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[ Piano Music ]
Quotes in the New York Times are great.
Having an 8 year old come up to you and be like, "You are the coolest person I've ever met."
That is what it is all about.
I mean there is nothing to match that.
Because number one, this audience is honest.
If they're bored, they will tell you.
If you stink, they'll let you know, or they'll fall asleep.
[ Piano Music ]
And so I think it's so gratifying when I've managed to somehow you know convince them
that not only is it admirable, but that this stuff can be fun for them.
[ Piano Music ]
My name is Alpin Hong; I am a concert pianist here in Steamboat Springs to play a concert.
I've been a friend of Strings Music Festival for a few years now.
[ Piano Music ]
You know all of you think it's going whah-whah-whah-whah, you know?
You've got that, you've got Luke, you've got Yoda, you have Leia, you have Han Solo, Anakin,
Jar Jar, R2-D2, all the rest; you can already put it in your mind.
What I'm doing is actually kind of the culmination of the last few years of efforts.
I've kind of fallen into the world of arts education somehow.
I started playing for student audiences for several reasons, the first being if you can play
for an auditorium of squirming third through fifth graders, you can play for anybody.
Also, I believe that artists need to invest in the audience of the future because if we don't,
I think we'll just end up playing for each other in a few years.
And you know I think we're several generations removed
from the golden age of classical artistry.
[ Piano Music ]
And I think in today's society where you know...where there's so much electronic
and audio visual entertainment, you know $150 million special effects extravaganzas,
I think it's important for students or young people to see virtuosity
at the personal level where they can interact with it.
I mean there's something about seeing a concert on YouTube and then there's being able
to see a performance and then ask the guy about how they got to be there
and maybe how they might get to be there because it's my belief that somewhere
out there is the next Mozart, the next Hendrix, the next Beatles, the next Elvis
and all the great, you know, performers of tomorrow.
[ Applause ]
[ Music ]