Student Essay – By Adriana Cheng
Project Melody is a student-led volunteer group dedicated to spreading our love and passion for music. Throughout the past year, we have held multiple concerts, including a fundraiser concert and several senior home performances. We plan to expand our project to play for more varieties of people, as well as help and mentor younger and less-advanced musicians. Our team inspires young musicians to form their own chamber music groups, in which they are able to grow their confidence and learn teamwork through playing music together. Project Melody also provides musicians with opportunities to perform in low-stress environments, allowing them to engage in beneficial experiences that help them grow as both people and performers.
We have also impacted seniors in local nursing homes by bringing music into their lives and inspiring them through engaging music played by talented young people. After concerts, it is very common for seniors to walk away smiling, thanking us and musing about how beautiful our music was as they go. Oftentimes we stay to chat with them, and their reactions have, in turn, inspired us to continue bringing music into their lives with each performance we hold. This also includes bringing familiar tunes to seniors, which we believe allows many of them to experience sentimental bouts of nostalgia. For example, after one particular concert, a senior talked about how he used to work in the field of music and had recognized some of the composers on our program. We’re hoping that by performing in many nursing homes we can make live concerts accessible to them, making the music-listening experience even more meaningful to them. Through Project Melody, we have also shared traditional Chinese music with diverse audiences. This is shown through countless performances in which dancers dance to music such as “点绛 唇” and “浔阳遗韵”, singers perform pieces such as “玛依拉”, and musicians play other traditional Chinese pieces such as “牧歌” on various instruments.
One of the most, if not the most, outstanding performances that our organization has had was an old Chinese folk song called “Butterfly Lovers” performed by the ADEL string quartet. Their dedication for this piece and their individual talent led to an outstanding performance that left the audience in awe.
Project Melody has come far in the past year compared to our humble beginnings, as our planning has become smoother and more well organized. Our team is planning more events to hold during Thanksgiving and Christmas and is also looking forward to the ACAN cultural festival of 2023.
