Seventh-grade Pacific Beach Middle School student Lilian Franqui plays violin, speaks fluent Chinese and just won an intermediate-level music competition.
\nFor six years, Lilian\u2019s been a member of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Established in 1945, SDYS is the sixth-oldest continuously operating youth symphony in the United States, serving close to 700 beginning through advanced and pre-professional students annually in 13 full orchestras and ensembles.
\nEach year, talented students from the symphony and conservatory’s most advanced level Ovation, and intermediate-level Showcase ensemble programs compete in SDYS\u2019 solo Concerto Competitions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nIn addition to cash scholarship awards, the winners of both competitions gain the opportunity to perform as featured soloists in future San Diego Youth Symphony concerts.
\nAsked by Beach & Bay Press if she intended to pursue music as a career, Lilian, who\u2019s played violin for eight-plus years, had a somewhat surprising response.
\n“It may as well be \u2014 I\u2019m really into music,” she said. “But honestly, my dreams are actually to be an astronaut. But I\u2019d like to have music on the side because it\u2019s a passion of mine.”
\nWhy an astronaut?
\n“When I was young I met Buzz Aldrin (one of the first two men on the moon), got a book signed by him,” said Lilian noting she was overwhelmed. “I wore a spacesuit every night. My parents had to drag me out of it.”
\nAsked if she\u2019d like to go to the moon or to a space station, Lilian replied, “Mars is it. Even getting up to the moon is a huge accomplishment.”
\nConcerning the importance of music to her, Lilian said, “It means a lot. I feel it just connects to my life in a lot of ways. It really does inspire me. It gives you sad \u2014 and happy \u2014 moments. It kind of helps me through everything.”
\nLilian\u2019s prize for winning the violin competition was $200 and an opportunity to perform her winning concerto excerpt as a featured soloist backed by the SDYS Sinfonia orchestra in spring 2020 when the Youth Symphony performs its 24th\u00a0annual Celebration of Music Education concerts at Jacobs Music Center\u2019s Copley Symphony Hall.\u00a0
\nThat excites and frightens, the young musician. “I\u2019m nervous,” she admitted while pointing out, “Nerves push you to do more, and I\u2019ve got a lot of experience with going on stage through ballet.”
\nAsked for advice she\u2019d give to other students pursuing music competitively, Lilian said, first and foremost, that it\u2019s entirely worthwhile.\u00a0
\n“It\u2019s a great experience,” she said. “Be there for the experience. Don\u2019t let anything hold you back.”
\nThe youthful musician also encouraged anyone interested in music to become an SDYS member.
\n“SDYS\u00a0 has helped me through hard and happy times,” Lilian said. “I\u2019ve made so many new friends and if you need a friend, they\u2019re always there. Also, the conductors are great, and the program has a lot of volunteering opportunities, such as chamber and auditions, a hard process but one that gets you motivated and excited.”
\nAsked her philosophy on pursuing music, Lilian offered this advice: “You work to put in the hours \u2014 you get a good result.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seventh-grade Pacific Beach Middle School student Lilian Franqui plays violin, speaks fluent Chinese and just won an intermediate-level music competition. For six years, Lilian\u2019s been a member of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Established in 1945, SDYS is the sixth-oldest continuously operating youth symphony in the United States, serving close to 700 beginning […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":283409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"PBMS student wins intermediate-level music competition","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}