[strings plucking]
- My name is Lucy Wu. I'm 14 years old. I am a freshman at Whitefish Bay High School. I play the cello, and I've been playing for seven years now. 
[applause]
 I did the MYSO Concerto Competitions. I think I joined when I was 10. I won two years in a row. It was my first real competition. When you play the cello, there's this sonorous bass line. And you can also go all the way up to the top of the fingerboard and be like a violin, almost.
- Dr. Kartman: Very good; very good.
- Lucy: I study with Dr. Stefan Kartman. I really like studying with him. I think he's a great teacher.
- Dr. Kartman: Try again.
- He really, like, makes me do, you know, scales and études, and all of these exercises, you know, vibrato exercises, thumb position exercises.
- Dr. Kartman: Of course, I can't even read my writing.
- Lucy: He's really funny at times. His personality just really inspires me to do my best.
- Dr. Kartman: That sounds great!
- I'm playing the Elgar Cello Concerto, fourth movement. It starts out really noble, but then it gradually gets sadder and sadder as he approaches death. But at the end, there's, like, this rebirth and it's pretty powerful. I'm part of the Academy at the Music Institute of Chicago. So I go there every Saturday for this pre-college training program that includes theory, orchestra and chamber music, as well as musician workshops. I'm in a piano trio, and my pianist and my violinist are both super talented and they really inspire me. It is a pretty big commitment. But I don't really regret anything because I think the Academy just does so much to help you become a better musician. My school newspaper is called the Tower Times, and I am one of the reporters. So I write articles in my free time. I really like writing about current issues and, you know, politics and world issues. I feel like all of these experiences, you know, they really help me grow more confident, especially when I'm doing other competitions.
♪ ♪
I'm so excited because I've never really played in, like, a super-big hall as, like, a soloist. I'm a little nervous, but I'm more excited to, you know, collaborate with the MSO musicians and the conductor. 
[ending note]