As this is my last semester, I wanted to use my time wisely. I wanted to explore different ways I can apply my artistic ideas to other forms of art. I have always found myself in the world of music and then high school happened and I started to open up the world of theater. Coming here, that was further amplified. Even when those two worlds collided, I wanted to perform, I didn’t wanna do anything else. However, I have always had a keen interest in directing and actually creating a work from an idea, to a vision, to the real thing. So, I finally decided to do something about it and register fo ..read more

Over this past winter break, I really struggled with having nothing to do.  For the weeks leading up to it, I was spending almost every second I could finishing projects and studying for finals. Then, it all just stopped.  I spent most of my days rereading old books, playing games on my phone, or watching tons of movies back-to-back. And every day that I did this I told myself “you’ll start doing stuff tomorrow.”  ​ I had plans to go to the gym, to start writing essays for new scholarships, and to go to the store. But every day I felt so exhausted I couldn’t convince myself ..read more

My undergraduate years were a very difficult time for me. The transition from high school to college is already a difficult one; you have to learn how to live on your own, how you fare in social situations, what your boundaries are, and on top of that, go to your classes and do well in them. College is not just about what grades you get; it’s a full experience on its own with a lot of personal components to it. I struggled with making friends at my last institution, and the pandemic made it a lot worse to deal with. Over this past winter break, I was doing a lot of introspection, and I realize ..read more

This semester was my first audition for concert ensembles at UIUC, and it was terrifying.  Mostly, I was worried because I hadn’t performed a live audition since before the pandemic began. I was definitely rusty.  ​ I began my warm-ups in the music building practice rooms. I thought it would be nice to give myself a good, private warm-up to calm the nerves and prepare, since I wasn’t sure what the warm-up room situation was inside of Krannert Center.  After about half an hour of scales and slurs with a shaky tone, I made my way towards the audition room. Despite the semeste ..read more

As a music open studies major, there are a lot of requirements I have to fulfill to graduate, but out of all of them, this one has to be my favorite, yet the most stressful: The Capstone. For those who don’t know what a capstone is or haven’t even heard of it, a capstone is basically a senior project showcasing something you are passionate about and have worked on, kinda like a senior thesis. I have been fortunate enough to have worked in and on a capstone, but that’s high school and now we’re on the college level so everything is different. Not really. What I have been finding so far while wo ..read more

You’ve probably heard the saying “jack of all trades, master of none”. What that means is that if you learn a lot of things, such as learning a lot of instruments, you won’t really be a master of any of them. I used to believe in this quote, thinking that if I learned more than one instrument that I wouldn’t be good at any of them. Today, I don’t believe in that quote anymore because I found that if you have a main instrument that you’re working hard towards improving on, and then you add another instrument on top of that, you can actually learn a lot of skills and techniques that you wouldn’t ..read more

As music majors, we all have to take classes that are required for our degree. Usually you just have to deal with it and take the classes and sometimes you have to take classes that you don’t really like. I remember in my undergrad, I had to take atonal music theory classes for my degree and I did not enjoy them one bit. I don’t think my professor taught the class very well and eight on music to me just doesn’t really sound that great (but I am challenging myself to find a total music that I actually do like). Usually you also have to do some sort of a final project in his classes whether it’s ..read more

You’ve been practicing all week for this performance. The time comes for you to walk up on the stage, and you start to get nervous. You begin your piece, and the nerves don’t go away. You know that you’re making mistakes and you know that the audience can hear them, and it just makes the whole situation worse. By the time you finish and your studio mates applaud you, you’re feeling pretty down. As a graduate student, I have had my fair share of these types of studio experiences, and, of course, it’s not fun. Sometimes there’s nothing you can really do but just push through the nerves and fini ..read more

Fall 2022 was a busy but fruitful semester. In addition to the modern piano that I routinely practice, I was delighted to have the chance to play different keyboard instruments that are rarely seen. These instruments each have distinctive qualities regarding touch, timbre, etc., and I found this experience extremely impressive. I took the keyboard literature class this semester, in which I studied early keyboard repertoires and composers from the Medieval to Classical periods, and —most memorably—played early keyboard compositions on historical instruments. There were two class performances ..read more

I’ve been working at the Krannert Art Museum for one semester, and I love my job. When I tell people I’m a security guard, they don’t believe me at first (even my own parents thought this job was strange)! But it’s true; my job is to greet visitors and make sure the art is safe. If you’ve never been to the Krannert Art Museum before, here’s a few things you should know: ​ First of all, Krannert Art Museum is not the same as the Krannert Center of Performing Arts. People have walked into my job thinking it was the performance center before, but it’s an understandable mistake. The two building ..read more