On Monday last week Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan commended students who won prizes in the Piano Ranking Association (PIARA) competition in Hamamatsu, Japan and the Hong Kong-Asia Piano Open Competition, as well as their coaches. Wu Yen-ni, a third-grade student at Chung Hsing Junior High School, beat more than 100 other talented pianists from various Asian countries to take second place in the Hong Kong-Asia Piano Open Competition, and she also won first place in this year’s music class admission exam for northern Taiwan.
Wu started learning to play the piano when she was four years old. Laughing, she says that at first she only liked playing the piano, but not practicing. Only in the fifth grade of elementary school, when she met her inspirational teacher Hsiao Su-yin, did she change her attitude to the piano, she says. In the Hong Kong competition, her talent stood out among more than 100 contestants from Taiwan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, taking her into the finals, where she won second place in the Beethoven sonata section. She will soon continue her studies at Wu-Ling Senior High School, where she will attend music classes.
“I am not gifted, so I just have to practice harder,” says Wu modestly. She says that playing the piano is a joy, but practicing entails a lot of hard work. She practices for three hours or more every day after she goes home, and seven or eight hours on weekends and holidays.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
Photo: Lin Chin, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林近
桃園市長鄭文燦上週一表揚「日本濱松PIARA鋼琴大賽」與「香港亞洲鋼琴公開賽」獲獎學生及指導教師，中興國中三年級的吳彥妮打敗上百位亞洲各國的鋼琴好手，在「香港亞洲鋼琴公開賽」榮獲第二名，她也是今年北區音樂班甄試榜首。
吳彥妮從四歲起學鋼琴，她笑說，原本只是喜歡彈鋼琴，但不喜歡練鋼琴，直到小學五年級遇到啟蒙恩師蕭夙吟，才改變她對鋼琴的態度；她這次從上百名來自台灣、中國、新加坡、香港及韓國等地的選手脫穎而出，闖進決賽拿下貝多芬奏鳴曲組第二名。她將到武陵高中音樂班就讀。
「我沒有天分，所以我只能更努力地練習！」吳彥妮謙虛地說，彈鋼琴很快樂，但練習的過程很辛苦，平日放學回家後都練習三小時以上，假日更練習七到八小時。
(自由時報記者林近)
A: In your view, what are Taipei’s top buffet restaurants? B: Feastogether Group’s outlets — A Joy, Inparadise, Eatogether, Sunrise and Fruitful Food — are the runners-up. A: A Joy’s deluxe meal, priced at NT$3,880 per person plus a 10-percent service charge, is the most expensive of its kind. B: My No. 1 goes to Hi-Lai Group’s outlets — including Island and Hi-Lai Harbour. A: I feel like I’ve gained 3 kilograms just from hearing all the options. A: 你心目中最強的吃到飽餐廳是？ B: 亞軍是饗賓集團的吃到飽品牌︰饗、饗饗、饗食天堂、旭集、果然匯。 A: 饗每人高達3,880台幣加一成，是全台最貴的吃到飽！ B: 冠軍則是漢來集團旗下的品牌︰島語、漢來海港。 A: 哈聽到這麼多吃到飽，我感覺又胖了3公斤。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
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