via the ocregister

Since she began studying piano at age 4, Rebecca Liu has performed on the piano many times for audiences.On Sunday, when the 11-year-old took to the stage at the National Junior Original Concert at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center, there was one big difference.Rebecca, one of 13 students selected to perform in the concert, was playing music she had composed.

Her original composition, called “My Magical Adventure,” encompasses three movements. The students who performed their original compositions Sunday were selected by Buena Park-based Yamaha of North America from among those who study at more than 60 Yamaha Music Education System sites across the country. Each student also attended a four-day series of workshops to complement their studies.

The Turtle Rock Elementary School student’s interest in music was inspired by her father, Sam Liu, who occasionally plays piano and violin at home. She has been working on “My Magical Adventure” for about two years, said her mother, Maggie Liang.

Rebecca, who will enter sixth grade in the fall, has studied piano two years with Su-Shing Chiu, who teaches at the Yamaha Music Center in Irvine, Liang said. Last year, Rebecca performed an earlier version of her competition in Chicago at the Music Teachers National Association Elementary Composition Contest, where she took first place.
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