The name Pearl River may not sound like much among big brand names like Steinway & Sons and Bosendorfer, but it was the first piano that I played. In 1999 when my grandfather decided to purchase a piano for me and my cousin, I was one year old and he was just born. I started taking lessons during kindergarten and took the piano exam the summer of third grade. At a young age, I didn’t really understand or appreciate music, especially when just learning a piece of music takes so much effort. As time went on, however, sight reading became much and much easier, and I began to find solace in playing piano. For a few years after I moved to America, I lived with family in a house too small to fit a piano. I picked up piano again in 8th grade, after we moved to a new house. In a time where my life was constantly changing because of my moving across half the world, I’m glad that playing piano has been one thing that stayed the same. It really helped me find colors in music and appreciate life more.

– Zhiyue Wang

Relationship:  unknown unknown