All four members of the Duan family – Kelly, 4 (Suzuki violin); Jason, 7 (Suzuki violin, piano); and parents Yunping (flute) and Zhiyao (violin) – are currently taking lessons at Hochstein. Over the holiday recess, they worked on a family music video to celebrate the New Year and Chinese New Year.
After a “Happy New Year” song and tune by Kelly and an introduction by Jason, the family plays the “Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto, with Yunping on flute and guzheng (a Chinese plucked zither), Jason on piano and violin, and Zhiyao on violin. Written by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang in 1959, “Butterfly Lovers” is one of the most famous Chinese works of orchestral music.
Jason started Suzuki violin lessons in 2019 and the piano a year later. He is also in the Concertino Strings ensemble. Kelly started Suzuki violin in September 2020 when she was about to turn 3.
Watch their video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/OGtdsuym5mE or click on the video below.
Taking music lessons from a young age runs in the family. Zhiyao tells us, “Yunping’s first instrument was guzheng and she started to learn it when she was 7 in China, for about 10 years. She also started to learn flute at 13 through college.”
He continues, “I started to learn Suzuki violin at 8 in China for 4 years, and then learned euphonium in college for 7 years. Yunping and I were at the same college (Tsinghua University) and we both played in the Tsinghua University Symphonic Band.”
Zhiyao adds, “After graduation from college, we both dropped instrument learning for some years, but since we signed up for music lessons for our kids, we have picked them up!” They both started taking lessons in 2019 and along with Jason, have all participated in online or in-person recitals at Hochstein.
He says, “We very much appreciate our music education at Hochstein from various teachers, as well as the many performing opportunities!”
新年快乐 虎年大吉
Happy New Year! Wishing you great fortune in the year of the Tiger!
