How Do Arcadia Musicians Get To Carnegie Hall?

Young musicians from Arcadia speak of their experience at the iconic music hall in New York

By Terry Miller

How do these young musicians get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice and more practice. It sounds like the beginning of an old joke, right? But that’s exactly what elevated these young people to the next level in their career.

CEMALA (Classical European Music Academy Los Angeles) and parents of CEMALA provided opportunities for the children with talent to participate in musical activities previously in Italy. The young protégés most recently returned from a successful concert tour…this time at Carnegie Hall, NYC.

As a comprehensive violin school, CEMALA is committed to nurturing musical talents. To help illustrate the children’s’ excitement and experience at Carnegie Hall, read the following directly from the mouths of these very young and extraordinary musicians.

Pheobe Wang:
“The person who most deserves our appreciation is the one and only, Ms. Magdolna. She was there for us during the entire journey, and stood by us, always ready to help us improve. Without her, we would not have the opportunity to perform on such a large stage or have such a great experience.”

Hannah Kim:
“Being a concert master at CEMALA shows my leadership.”

Kaitlin Chow:
“I felt I accomplished something really big and special by playing in the Carnegie hall. It was one of the most amazing experiences cemala gave me”

Julia Goodrich:
“I’ve been performing with CEMALA for almost five years now. My teacher, Ms. Magdolna, has taught me everything I know about playing the violin. She has introduced me into the world of music through teaching me this exciting instrument. I have performed at many places with CEMALA, including the white house and most recently Carnegie Hall. I felt that playing at such a historical landmark with my group was a big step in my violin experience. It improved my knowledge in teamwork, and helped me grow as a violinist. My performance at Carnegie was important not just because of my orchestra, but for me to play my part to the best of my ability. It definitely took lots of hard work and dedication to complete this challenge. I’m grateful that I had this privilege, and I want to thank my teacher, Ms. Magdolna, for all her hard work and dedication to teaching us and providing us with wonderful opportunities.”

The musicians include:
Magdolna Berezvai (Music Director)
Paula Buchanan
Sunny Jong
Pheobe Wang
Cassie Kao
Kaylee Wong
Amber Wang
Miqi Lin
Julia Goodrich
Carina Zhu
Kaitlin Chow
Natalie Lee
Hannah Kim (Concert Master)
Christina Sun
Nicole Kim

Captions:

1 – CEMALA’s protégés performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. – Courtesy photo
2 – Magdolna Berezvai, music director, ready to lead the CEMALA orchestra. – Courtesy photo
3 – (Left) Christina Sun and Kaitlin Chow, excited to perform at Carnegie Hall. – Courtesy photo
4 – CEMALA musicians were dressed in their finest as they pushed down any thoughts of stage fright before the big performance. – Courtesy photo
5 – Paula Buchanan, concentrating in a practice session before the big performance. – Courtesy photo

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