Wendy Wang likes piano and violin

Thirteen-year-old Wendy Wang started piano lessons when she was four. She still takes piano lessons but she's starting to like her violin better.

The Parkway West Middle School 8th grader said, "I'm better on the piano but I like the violin better. I'm thinking of quitting piano if I get too busy in high school."

She said, "I started piano lessons at four because I wanted to. But, I started with the violin because everyone takes it in third grade."

Students in the Parkway District all take violin when they go to third grade.

Now, she juggles weekly piano and violin lessons along with weekend classes in Chinese.

She and her family receive financial help from the Whitaker Foundation to help pay for her violin lessons. The Whitaker program to aid promising young musicians is administered through KFUO-FM Radio, the classical station.

The foundation provides financial aid for Wendy's violin lessons but the family pays the full cost of the piano lessons. Wendy said the Whitaker aid "helps a lot" in allowing her to continue both music lessons. The grant can pay over 90 per cent of an instrument lesson.

Wendy is of Chinese descent although she was born in Columbia, Mo. She and her family moved to St. Louis when she was six.

That's where the Chinese lessons come in. At the weekend classes, she's been working on lessons in the Mandarin or classic Chinese language. She says the lessons are tough.

She speaks Chinese around her home. But, the written language, with its host of graphic characters, are difficult to master, she said.

Wendy said she's a good student but she admits she doesn't like homework. For that matter, she said she doesn't like music practice very much either.

"I like performing for other people but practicing isn't too much fun," she said.

And then she has lots of other things she likes to do. In addition to the two musical instruments, she takes gymnastics lessons. "And, I'm going to try out for cheerleading in high school," she said.

Wendy said one of her strengths in music is her ability to read music. "I can sight-read the music really well because I've been playing piano since I was four," she said.

However, she admits her big weakness is her lack of interest in practicing.

She said she has one, 45-minute piano lesson and one, 30-minute violin lesson each week. "But, I don't practice much beyond that," she said.

Wendy said she knows this lack of practice could hold back her musical progress in the future. However, she said she doesn't plan to make a career of music.

"I want to continue with music at least until the end of high school. Then, maybe I'd like to continue in college," she said.

She said, after that, she'd consider music as a hobby.

For a career, she wants to study law at "an Ivy League college." She hasn't decided yet what branch of law she'd practice in her career.

Wendy has had a lot of opportunities to perform. She takes part in her school's orchestra and has done a lot of solo and ensemble playing at recitals.

She said Parkway West Middle orchestra takes a lot of music field trips.

Last month, Wendy and the orchestra played for music majors at Saint Louis University. She also has performed at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

One of her favorite field trips was to the Lake of the Ozark resort at Tan-Tara. She said the musicians performed at a music teachers convention.

Wendy said she doesn't get nervous when performing. "I don't like to worry about things," she said.

Besides, she said, "If you mess up, the audience is usually sympathetic."

She did recall one particularly bad "mess up" experience at a recital.

"At recitals, you play the music from memory. And, this time, I just couldn't remember what I was supposed to play," she said. But, she added, "I got over it."

If you'd like to be considered for the Whitaker young musicians program, you could call Tricia Oates, the KFUO educational initiatives manager at (314) 505-7814.