WITH fingers resting gently on the keys of a grand piano, Lawrence Wong begins to play.
The 16-year-old, who attends Macleans College in Bucklands Beach, has won the Ronisch Auckland Secondary Schools Piano Competition.
“It’s a big thing,” says Lawrence. “I thought I played quite badly and got quite a lot of wrong notes. It was not perfect.”
Six students took part in the final of the competition at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre in Epsom.
Second and third place respectively went to Sylvia Jiang, of St Cuthbert’s College, and Sarah Qian, who attends Diocesan School for Girls.
Lawrence started playing piano at age four, but it wasn’t until he was in Year 9 that he took it up seriously.
As well as scoring the top prize in this competition, he has also placed highly in a number of other piano recitals.
Earlier this year, he won three cups in the West Auckland Performing Arts Competition, when he topped the Mozart piano concerto section.
“I got the festival cup for the most impressive item.
“I felt really happy but my teacher said, ‘don’t be too happy, it’s only the beginning’.”
While contests can be nerve-wracking, they provide him with valuable experience.
“You have to restrain yourself and be expressive at the same time,” says Lawrence, who was born in Hong Kong.
“There are a lot of staccato [short snappy notes] that you have to take control of.
“You have to be light and be together at the same time.”
Practising for at least three hours a day and working alongside experienced tutor Yong Qu has been key to the Year 11 student’s musical development.
“I sometimes worry I practise too much,” explains Lawrence.
“I play for the music and don’t really like showing off my technical prowess.”
“There are a lot of people I know who are better than me.
“There are students who are my teachers as well.”
