This weekend, we had the chance to talk with Joyce Lee ’17, a 2017 Berkshire Symphony Soloist Competition winner. Joyce will perform Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto 2, movement 1 with the Berkshire Symphony on April 21.
What got you started with your instrument and what has made you continue up to this point?
I started when I was three years old, and I just really enjoyed the piano. It has become like a second language to me. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with practicing, but it’s helpful to have people kind of remind me of why I started or why I stuck with it.
My Mom was a pianist and my Dad was a singer, so I grew up just always listening to them playing together and singing together. That’s kind of how I got introduced to the piano.
What about the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto 2 made you choose this piece?
This was a piece that I’ve always wanted to play, since high school, and I never had the opportunity to. I think it’s one of the most dramatic pieces out there, and I really wanted the opportunity to play it with an orchestra.
Is there a particular section of this piece that is your favorite to play?
I love the whole thing! I would say, the introduction is my favorite to play. It’s one of those rare concertos where the piano starts off first.
Now that you’ve done the competition and the performance is coming up, what are some things you are doing to prepare?
It’s really anxiety provoking, but the mentality I try to keep is to really just enjoy it, for me to realize that it’s just an awesome opportunity to play with the orchestra. You know, practicing, making sure my muscle memory is intact, getting to know the music as well as I can.
As a senior, what are you thinking about post-college life?
I’m am going to be working at Mount Sinai, but after that I am applying to medical school, so we’ll see.
So you also do a lot in the sciences?
I am a major in Bio[logy] and Sociology.
Do you feel like those studies enrich your music in any way?
I think they really enrich each other. I’ve learned a lot from both, and it’s hard to describe, but I’d say [doing both] helps balance out my time here at Williams, having both the music component and the academic.
Having performed already with the Berkshire Symphony, how do you feel like this performance will compare with the last?
This first time I played, I was a freshman, so it’s kind of interesting to start my four years at Williams playing with an orchestra and then just seeing how I’m playing [with orchestra] at the end of my time at Williams. For me, personally, it’s like a testament to know how I’ve grown musically over the four years.
Interview by Christine Pash ’18