An issue I struggle with every day is managing my productivity. In today’s world, it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness and prioritize working over mental wellbeing. I consider myself to be a “workaholic”, and while I label this as being “intrinsically motivated”, it can be unhealthy at times. I’ve found that pushing myself to the limit can unintentionally lead to mental breakdown. Without taking the time to rest and recoup, it’s easy to succumb to the stresses of work and the weight that it holds over you. Music has been a constant source of relief for my busy lifestyle. When the world around me bustles and moves a mile a minute, music has been my emotional release. Music allows for self-expression and I’ve always found performing to be a reward; playing music has helped me take the time to focus on my emotional and mental health in my daily life. In today’s world, it’s normalized to prioritize the “work” aspects of life. I’ve fallen victim to this many times, but music has been my backbone. However, relief through music isn’t reachable for all. One of my goals is to help alleviate stress and provide comfort through music. In my future career as a professional pianist, I want to provide others an outlet from their daily stresses of life and remind them of the importance of the art of music. I strongly desire to share my experiences with an audience through music in hopes to provide even a few moments of relief from daily stressors. I want to use music to help others slow down and enjoy time for what it is at that moment instead of worrying about the future. My role as a professional musician will be to bring awareness of the importance of life balance to others. I hope to use my musical ability to influence the balancing of productivity and pleasure in life, as it can be so easy to forget sometimes. Through performing, I hope to send the message that taking time to unwind, especially through music, is healthy. I want to encourage an audience to seek out opportunities and experience life, whether that be through music, another art, or a hobby. More than anything, I want my art form to advocate that life isn’t just about productivity, and help teach others a lesson I’ve learned for myself. The world moves a mile a minute. However, with my experiences so far, I’ve realized that productivity only succeeds if people know when to prioritize themselves. Taking time to self-reflect through art will boost mental health and taking time to feel will relieve emotional stress. I plan to lead others to this realization through musical art and its vibrant expression. I will employ the musical abilities I have in hopes of making the world less work-focused and making life more enjoyable. Through piano, I will reach out to those who listen and call them to a life of balance.

One of the most influential abilities a person can have is the ability to tell a story. The weaving together of narratives that draw laughter as well as tears have a distinct way of bringing people together and creating community. In my life, the best storyteller I know is my father. An immigrant from the Philippines, the life story he has shared with me in bits and pieces has many moving parts- he has shared experiences about having strange pets, encounters within the military, and even his fame as a dancer on a popular television series. His journey has inspired and drawn me toward following a path of storytelling. As I continued to discover his ventures alongside him, I began to ask myself how I could bring about community with my own, unique form of storytelling. Blending inspiration with my ambitions and skills, I devoted myself to telling my story through music. I was introduced to classical piano at the age of five, and since then, every new experience has uncovered the piano’s true potential and beauty. As I grew, I developed a driven attitude and a fiery passion for piano and all of its intricacies. Around the age of thirteen, I committed to pursuing my path as a musician, and it has taken me far since. After the applications, competitions, and many hours of grueling practice, I was accepted into the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. I now study piano performance with internationally renowned pianist Inna Faliks and have seized every opportunity presented to me. Unlike many other forms of storytelling, piano performance cannot be written down or painted on a canvas. A narrative without words, music is an experience where storytelling is alive and interpersonal, shared and understood individually by every person who cares to listen. I believe that classical music is intrinsically unique in telling historic works from the past in a live, present setting for many to appreciate and enjoy. Every chance I get to perform, I become more passionate about playing the piano and ambitious to share stories with my community. My career and education revolve around this goal, which gives my life a unique purpose that incorporates my passions. I plan to make a positive impact with others by sharing my storytelling ability with others through teaching and performance. Classical music is an intricate and challenging art and requires a lot of motivation to share at a high skill level. I believe that this challenge, alongside the moving popular culture of today’s media, has made classical music accessibility and education restricted and minimal. As a pianist, my goal is to make classical music more readily available so as to share the same spark I experienced with my community, and pass the torch on to the future storytellers of tomorrow. I yearn to develop my skills in performance and teaching, so classical music and its unique form of narration is preserved and appreciated for many years to come. One of the most influential abilities a person can have is the ability to tell a story, and I believe in my purpose and contribution as a performer and educator and I am committed to sharing music as a storytelling device with my community. Video Performance Link: https://youtu.be/Q3Jv9MbKnqc?si=oDYR-n3USjI2rgpY

