Emily Cai
Emily Cai has a list of recent awards to encourage her to continue playing the piano.
She won an honorable mention in Brooklyn Music Teacher’s International Piano Competition and was invited to perform in Steinway Hall in New York City. She won a third place in junior category in American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition in 2019 and will perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall May 27.
“I was very excited about playing in the Brooklyn Music Teachers Guild International Piano Competition. I think I performed well. I played ‘Staccato Beans’ by Tan Dun. It is an honor to be able to perform in Steinway Hall,†Cai says.
She began studying the piano with Carol Stone when she was 8. She says she started playing because her older brother was studying piano.
“I enjoy playing piano. It is one of my hobbies. Music can bring joy and sadness to many people. Playing music is like telling a story. It can express different kinds of feeling and emotions.
“In the beginning, I always practiced the whole piece, but now I concentrate on the measures that are more challenging. It is more efficient and productive in order for me to master a piece,†she says.
In addition to the piano, she plays the cello and plans to learn other instruments in the future.
Her other awards include a superior rating for AMTA State Audition in 2015 and 2018. She won an honorable mention in Carmel Klavier international piano competition in the contemporary composer category in 2017 and first place in Bristol Music Club competition in 2018.
Emily plays to major in some type of engineering in the future, but will continue with music as a hobby. She is 15 years old and a sophomore at Dobyns Bennett High School. She is from Kingsport, Tennessee.
Besides piano, she played soccer for eight years and started playing tennis when she was 10. She is on the Dobyns Bennett tennis team. She is also involved in Mu Alpha Theta, robotics, FBLA, BETA, and Scholars Bowl at her school.
