My Journey:

I started playing the violin ever since I was in 2nd grade. However, I was extremely inconsistent during that time, and at times, I even considered quiting.

During the 2nd grade, everyone was given free music lessons learning how to play the violin. At the beginning, everything felt akward and unnatural. It wasn't until I was in 4th grade until I got my first private lesson. During that time, I didn't practice a lot, but I felt motivated and wanted to improve.

Fast foward to 7th grade (in the middle of COVID-19), I lacked any motivation to play. Having taken a long break from violin lessons, I didn't touch my violin for months and almost quit during the beginning of 8th grade.

However, during the middle of 8th grade, something just clicked. For the first time, I wanted to play the violin and began treating it as a hobby, not so much as a chore. I started practicing more consistently and improved a lot.

Me with my friends at our 8th grade spring concert.

As of now, I enjoy playing the violin and it is one of my favorite activities. I still face challenges here and there, but I am happy with where I am at.

My Idols:

My favorite violinist is Ray Chen. He is an extremely talented musician and was a prodigy growing up.

He was the winner of the 2008 Menuhin Violin Competition and 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Since then, he has collaborated with world-class orchestras and appeared at famous concert halls.

Ray Chen performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ray Chen's album "Solace."

I also enjoy watching and listening to TwoSetViolin, a musical youtube channel. TwoSetViolin is a musical duo made up of Brett Yang and Eddy Chen.

The channel started with short but funny videos about the realities of a musician's life such as being late to rehearsal or forgetting to practice.

Now they have partnered with popular music figures such as Lang Lang, Hilary Hahn, Maxim Vengerov (and Ray Chen himself). TwoSet's mission is to make classical music more relevant and relatable in modern times through humour, laughs, and stories.

TwoSet filming a video with Ray Chen.
TwoSet playing with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

TwoSetViolin has captivated all types of people, even non-musicians, who have been inspired to start because of them. TwoSet now has over 4 million subscribers on Youtube and over a billion views.