Kayleigh's Summer Summary

Kayleigh performs her composition at the Ehrbar Hall

This past January, I received the exciting news that my composition, “Dans Le Vol”, had won first prize in the national level and second prize in the international level of the Golden Key Composition Competition.  With these honors, I was invited to play my piece at the Ehrbar Hall in Vienna, Austria.  This trip gave my family an opportunity to visit two additional cities: Amsterdam and Budapest.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, presented a mixture of the rural and urban lifestyle.  There was an abundance of windmills, built in the style that differed from Vienna’s because their traditional appearance made them aesthetically pleasing, while those in Vienna were purely functional.  Amsterdam also took pride in their wooden shoes, which were crafted using German and French modelled tools.  Their shape showed no resemblance to casual footwear; I thought they looked more like colorful elf shoes.

Amongst some of Amsterdam’s variety of special treats, the Gouda cheese, which came in every flavor and color, was the most interesting.  Nuttier and softer than cheeses found in the United States, the Gouda appealed to even my cheese-despising taste buds.  After a short lunch of French fries, we helped ourselves to quick orders of stroopwafels and poffertjes.  The poffertjes were as puffy and cloudy as their name implies, and the stroopwafels tasted like an old birthday treat.

The city of Vienna sparked with its undying legacy for its music, art, and architecture.  Even from the day that we arrived, we had the privilege of visiting a wide variety of ancient masterpieces, such as St. Michael’s Church, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Schönbrunn Palace, and the Lichtenstein Castle, which was a surviving artifact from the Middle Ages.  I was wildly familiar with the content presented in the tours, as they contained information that I had studied in school, and for this reason, I learned to gain appreciation for those forms of living history.

I had the opportunity to make my own history on the prestigious stage of Ehrbar Hall.  Standing at the peak of the steps was overwhelming, yet unforgettable, and the ensemble of applauding hands kept my mind awake to capture every breathtaking moment of that single bow.  When my focus shifted to the shimmering keys, every image of my peripheral vision dropped into nothingness, and I was alone in my two-foot world, free to roam with only the piano and my imagination.  My fingers on the keyboard felt of talons upon a branch, and like all birds, the sensation flew away as quickly as it had come.

The tours that most appealed to me were the ones that revolved around music, such as the Mozarthaus, Beethoven House, and the House of Music.  Each showcased the unique characters of different composers as they told the life stories of musical geniuses such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn.  What captured my attention the most was the apparent contrast in personalities between Mozart and Beethoven.  Mozart was a cunning young man that almost regularly faced Clementi in musical competitions arranged by higher officials, whereas Beethoven was reserved and somewhat carefree to the extent that he wrote some of his music on the window of his apartment.  This much insight of the lives of these composers gave me hope that I, as a unique individual, have the potential to compose many great works like the legends before me.

After the tour around the Mozarthaus, we gathered downstairs for the Mozart in Context recital, where I learned of several musical figures whose works inspired those of many well-known composers.  Pieces by Mozart and Clementi were showcased, and I was able to enjoy writing styles of two completely different people.  For my performance, I wanted to use the information I had received in the tours to finish the last shaping of my interpretation of the piece, so that the “Mozart in Context” was fully expressed. 

The city of Vienna would not have had such a big impact if it was not for the classic Austrian dishes and desserts.  Prior to visiting Europe, I had gotten familiar with a certain cake called the Sachertorte from the anime, The Royal Tutor, so when we visited Hotel Sacher on the day of our arrival, I could not help but pretend I was a spoiled prince receiving his favorite treat.  In addition to that, we stopped by the Figlmuller restaurant to try Austria’s most famous schnitzel.  As a sore critic for fried foods, I was doubtful about my liking towards it, but the aroma of flavors from the pork to the lemon juice disintegrated my dread of the heat outside.  Straight after the performance at the Mozarthaus, my grandfather’s friend joined us at Heindls Schmarren and Palatschinkenkuchl for Kaiserschmarrns, which were chopped up Austrian pancakes served with fruit preservatives.

After the tour of Vienna concluded, my family and I packed our bags and headed straight for Budapest, Hungary.  The city merely reminded me of New York City, but the architecture was much more diverse and intricate.  Crossing the Elisabeth Bridge, I saw the most breathtaking view of the glistening buildings lined together along the side of the Danube River between Buda and Pest.  The palaces and churches were based heavily on the Gothic and Romanesque styles of architecture.  The enormous House of Parliament and Buda Castle were seen to illuminate in the night’s shadow from the cruise down the Danube River.

Hungary’s goulash was the most delightful treat on the day we arrived, and I grew so fond of it that I proceeded to have it again the next day.  Although, deep down inside me, a memory stirred of goulash’s familiarity, a feeling that almost reminded me of home. Walking down the busy streets of the city, the smell of food was unavoidable, but the taste of it was unbelievable.

Not only did this trip teach me about the rich music, history and culture of those beautiful thriving countries, but it also taught me many life lessons about motivation, determination, and perseverance.  It was an experience that I could have never found anywhere else, and I am proud to have been given this life-changing opportunity.

Kayleigh with the president of the Golden Key Music Festival, George Borisov