By Horace Assar, Courier Staff Writer
Annie Lai, a student at James Logan High School who plays piano for the Logan jazz band wants to become a professional musician in the future and attend a music school. Here are the questions we asked her.
Horace: What got you into music?
Annie: I started playing piano when I was five years old. My parents got me a plastic keyboard from Albertson’s, now called Lucky’s. My biggest challenge as a beginner was practicing consistently and sitting in one place for a long period of time. As a kid, I just liked playing for fun and to show off.
Horace: How many instruments do you play?
Annie: The piano is my favorite but I also play the flute, piccolo, drums and I sing.
Horace: Who inspired you?
Annie: I went to a summer program called the California State Summer School for the Arts. My mentor there was Jose DeSoto, the first working pianist I had ever met. He is a classical pianist and has an established career as the director of a music academy in LA.
Horace: Do you think music school is worth it?
Annie: If you have the drive to study music then yes. I never felt I fit into any other field of study and found music the best fit for me.
Horace: How will you cover the costs for music school?
Annie: I’m applying for a lot of scholarships. Some of them are specifically for music students provided by the school’s music department.
Horace: Which schools are you planning to go to?
Annie: USC or University of British Columbia Vancouver. Still no news from those places, not until April – but this weekend I do have an audition at UBC.
Horace: Are you confident that you will get in?
Annie: Not very, there are a lot of good musicians out there.
Horace: Anything you want to say to people who want to become musicians?
Annie: Do whatever you what you want wherever you want. Strive to become something. A lot of people just play because they just want to have something to write on their college apps or to fulfill a graduation requirement and I think that’s sad. Real musicians hone their craft because they want to, not out of obligation for something else.