Aileen Gozali, 15, lives in Singapore, where she attends the United World College and has studied with Benjamin Loh for the past three years. Aileen received First Prize in the Young Pianist Competition in Singapore and the Silver medal at the 3rd ASEAN International Chopin Piano Competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She recently attended a summer festival in Hungary on full scholarship. Aileen studies Tae-Kwon-Do and is also a percussionist. She won Third Place in the 2010 IIYM International Piano Competition. Click here to download recordings of Aileen from the 2010 IIYM International Piano Competition. Congratulations on being selected to compete at the 2011 Hilton Head International Young Artists Piano Competition in March. I enjoy competitions! I love experiencing new challenges and making new friends. I don’t change my practice routine much for the competitions. I am always working on new repertoire and old repertoire at the same time. It’s hard to win a competition playing totally new repertoire. I agree - I usually enter with a program of repertoire I have already performed, with one or two new pieces mixed in. Do you find yourself getting stale on older pieces? I give pieces a rest sometimes if I get bored. Usually after a short break, I feel more inspired and have new ideas. What are your sources of inspiration? Famous pianists. I watch them on videos and on YouTube. I dream that I will be like them one day. Their example pushes me and encourages me to practice more. Do you have a favorite? Not just one! I admire Zimerman and Yuja Wang, among many others. Wang is very passionate and brings her energy to the stage. Do you want to become a concert pianist? Yes, it’s my dream and I’ll work hard for it. But I know it’s a tough road. There are so many different ways young people are drawn to the piano. How did you start? My family used to live on Gulangyu Island, located off the coast of Xiamen City in the Fujian Province in China. It’s called “Piano Island”, and everyone there plays piano three hours a day. I guess I just followed their example! You’ve lived in a lot of different places. Does this influence your music making? Yes, I was born in Los Angeles, moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, and then to China for nine years. Now I live in Singapore. I’ve been exposed to many different cultures. I don’t just play Western music - Chinese music is also important to me. All these different experiences help me imagine moods and project ideas more easily when I play. Where do you go to school? I go to an International School called the United World College of Southeast Asia, a private school in Singapore that draws students from many different countries. I know other students from all over the world. We have a lot of fun with extracurricular activities. I play keyboard in our musicals. We’re going to take a trip to Malaysia. It’s a school tradition to go there to rehearse. We stay in a hotel! Who is your favorite composer? Mozart and Chopin are my favorites. Mozart seems simple, but his music is not easy to play. What is the hardest piece you have ever played? Different pieces have different difficulties. A work may not be technically demanding, but sometimes it’s hard to get the interpretation right. I’ve worked hard to project the feelings in Chopin’s Ballade no.4 in F minor, op.52. Maybe I don’t quite have enough experience - it needs a lot of deep feelings that I haven’t yet felt in my own life. What is your practice routine? I do lots of slow practice and drill in altered rhythms. It’s hard to find enough time, because my schoolwork is heavy, but I usually practice first and then do my homework. |
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University of Kansas, Lawrence KS Summer Music Academy 3 Week Session - July 10-29, 2011 2 Week Session 1 - July 10-22, 2011 2 Week Session 2 - July 17-29, 2011 International Piano Competition Semi-finals - July 9, 2011 Finals - July 11, 2011 Outstanding International Faculty, Private Lessons, Masterclasses, Academic Classes, and Performing Opportunities Visit our new website at www.iiym.com to learn more and apply. |
![]() Probably exactly what Scott Joplin had in mind ... Click here to watch. |