Piano performance is a vital part of my identity and holds an irreplaceable space in my heart. I was introduced to music when my parents enrolled me in a local piano studio at the age of five. With little ambition to improve, daily practices were once a “chore” to me, with my only motivation being to please my parents. However, every new experience in the classical realm uncovered the piano’s true potential and the undiscovered beauty stored in every note. I began experimenting with the piano on my own time, developing a driven mindset and a fiery passion for music and all of its intricacies. Around the age of thirteen, I committed to pursuing my path as a musician, and it has taken me far since. Of course, my endeavors weren’t without their failures- performing in front of others proved to be a mental challenge. Alongside the technical difficulties of performance came the mental block of performance anxiety, the struggle of clammy hands, and my hesitance in wanting to share my skills with others. These weaknesses shined through when competition results illustrated that I wasn’t performing to my full potential. Still, my ambition and passion for piano led me to seek out other experiences to overcome this anxiety. I turned to community service, playing in local nursing homes and hospitals as a youth volunteer, and began to share my music more casually with people who needed it. I performed violin pieces in lobbies and open hallways as a youth music therapist, playing for the healthcare workers and patients who walked by. I observed the joy and relief that people expressed as they listened to the live music and realized how powerful a musical message can be. As I improved with my mental block, I began to take on higher-skilled challenges in regional and state competitions. I developed my technique and self-confidence to apply to music schools around California. After the applications, college essays, and many hours of grueling practice, I was finally accepted into the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. I now study piano performance with internationally renowned pianist Inna Faliks and have seized every opportunity presented to me. I played with the UCLA Philharmonia this year as an orchestral keyboardist, debuted as a concerto soloist after winning a school-wide competition, and played as a pit musician in the world premiere of a new opera, “The Grand Hotel Tartarus”. These experiences have only grown my fire for piano and for sharing it with others, and have fueled my ambition for as long a time as I can imagine. With every corner I’ve turned, I remind myself why I devote so much of myself to piano. Classical music is an intricate and challenging art, and requires a lot of motivation to share at a high skill level. I believe that this challenge, alongside the moving popular culture of today’s media, has made classical music accessibility and education less and less available. As a pianist, my goal is to make classical music more readily available so as to share the same spark I experienced with my community. I yearn to develop my skills in performance as well as teaching, so the beauty of classical piano is celebrated for years to come. My journey as a pianist has been a rocky one, full of struggle as well as accomplishment. However, through the risk and reward, my love for piano and hope in the possibility of sharing it with others gives me a reason to sit down at the keyboard again and again.

One of my greatest skills is the ability to reach others through music. This began in my childhood when my parents decided that I should learn to play the piano. At the time, I practiced without a care, treating music as just another chore to finish. However, my experiences with classical piano over the years built up an overwhelming sense of passion, and I discovered my true love for music. From that moment on, I realized how vital music would be in my life’s trajectory, and how it would lead me to find a purpose and life-long service. I’ve chosen to pursue classical piano firstly because of the challenges and beauties that it introduces to musicians. Throughout my childhood, every experience I’ve had within the classical realm has shown me the piano’s true potential. Everything about piano performance has inspired me to improve. The wide range of repertoire, from Bach to Debussy, tells stories that I yearn to preserve for the future generations. The unlimited technical difficulties and feats of great pianists of today make high-skill piano performance a challenge and an accomplishment to take pride in. Finally, the emotional outlet that music provides, where an intuitive inner-self can express emotional messages to oneself and others, makes every performance a unique experience. With personal skills and development in my studies, I chose to pursue piano to continue sharing classical music with others, in all of its joys and difficulties, and enjoy all of the beauty that it brings. Another purpose I find in music is to give back to my community. In looking for more performance experiences to ease my stage fright, I spent my high school years working in community service. I used my passion for music by playing in local nursing homes and the hospital where my parents worked as a youth volunteer. I performed violin pieces in lobbies and open hallways as a youth music therapist, playing for the healthcare workers and patients who walked past. I observed the joy and relief that people expressed as they listened to the live music and realized how powerful a musical message can be. With every performance, from the stages to the nursing homes, I hope to make classical music readily available to all. Another goal of mine is to teach others how truly valuable arts education can be. The world that we live in today has shifted focus and funding from the arts in education and professional schemes. The people of tomorrow are less exposed to classical music now more than ever, and I believe that every contribution made can help keep classical music alive. Whatever my future has in store, whether it be performing on national stages or teaching young children how to play their first few notes, I want to make classical piano exposure and education accessible to my community. I yearn to develop my skills in performance and teaching so the beauty of piano is taught and appreciated for years to come. My studies in piano performance have shaped who I am as a person today and what I aspire to be in my future. There are bounds of undiscovered beauty within classical music, and it is my goal to share this aspect of the arts with the global community. In study, performance, and teaching, I aspire to pass on the torch to the next generation, so that the fire and passion of classical piano will live for many years to come.