From Suzuki Roots to the Concert Stage: Violinist Sirena Huang at the 2024 SAA Conference

By Laurie Niles: For violin soloist Sirena Huang, last month's big Suzuki Association of the Americas conference in Louisville brought her back to her roots - that is, her Suzuki roots. "It was because of my first teacher, Linda Fiore and the entire Suzuki community that I fell in love with music," Sirena told a large classroom of teachers and students gathered to hear her play, speak and give a master class at the conference. It was also because of her father, who - following the Suzuki ideal of parental involvement - learned alongside Sirena, as a way to support her learning. "We kind of became musical companions," Sirena said of her father, who was not a musician but brought his own curiosity about how the instrument worked and how to learn to play it. "My mother was also supportive from day one - the love and support I got from both parents was invaluable." Sirena's story is a success story - she went on to study at Juilliard and to win some very prestigious competitions - securing the Gold Medal in the most recent International Violin Competition of Indianapolis - as well as First Prize in the 2017 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition. Her presence at the SAA/ASTA Conference was certainly a boost - in all she spent three hours with us, first performing a short recital on the 1739 del Gesù violin that she has been playing for the last year and a half, then answering audience questions, and then giving a master class. For her performance, she wowed us with the first movement from Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 4, then she played Chinese composer Li Shangqian's "Entranced with Mountain Scenery", a solo violin work full of pizzicato, tone-bending, asymmetrical rhythms, alternating between more static and atmospheric sections and dance-like ones. She described how the piece (which was composed for the 2012 Menuhin Competition in Beijing) uses ornamentation to imitate things like birds and other Chinese traditional instruments like the erhu and pipa.

Violinist Sirena Huang.

In a bow to those "Suzuki roots," she then delighted everyone by playing Dvorak's "Humoresque" - which appears in simplified version in Suzuki Book 3. You can hear her golden tone, even in this very short excerpt taken on a cell phone!

@violinistlaurie Violinist Sirena Huang gave an amazing performance, talk ajd master class at the #saaconference2024#astaconference2024? original sound - Violinist.com

She played an adaptation of the Heifetz version of this piece - full of double-stops! Then she concluded with Coleridge Taylor Perkinson's "Louisiana Blues Strut," a virtuosic and appealing short piece which has become a go-to encore for many soloists recently. At this point Sirena took questions from the audience, which included teachers, parents and students. They asked a range of questions about her musical upbringing, how she maintains her technique as a soloist and more. Here is a little sampling: Q: How do you decide when to do vibrato or not in Ysaÿe? A: "Vibrato adds warmth to our sound - it's very expressive. In certain places I wanted a more simple sound - wandering, not sure where it's going, so I add less vibrato. For the minor 7th - I don't add vibrato. I use non-vibrato to show intensity and discomfort where the music has disharmony, or non-vibrato to show the purity of, say, a fourth." Q. Tell us about your journey as a young student. A: Sirena explained that after about Book 8, she went to Juilliard pre-college - a two-and-a-half-hour drive each way from her home in Connecticut. She continued at Juilliard for her undergraduate degree, then went to Yale for her Artist's Diploma. She graduated in 2019 - just before the pandemic. "Typically, after graduating, you can still go take the occasional lesson. But with the pandemic, I was completely on my own," Huang said. During this time of introspection, Huang - like many artists during this time of upheaval - thought about the repertoire she plays and how she could represent more voices. "Music is only a universal language if all voices are heard," she said. Q: How do you maintain your repertoire while traveling? A: It's all about planning ahead! Q: "What techniques to you 'enjoy' practicing?" A: Here is the list Sirena gave:

• Flesch scales
• Sevcik shifting, double stops and arpeggio circle of fifths
• A set of pinkie exercises by Gavrilov
• Vibrato exercises, starting with the metronome on 60 and speeding up the vibrato.

Q: What are some points that you took from your Suzuki training? A: Sirena started by listing things such as using weight in the bow, the infinity move at the tip of the bow, and using lighter fingers... But then she got philosophical: "I love that Suzuki talked about the fact that, before you can be a good musician, you have to be a good person," she said. She advised students to "look at failure as an opportunity to grow and learn - and be kind to yourself when you mess up." As if this weren't enough - Sirena then gave a master class! I was there for two of the three students who played for her. Both were very well-prepared, and after listening to each of them play, Sirena offered praise for what they were doing well, then asked them each what they liked about their own performances, and what they wished to work on, before offering her own observations. Here is a short run-down of the class: Sophia Zhou, 13, from Texas, started by playing the first movement of the Barber Violin Concerto. After praising the beautiful sound Sophia was drawing from the instrument, Sirena worked with her on phrasing.

Sirena Huang and Sophia Zhou.

"You used a full bow for everything," she said. "We can create a lot of different colors, based on how much bow we use." In order to create longer phrases, save the fullest sounds - and the longest bows - for the top of the phrase. Zhou had said she wanted to work on making her shifts more accurate, so in the last five minutes of their time, Sirena turned to this. She assured her that it is okay to allow for some sliding, when shifting in this piece. "It's okay to slide, but it's important to think about how we slide," Sirena said. "Don't make the slide more important than the notes." To do that, keep the fingers light on the string, and know where the arrival point is. Also, know where you want the slide. If you want it largely inaudible, then shift (slide) on the old bow (before the bow change); for an audible slide, shift on the new bow (after the bow change). "It's just about the timing between the right and left hand." Next, Samuel Moreira of Brazil played the first movement of the Brahms Violin Concerto.

Sirena Huang and Samuel Moreira.

Sirena wanted him to play with the bow nearer the bridge and to really focus on keeping the rhythm steady toward the beginning of the piece. "If you rush through those notes, you lose the tension," Sirena said. If you play them as they are written, it actually pretty slow. "I want to hear every single note," she said. "If you play it steadily, it's really powerful. Practice the opening with a metronome." He also wanted to talk about shifting, and so she asked him, "How do you get to that high F sharp?" "Memory!" he answered. She advised a little more analysis - asking more questions: what makes a particular shift hard? If it is out of tune, why is it out of tune, and in what way? Where are the half-steps and whole steps? It is important to look at these things on a case-by-base basis and really get to the bottom of what is happening - or not happening - in everything that you are trying to improve. Overall Sirena gave a thoughtfully curated program as a performer, answered questions with the authority of someone who has experienced an education stretching from Suzuki through Juilliard, and then taught students with patience and enthusiasm, offering sympathetic insight while still insisting on excellence. What a treat!

Violinist Sirena Huang and Violinist.com's Laurie Niles.

You might also like:

• Violinist.com Interview with Sirena Huang, Winner of the 2022 Indianapolis Violin Competition
• Interview with Sirena Huang, First Prize Winner in the 2017 Oliveira Competition
• Past and Present ASTA Conference Coverage

* * *

Enjoying Violinist.com? Click here to sign up for our free, bi-weekly email newsletter. And if you've already signed up, please invite your friends! Thank you.