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- I'm Carrie Wang,
and I'm a junior at Brookfield East High School.
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I started violin when I was four years old,
and I also started piano when I was five years old,
and I played both pretty seriously until I was about 12.
And then, unfortunately,
I just didn't have enough time to like, be keeping both up
and have them both be at a high level.
I live with my mom and dad and grandpa actually.
No one in my family actually plays an instrument,
but my grandpa really likes listening to music.
Instrumental music, classical music.
He has a bunch of records that he likes to play.
He has like, a gramophone, too.
And sometimes we'll listen to them, which is really nice.
I am part of the MIC Academy,
Music Institute of Chicago Academy,
and that program is kind of like a comprehensive program.
I also take music theory, and there's a chamber program
that I'm also a part of.
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I'm studying with Ms. Sang Mee Lee.
- Sang Mee Lee: Leave yourself a little bit of juice.
- Carrie: She's amazing.
And she's really just inspired me
pretty much since I started studying with her,
which was when I was nine, to just be a better musician.
I tend to get very severe performance nerves.
But I do enjoy performing,
especially when I get into the stage of a piece
where I can really just let go and not have to worry so much
about every little detail.
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Part of what inspires me is just always reaching for more
and trying to see, like, what I can do differently,
what I can do better,
and just experiment with different things.
And overall, just to never stop chasing
for a better performance.
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