“Colburn has helped so much with my stage confidence. Performance opportunities, like the Friday Night Recitals, contribute to that along with feedback from teachers,” said Jasmine Ji. “I think Colburn has shaped this path to Prague and I honestly couldn’t have done it without the support of my teachers here.”
Photo: Community School piano student Jasmine Ji takes the stage in Smetana Hall, Prague.
What a difference a moment can make.
By late April, Jasmine Ji had wrapped up an appearance at the Palm Springs International Piano Competition—at 13, she was the youngest pianist to take the stage. She also was completing her first year of studying at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts in the studio of Vanessa Fadial, DMA, and looked forward to attending festivals this summer, including a return to the acclaimed Montecito International Music Festival. All that suddenly took a backseat when Ji was offered an opportunity to make her orchestral debut at the 112-year-old Smetana Hall in Prague, Czech Republic. She quickly accepted.
The North Czech Philharmonic had to fill a featured role for its May 3 concert when another young musician pulled out. That’s when a friend reached out to Dr. Fadial to inquire about Ji’s availability. Apparently, she had made an indelible impression on him during coaching sessions at the Montecito Festival last summer.
“He thought I could listen and communicate with string instruments, and I believe that’s one of the reasons he recommended me,” says Ji.
Exceptional Experience
Preparing for a debut is never a simple task, much less a surprise invitation only a few weeks before the event. Fortunately, Ji had performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1 in G Minor, Op. 25 in Palm Springs, and the piece remained fresh in her repertoire.
“The concerto was still in my fingers and I could play it with ease. I like that there’s a lot of diversity and technique within the concerto, but there’s also a lot of musical aspects in it,” she says.
With guidance from Dr. Fadial, she further polished the performance as well as studied how to accompany a full orchestra.
“With an orchestra, sometimes you need to know where you should lead and other times you need to know where you’re supposed to balance,” she recalls. “For Prague, Dr. Fadial told me to play through the orchestra part in order to know it really well.”
While admittedly nervous for her debut, Ji appreciated the welcoming reception she received by the musicians and truly embraced the moment.
“My nervous level was kind of like a decrescendo throughout the performance; I was a little nervous at the beginning, but then I calmed down throughout the first movement, and it got a lot better for the rest of the concerto,” she says. “I just reminded myself that the whole point is to share the music.”
Although the details of the event came about unexpectedly, Ji’s confidence as an artist wasn’t a surprise. The Community School has instilled her with growing assurance while advancing her skills.
“Colburn has helped so much with my stage confidence. Performance opportunities, like the Friday Night Recitals, contribute to that along with feedback from teachers,” she says. “I think Colburn has shaped this path to Prague and I honestly couldn’t have done it without the support of my teachers here.”
And it was definitely a moment that made a difference to this young artist.
“It’s something I’ll always remember and treasure, and I’ve learned a lot from it,” she concludes.