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Sarah Chang visits CHAMPS for special event

Jan 15, 2015

There are ways to endear yourself to a roomful of elementary- and middle-school students  … and then there’s playing “Let It Go.”

At a special event for students in the El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS and Paterson Music Project on Wednesday, internationally renowned violinist Sarah Chang captivated the 90 young musicians by showing them some dazzling violin pyrotechnics, enthusiastically joining them in a performance of “Twinkle” Variations after each individual class had performed for her, and offering candid answers to the students’ questions during a post-performance Q&A.

By then, the students in the room were sold—the violin superstar they had been eagerly practicing for all season was every bit as talented as hyped. And then she broke out Frozen’s breakout hit.

Once the shrieking subsided, Chang invited the kids to sing along as she played. If the students hadn’t already found their new musical hero, “Let It Go” pushed them over the edge.

Chang’s visit to University Heights Charter School in Newark—the school with which the NJSO partners to present NJSO CHAMPS—was part of her two-week residency with the Orchestra, generously sponsored by Bank of America. Chang will perform Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite with the NJSO in all six of the Orchestra’s performance venues statewide over the next two weekends. A passionate advocate for arts education, she will give a masterclass for students in the NJSO Youth Orchestras on Saturday.

At the CHAMPS event, Chang spoke to the student musicians about her career, the determination it takes to become a professional musician and how performing concerts all over the globe lets her travel the world. She listened to each class perform a piece they had prepared for her, telling the students how impressed she was with their playing, and after the full group played a rousing version of the “Twinkle Tango”—complete with a rhythm section courtesy of the cellos and some neat choreography—Chang surprised them all by asking if they'd mind if she played with them. (Spoiler alert: they didn't mind.) After the performances, she entertainingly fielded questions both professional and personal from the excited students.

Naturally, strains of “Let It Go” bounced around UCHS’ halls as the students filed out of the room, and while many of the kids cited the surprise song as their favorite part of the afternoon, others cited different parts of the event as their favorite part of Chang’s visit. One group of students was excitedly discussing the fact that they had just performed for—and with!—a world-renowned classical star.

Blessing said: “My favorite part was meeting Sarah Chang and hearing her play a little music for us because she is very good at the violin. I enjoyed playing for her; I felt proud that I could play for her because she is famous and a very important person for people who like the violin.”

Angelica said: “My favorite part of today was playing as a whole group together with Sarah Chang. I felt proud because she’s famous, and she came here for us.”

That pride—and the lessons Chang imparted—opened students’ eyes to the possibilities they could achieve if they dedicated themselves to the practice and passion mastering an instrument requires, CHAMPS teaching artist Theresa Kemp said.

“This was a huge opportunity for [the students] to see what they do every day as it is for a professional. For them to see the connection between them practicing ‘Twinkle’ and her playing something like West Side Story is a really big deal. It gave them such joy to see someone like her in person [and know] that someone that famous came to see them perform. It makes them feel like they’re worth it, that all their effort is worth it,” she said.

“I feel like this is a marker in their journey, that they’ll up the ante and up their game and really start taking it to the next level. When they are able to play for somebody so accomplished, to feel good about their performance and to have that person tell them, ‘Wow’—everyone is really impressed by how good they sound. I really think they are going to be motivated now in a way they weren’t before because now they see what it can lead to. I’m so honored that she would come and take the time to meet with the students. She only has so much time in the day, and she’s preparing for concerts, so for her to come and spend time with our kids was just really a testimony to her as a musician and person and to the gift that music is, how it connects us all.”

 

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