Eighth grader Stephanie Wong has reached the top of the orchestra pyramid, earning medals and master-classing every solo and performance. Recently, she was recognized by not only her orchestra teachers but the The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion’s Arts in Action award program. She was one of 26 students recognized city wide. According to the press release, these students were recognized “not only for their excellence as artists, but for the dedication, leadership and
commitment to their entire school community. Award winners received a certificate and small prize for their honor from The Pavilion and will be featured on The Pavilion’s social and digital marketing channels.”
On top of all that, she is also planning to learn the piano, cello, and viola. “It’s more of passion and effort to put in work because the amount of work you put in will be the amount your skill will increase,” said Stephanie.
Her number one piece of advice for incoming orchestra players is to “Don’t aim for perfection aim for progress”
However, of all her many accomplishments, she is most proud of getting concertmaster for middle school region orchestra, and she is currently working on a song by Kabalevsky.
She’s not a stranger to fear, though. In addition to being scared of judges when she first joined, the most nerve racking things are “region auditions and high school auditions.”
She practices 30 minutes on weekdays when school is in, weekends are 1-2 hours of nonstop playing depending on her schedule.
She has a very positive outlook on the WMS Orchestra, and said great things are in store. “This school is doing a great job. They get multiple UIL awards nearly every season. Nothing should change in the way orchestra members are being taught and people are strongly recommended to come here if they want to play in an orchestra. The teachers here all work together nicely, and I’d rather not be anywhere else.”
To see Stephanie and the rest of the WMS Orchestra perform, you can come to the Spring Orchestra concert on Wednesday, May 15 at 6:30. As for Stephanie, she plans to continue playing all through high school and college.
