My name is David and I’m 13 years old and in 8th grade. I was introduced to piano in second grade and played in piano lessons with only one teacher and multiple kids so it was usually difficult for me to actually understand how to read music and the positions. In 5th grade I started taking private lesson with Mr. Harold. During 6th grade my interest in piano had slowly declined when I came back from summer break since there were no piano classes over the summer I hadn’t practiced at all so I really felt as if there wasn’t a lot in piano that I could do but then Mr Harold had informed that I was one of the only Latino students he had and he decided to teach me a piece made by a Colombian composer “Pasillo” after I had learned it he had told me to start practicing Hanon and Czerny. My interest in piano had felt a lot better than it did when I came back and I started to feel ambitious about piano so I wanted to learn Beethovens moonlight sonata I started practicing the first movement and played it at my school since at my school I also have piano lessons my piano teacher at school Dr Sanchez has a lot of faith in how i play piano but he does correct my mistakes from time to time during the last year of my 7th grade I played the second movement of Beethovens moonlight sonata and I’m on my way to learning the third but I still have a lot of practice that I have to do before I can start playing the entire piece. Mr Harold is always there to motivate me and help me with the pieces I’m playing since at the end of my first trimester in 8th grade I played howls moving castle and he helped me with the parts I needed help on and the parts I needed better fingerings on he always asks me to learn a new Czerny practice every week and I try to get it done even though sometimes it still needs some help. Practicing piano now no longer feels like a chore but more like something fun to do since playing beautiful pieces can make piano feel better and interesting sometimes I sight read small parts of pieces that I find interest in since now I can sight read but I do have to write down notes since I’m still adjusting to getting better at piano.
You can find David’s 2024 Romantic Music Competition piano performance here.