Our Photos

Today we went to Rong Xing Garden to take our promotion photos.
My mother was the photographer. Even though she was not a professional photographer, but I think she’s very talented. We really got a lot of beautiful photos!!
I have been trying very hard to get more performing opportunities recently, and I am not just only the performer, I have to negotiate with customers and arrange everything ( because we were not famous yet!! We have to do everything by ourselves). Some performances I have to be the host and introduce our performing pieces.
I hope one day I can succeed my goal, become the worldwide performer.

Beautiful Poem by Linda Pastan

This Thursday I took a English Poems Class. The teacher was very nice. He looked very young and a little inexperience, but he was enthusiastic and patient. He taught us several poems which were so beautiful and touching. The best one in my mind was ‘’To a Daughter Leaving Home’’ by Linda Pastan. When I read this poem, I could almost ‘’see’’ the pictures come out from the poem. I remember the last line was ‘’ the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief waving goodbye.’’ When I read this, the hot tears almost welled up in my eyes. By reading those poems, it’s like self-reflection on my life. Poems teach us to see (or feel) the world in a new way, I think that’s also the meanings of arts. Poem is really a treasure of human being, and I am so glad to have the opportunity of reading them.

Are we friends?

I have been very upset recently, because I finally realized that in a relationship I am the one who always pays out, the one who always cares more than the others. Well, maybe you have never ever thought we were ''friends''. I am just like a ''nobody'', not even a shit in your life.

We were taught to be distant to people, taught to be polite to people, but no one ever taught you how to treasure a friendship, how to treasure people who at least ‘’like’’ or ‘’accept’’ or ‘’want to know’’ you……. I don’t know, perhaps I am just too naïve.

The day I lost my ''soul partner''

Today will be the most terrifying day in my life…because I lost my Erhu again!!(luckily it was founded in the end.) Yes, it’s not the first time I did such stupid things. This afternoon, I put my Erhu on the bus station’s bench while waiting for the bus 264 to go to my college. When the bus came, I was too rush to get on and totally forgot my Erhu, so I left it on the bench and I didn’t realize it until the bus passed 10 or more stops from where I got on. As I got on the bus, I was eating my lunch—vegetable sandwich—with cozy and relaxing, then about 20 minutes later, I thought of my Erhu and realized I had left it on the bench. At that time my hart was almost stopped, and my mind was blank, I don’t know how to do and I can’t even think “what if someone has already taken it out from the bench?’’ I just bought this Erhu couple months before, it cost me 80,000(and I am still on a debt). If I lost it, I will never forgive myself.
At first, I decided to got off the bus and go back to find my Erhu, but I was afraid that it will take too much time to go back, so I called my mother to go to the bus station’s bench (which is near my house actually) and take my Erhu back(if it was still there). I was waiting my mother’s call on the bus, hoping that she got my Erhu back. About 15 minutes later, my mother called me and said she got my Erhu. Gosh, I was so grateful at the moment, what a lucky girl I am!! Now, I got to say sorry to my poor Erhu for my abandonment, and I will never let such things happen again!!

Qualities of a Good Artist

A good artist must have three qualities. First, they must have abundant imagination and creativity. Artists are people who create a surreal world through their art works. They gain inspirations form their life, experiences, environment, and then transfer their feelings into a piece of work via imagination and creativity. Therefore, it is very important for them to have imagination and creativity. For example, a famous musician Chopin who composed a piece called ‘‘raining day ’’, he imagined the connection between musical melody and ‘‘raining sounds ’’ first, then give some ‘‘ hints ’’ in his piece to make audience understand what he wants to say in his art work.

Second, they must have sensibility. They always notice something that most people ignore, and feel things more than other people. If they do not have sensibility, they will not find the inspirations to make art works. For instance, when artists see a tree, they are not only looking the outfit of a tree. They feel it, and think themselves as a tree,and become sentimental.

Third, they must have perseverance. Artists face a lot of difficulties and challenges, so perseverance keeps them improving themselves and don’t give up too easily. For instance, the famous painter Van Gogh has strong perseverance. He didn’t get reputation during his lifetime, but he kept making his art work and never gave up. Now, people understand his work and finally realize he is such a artist.

To sum up, a good artist must have imagination, creativity, sensibility, and perseverance. Although it is very difficult to be a good artist, being a artist is still full of happiness.

My autobiography

Pei-Yu Liao

Pei-Yu Liao is a professional Erhu performer. Born in Taipei County in 1985. She started to practice piano at the age of 4 and began to learn Erhu at the age of 9. She won the first prize of Chinese Music Competition in 2007, which was hosted by Chinese Music Association Taiwan, R.O.C.

She completed her Master’s degree in the graduate school of Chinese Music at National Taiwan University of Arts. She has given many solo recitals and is often invited to be the soloist of concerts.

She also teaches Erhu in the elementary school and university. She has cooperated with dancers, actors and many different fields of artists, and have wrote three dramas form now. Her goal is to be an interdisciplinary performing artist in the future.