Teen pianist from Lee County plays at Carnegie Hall
Feb. 18—There are musicians that go their whole life never getting a dream to come true, such as playing in the grand symphony halls across the country — not to mention the world, but for one local, extremely talented and dedicated piano player, the chance of a lifetime to play at Carnegie Hall came true, and she's only 15 years old.
Serene Cha, a student at Lee Early College, started playing piano at a young age, but didn't play consistently until she was about 12 years old.
She first saw a piano at church and thought it was really cool.
"When I was young I asked my mom if I could play and she said yes, and eventually I played at church," Cha said.
"That's probably why I wasn't really nervous when I played at Carnegie Hall."
Cha said she was a little nervous at first, but once she sat down, adjusted her seat, she felt at home.
She auditioned in Cary. This was the first time she had ever entered a concert contest and she got second place.
Many pianists across the country — and the world — each auditioned in the respective regions for the Elite international Contest, for a chance to perform at Carnegie Hall. There were multiple winners that came from all over to perform and it was an experience Cha said she will never forget.
"There were different dates I could play," Cha said. "But I chose an earlier date so my grandma could go with us before she left to go back to Korea."
On Jan. 31, Serene Cha played to an audience, including her grandmother, at Carnegie Hall.
She played Sonata in C Major, K.545 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who wrote the beautiful piece in June 1788.
Cha only had about five minutes of rehearsal time before it was her turn to play that day, but everything went perfectly fine.
The most extraordinary part of this amazing opportunity was that her concert at Carnegie Hall was also during final exams.
"I just sacrificed my sleep" Cha said with a laugh. "And my family had to deal with me playing at 11 p.m., playing the same song over and over for an hour!"
When asked if it was worth the sacrifice of sleep, social life, and other activities most take for granted, without hesitation, "Yes, it was so worth it." Cha said with a smile.
Cha said that her future plans are to earn the best GPA and SAT scores that she can, attend UNC Chapel Hill, and go into the medical field for her profession.
"As a job, I really enjoy playing piano and music, but the reason why I don't want to go into music as a profession is because I enjoy it — I don't want to ruin my love for it."
Since she was little Cha has wanted to be a doctor, possibly cardiology.
"I have so much passion in wanting to help others," she said. "I really feel it is my calling and is meant for me."
""I really want to thank God," Cha added, "its's been a blessing from God for this opportunity. Ive heard professional pianists go their whole life and never get to perform at Carnegie Hal and most importantly I thank Jesus in Christ for that and everything."
