Ordinary Girl Becomes an Extraordinary Pianist

Angie Zhang becomes one of the youngest pianists in the United States.

Angie Zhang

           13-year-old Angie Zhang performed with the Portland Colombia Symphony on Friday, February 19^th, 2010 at the First United Methodist Church. Angie has won numerous awards, including a first prize in the Rosalyn Tureck Bach International Competition at Steinway Hall in New York and the Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition; both in the year of 2008.

            She started playing the piano when she was just three years old. Her mother taught her, and continues to give piano lessons to other children now. Angie is also a trained, and gifted, cello player. She lived in Portland, Oregon, and went to Findley Elementary School, where we met her. In the summer after fifth grade, however, she was accepted into the Juilliard Pre-college and moved to New Jersey, where she now attends a middle school.

            A friend of ours and still a friend of Angie, Mia B., tells us that, “…she has to practice for 2 hours at school, 5 hours at home, plus rehearsal time at Juilliard.” She also told us that she has virtually no time for friends or after-school activities; she barely has time for school. “… she has to stay up extremely late every night to finish her school-work, and she is having trouble keeping up.”

Grand Piano

            Mia also says that “Angie has to eat dark chocolate before every concert” Rituals, such as this, relax performers before their shows. Angie’s entire family had to move across the country in order for her to pursue her artistic career. Angie is a hard working, driven girl.

            All of Angie’s hard work has brought us to wonder, is it really worth it? Yes, she does receive standing ovations at nearly all of her concerts, and is naturally talented, but is giving up your entire childhood really worth it? Would somebody really enjoy all the pressure of concerts? These questions, along with many more will always be a question of ours, and of course, many other people.

            Angie Zhang had ambitious dreams, she, unlike many others, has already accomplished them, just at thirteen years old. Remember Angie’s name, because she is a very talented person and will soon, if not already, be a famous piano performer and composer.

By Kacie R. and Debi L.