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Already behind her were lots of original art work, including music, especially
piano. The Trinity College London examination
report about Reyna indicated, "…Musicianship
is good; Viva good."
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Age 14
- 17 were Reyna's productive years in music, particularly,
piano and voice. She didn't sing just by opening her
mouth and exhaling. Music with her was a totally uplifting
experience. People singing with her always ended exhausted;
but deeply exhilarated.
At the age at
which many of us are just mucking around, she was a
busy prolific young artist determined to achieve as
much as her skills and talents would let her.
 She
learnt to play the recorder in school. Her good rhythm
was readily noticeable. So, I bought her a piano. She
started her formal studies in pianoforte at age 8. She
had a couple of teachers; but no one matched Mrs Jane
Gould Airmt. She looked after Reyna very well, and encouraged
her. Consequently, Reyna's skill improved immensely;
her confidence soared. In every class concert, Reyna
was never shy; she was nervous, but she was NEVER shy.
She was very competent, competitive; and she excelled
very well, indeed. She always stood out from the rest.
In 1992, she received
a Sight Reading Certificate with SUPERIOR HONORS; and
in 1993, she passed Grade 3 of The Trinity College of
London WITH MERIT. In the same year, however, her teacher
died. Reyna was devastated and depressed as expressed
in her review of the novel Tess. She wrote, " I wouldn't
know what it would be like losing your ONLY child. But
I supposed losing a child would be as sad as losing
your favourite piano teacher like I did in December
of 1993. I was very sad. I stopped playing the piano
anymore. I didn't want another teacher; I felt no one
could replace Mrs. Gould. She was a very lovely person
and a very good teacher to me."
| "Waterfall"
by Reyna
in MP3 format
"Waterfall"
by Reyna
in Real Audio format
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In
her review of LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott,
she wrote: "…that's not the reason why I
like Beth. Beth interests me because she has
a talent for music; she plays the piano. Surprisingly
enough, I play the piano too! I have been playing
the piano for 3 1/2 years now. I guess I perk
up when I hear about people who play the piano.
My grandmother was a music composer and a very
good piano player. Back in my country, she had
many students who she used to tutor. I guess
I kind of idolise her, not that I remember her
that well. She died when I was very young. I
feel that she would be proud of me if she was
alive and knew I was playing classical music
like she did." |
For a few months, Reyna took up Latin-American Dancing
instead, and basketball. It turned out that she was
also very good at them, too! Watching the tournaments,
I got very concerned that she might suffer a sport injury
and become disabled forever like me. So I pulled her
out of the team. She hated me for it. But, she saw that
those who remained had an injury. I felt vindicated;
forgiven (I hope). After more than a year, she finally
agreed to go back to taking up piano lessons again.
At this stage, she could play her own renditions of
popular tunes just by ear.
©
copyright Remedios Gerard 2003 |
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