LJCDS Junior To Perform at Copley Symphony and Carnegie Halls

Editor's Note: La Jolla Country Day School released the following announcement on Torrey Times on May 17, 2012.

Imagine that you are a high school junior facing comprehensive Advanced Placement tests in three of your school's tougher subjects.

Then imagine, on top of all that pressure, you are preparing to play a classical piano concerto with a full professional orchestra for the first time in your life before jetting off to New York where you will perform a piano recital, featuring different music, at the world famous Carnegie Hall.

This is the life of junior Danli Liang.

She has finished the AP tests and today she will be on stage at Copley Symphony Hall, playing her favorite Steinway-brand and performing a Saint-Saens concerto she has been preparing literally for years. On Wednesday, she got to practice with the orchestra.

"It was unbelievable,'' she said. "Just fantastic. The orchestra, they are all so good and the conductor, he was great.''

The tendency with any young, accomplished musician is to declare he or she a prodigy. But Danli can explain the roots of her accomplishments in more accessible terms. "I've practiced for years,'' she says. "For a long time, three or four hours a day. My parents got me into it, but I love it. I practiced a little less this year because junior year has so much school work, but I still do one or two hours. More with the concerts coming up.''

Danli won a competition to perform Sunday (May 20) with the San Diego Symphony and also won a competition for the right to perform a Carnegie Hall recital later this month with the American Protege International Piano And Strings Competition.

Barbara Weinstein, Director of Country Day's Arts program, said Danli's talents and accomplishments have impressed everyone at the school.

"She is a humble and talented person who we are all so proud of,'' Weinstein said. "What really impressed us is that he is an equally accomplished visual artist as well. When we saw her studio work we knew she was beyond advanced.''

Danli says she is thinking about college and intends to keep playing piano, though she has thoughts of becoming a doctor.

Sunday's concert is free and Symphony officials said seats for free concerts are often available on the day of the concert.

Look for photos of Danli's San Diego and New York performances on Torrey Times as they occur.