The 11th Hong Kong International Music Festival — 2024
But it wasn’t until I stepped onto an international stage — alone — that I understood a different side of art.
Competing in The 11th Hong Kong International Music Festival, performing solo piano, felt nothing like the comfort of backstage teamwork. There were no costumes to hide behind, no team to carry the silence. It was just me, a piano, and a room full of strangers who waited to hear what I had to say — through music alone.
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Sitting on that bench, the world narrowed to 88 keys and the echo of my own breathing. My fingers trembled for the first few notes. Then something unexpected happened: the nerves didn’t disappear — they softened into honesty.
When I played, I wasn’t chasing perfection.
I was offering emotion.
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Every crescendo held a confession.
Every pause held something I couldn’t put into words.
Every soft decrescendo felt like exhaling a fear I’d carried quietly.
When the results were announced — Piano Youth Outstanding Silver Award — the medal felt cool and heavy in my hand. But the real weight was elsewhere:
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For a moment, strangers felt what I felt.
There is no score sheet that can measure that.