Ishida gets full score at Tumon Bay Music Festival

Yonsei Academy’s Kate Ishida received a full score from adjudicator Roman Rudnytsky, an internationally well know pianist, during the recent 12th Tumon Bay Music Festival in Guam.

Ishida, am the 8th grader from Saipan Community School, wound up bagging a gold medal in the regional music competition. Yonsei Academy students Hans Xu also received gold and YouNa Lee went home with a silver.

Fellow Yonsei Academy students Renee Kiser, Seoni Park, Nan Xie, Eric Kiser, Heechan Kim, Sharon Paek, and Edward Minami also won silver as an ensemble.

Ishida said she had to work doubly hard to win a gold medal at the Tumon Bay Music Festival especially since her piece, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement, was a particularly hard piece to play.

“It was a huge jump from last year’s piece because it requires much stronger and faster finger works, so I was a bit uneasy at first. I thought ‘how can I outperform myself from last year?’ To overcome myself, I practiced as much as I could and I’m glad I took this challenge,” she said.

Ishida said she’s been joining the Tumon Bay Music Festival for the past three years, and every year she competes, she learns something new.

“For me, it’s the most exciting time of the year (other than Christmas,) getting to meet talented musicians at the festival.”

She also took time to extend her gratitude to those who contributed to her and the team’s success at the Tumon Bay Music Festival.

“I’d like to thank the Kristo Rai Church, Townhouse, and Agape Christian School for giving the team an opportunity to hold rehearsals and concerts before the competition. It really boosted up our confidence, getting rid of our stage fright. I’d also like to thank my team for all the support, and my parents who never ceased to give me support. And of course, Ms. Young Mi Han, my piano teacher, I would have never gotten this far without her. She deserves the medal,” she said

Meanwhile, Xu said his first time to participate in the Tumon Bay Music Festival was a very good experience for him.

“The music piece I played was Sonatine Op. 88 No. 3. The composer was Friedrich Kuhlau. This music piece has many difficulties because it is very fast. It can change tempo and feeling can change suddenly. I want to thank my teacher and my parents for teaching and helping me learn piano and making me participate in the Tumon Bay Music Festival. I was not expecting gold because this is my first time to participate. I feel very happy to get gold. It was very hard to prepare because of Typhoon Soudelor and that there was no water or electricity. But I was still able to get gold,” he said.

YouNa Lee said she’s very glad that she was able to participate in this year’s Tumon Bay Music Festival despite all the challenges brought by Typhoon Soudelor in August last year.

“Last year in August, Typhoon Soudelor hit Saipan, and my house did not make it through the strong winds, my piano being one of the few valuable things that did not make it. It became totally unplayable, making it really difficult to practice my piece for Guam. Fortunately, my teacher, Ms. Young Mi Han, was very considerate of my situation, and she allowed me to practice at her place in every spare time that I got. Every hour that I had I would drive up to her house to practice my piece.”

Lee said each year, her piece would get harder with the level of difficulty, but this recent piece required flexibility and dexterity, so she was very worried that she would not have enough time to practice.

“I was also worried with the fact that the competition was to be held in a different location that the previous years. Thankfully, my teacher reassured me that the piano would be familiar because of all the rehearsals that we have had while on Saipan. Because of all her effort and hard work to rehearse us, I believe that I was able to understand the music and make it into my own. I was blessed to receive a silver medal for my performance, and I am content with my performance. I am very blessed to be able to participate in the competition during my final year in high school. I am also blessed with the greatest teacher with the biggest heart, Ms. Young Mi Han,” she said.

Since 2009, Yonsei Academy students have visited the Commonwealth Health Center to play music for the patients every Sunday at 2:30pm.

Also, they have been fundraising and donating their funds collected during the concerts to the CNMI Public School System in 2012, for Philippines Typhoon victims in 2014, and for Chuukese children in 2015.

Yonsei Academy’s next concert will be on May this year and the music school is planning to donate the funds raised from the concert back to CHC. About 60 of the music school’s students will take part in the concert.