rowoon grinned. Heather seemed unbearably sick to her stomach after finishing runner-up to Rowoon. After that, when she saw Rowoon, she was always busy grumbling. Jungwoo shrugged.
“Wasn’t the first prize prize $30,000? 2nd place is 10,000.”
“Thanks to that, things have become a bit more relaxed.”
“It’s not like I’m a little more relaxed. So what are you going to do now?”
“I am tidying up. First of all, rather than trying to do something right now, I think I should look back on my performance now…”
I wanted to make it more solid from the basics. Even in order to become a person with the abilities of a Walkman.
“How is your senior? Is that… is it getting better?”
“…”
“Oh, sorry. If you feel uncomfortable answering…”
“no. Rather, I am funny. The pianist can’t play in front of people because of things like stage fright. It’s pitiful.”
“······I’ve heard people talk about my brother a few times. Everyone said hyung’s performance was great.”
Rowoon said that and took a bite of the sandwich in his hand. Jungwoo seemed to organize his thoughts while Rowoon mumbled, then slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s because of obsession.”
“yes?”
“The obsession to do well. An obsession with wanting to be better than others. An obsession to continue receiving praise. Because of that obsession, at some point, I couldn’t enjoy my playing. I don’t enjoy playing, but the stage is no different, and that’s why it collapsed at some point.”
“…”
“You don’t. It’s okay to want to do well, but don’t obsess.”
“I think I’m a bit less… these days.”
“Then I’m glad.”
Rowoon continued to have conversations with Jungwoo after that, but this was the part that remained in his head after he broke up. don’t obsess He made up his mind to enjoy the performance as it is, and now that he has won the competition’s trophy as a result of such a performance, Jungwoo’s words sounded like a revelation. The way you are going is right. So just keep walking.
And the answers of Beethoven and others were not very different.
[ You finally hear yourself playing. I’ll spare you the deafening sound. ]
[ okay. Traditionally, music should be a joy and comfort to both the performer and the audience. ]
[What are you boasting about? You just got one of the basics. ]
In the case of Chopin, it was like the above, but Rowoon didn’t hate it anyway. Even if you just got one, doesn’t it mean you’ve gone a step further than before?
I don’t have any goals right now, I wanted to spend a little more leisurely while having time to face the piano one-on-one like this for a while. However, Rowoon’s thoughts did not last very long. After a while, Heather, whom I met in the practice room, said this in a strangely sullen voice.
“・・・・・You, are you going to apply for the music festival?”
#
Like most prestigious universities in the United States, the California Conservatory has many traditions.
For example, ‘The Cursed Fountain’ was like that. Freshmen go through a ritual of dipping their hands into this fountain during the entrance ceremony, but the problem was that from this day forward, if they dip their hands into that fountain again before graduation, they will have to take that many more semesters before graduating.
However, if there is a tradition that is famous externally as well as among such students, it is the ‘California Music Festival’ held at the beginning of each year.
A music festival held only by students in California. There were several fields. Seniors and seniors who are about to graduate have a chance to have their own solo performance without exception, and the rest of the year has to compete on their own or win the stage no matter what.