I have been touring around the United State for the past two weeks. I was very glad that I had the chance to share my music and experiences with professors and students from four different universities. And I have to admit that I am very proud of myself for achieving the first solo tour of my life.
In this tour recital, I prepared a program of pieces that I truly admired, including the required piece from 2016 Australia Marimba Competition “Fugitive Desires” by Mr. Sergei Golovko, my soul piece “Blues for Gilbert”, and three marimba and voice pieces from my talented friend – “Afterward...”, “Come Get Together”, and “Balade.” Also, special thanks to my old friend Ling-ling Chen for playing with me in the recital in Ohio University.
This trip truly made me realize how beautiful being a musician can be. I have talked to a few students who have been having trouble in their music studies during the trip, and they told me that my clinic gave them courage to keep going. It reminds me of my own music learning experience, there were so many people who encourage me, support me, and help me get thought all my troubles. And now, I cannot believe that I have become a person who can give fellow students encouragement and tell them not to give up. Also, after the recital at University of North Alabama, a Taiwanese mom came to me and explained that she can relate some of her life experience to my performance. It was a touching moment when I heard this, because to me, this means that music is no longer just sounds and art; it becomes a tool for people to communicate and exchange life/emotion/and more.
It has been a wonderful two weeks. Thanks to my lovely professor Prof. Gwendolyn Dease and Dr. Jon Weber for making this happen, and thanks to Daniel Silvernail for the accompaniments. ☺ Thank all the support from Vicfirth Drum Sticks and Buffalo Marimba!
連我自己也有點佩服我自己的兩個禮拜過去了。 很榮幸這次能夠從美國最北部的密西根州一路演出到南部的阿拉巴馬州，14天，37小時的車程，四所大學，三場獨奏會，三場大師班與講座，還有不想數了的個別課教學，說不辛苦絕對是騙人，但說不喜歡不開心，也絕對沒這回事。
這次的巡迴包括獨奏會以及大師班漢講座。獨奏會的部分除了演出我非常喜歡的幾首曲子外，也演出了今年夏天澳大利亞木琴大賽二輪的指定曲Fugitive Desire，我的靈魂伴侶Blues for Gilbert，還有我親愛的好友Josh Oxford三年前所為我譜寫的三首木琴與歌的曲子。另外，在Ohio University我也很榮幸可以邀請到我的好朋友，同時也是P PLAY的老戰友陳凌翎跟我一起演出木琴二重奏。在不同城市打拼的兩個女生，終於又有機會可以一起同台，排練時盡是笑聲～
這樣的一個個人巡迴演出，讓我自己成長了許多（根本每天都像試膽大會一樣，心臟越來越大顆），也讓我真的感覺到身為一位音樂家的快樂。在各個學校認識不同的老師和學生們，其中看到一些學生正處於撞牆期不知道該如何是好，很想放棄，在聽完我分享了我的故事後，他們跑來找我說謝謝我給她門的能量。這讓我想到在我學習打擊樂的路上，我也有好多好多好棒的老師朋友家人，一路的陪伴支持，並且有許多貴人在我迷失的時候，點醒我。從來沒有想到，有一天我也變成了這個能夠幫助其他學生，給他們鼓勵的人，我深深地覺得感恩及感動。記得出國前夕，一位學長用三句話給我當鑒別禮物，其中一句就是“別忘了提攜後輩”，今天我覺得我慢慢地做到了。
另外，在北阿拉巴馬大學演完的那天晚上，有位已經移居美國14年的台灣媽媽，跑到後台一見到我就抱着我說她好喜歡我的表演，並且訴說着他在我的演出裡讓他聯想到的她自己的人生經驗，聽著聽著，我自己眼框也溼了。能夠聽到一位聽眾在你的音樂裡感受到的情緒，使得音樂不再只是美麗的聲音藝術，而是一種傳遞訊息的語言，身為一位演奏者，還有什麼是更好地讚美。
謝謝我的老師Professor Gwen Dease和Dr. Jon Weber, 讓這次的巡迴可以真正的成行，也謝謝各校的老師給我這個小弱咖機會到校演出即分享我的學習經驗，還有謝謝我的經紀人（兼司機）Daniel Silvernail，一路上大力的相挺。最後謝謝我的贊助商Vic Firth，以及親愛的好朋友Buffalo Marimba一直以來的支持與鼓勵。
