[bright piano music] - I'm André Peck,
I'm 14 years old, and I play piano.
I've been playing since I was four and a half.
I like that you can imitate the sound of an orchestra
because you have all these different voices
that you can play.
Music helps you say things
that you wouldn't be able to say in words.
There's so many more emotions
that you can convey through music.
- Yeah, good set.
- André: My teacher is Dr. Joseph Zins.
Everything he says has a purpose, which I really like.
- Give it a lot of tone on the bass.
- André: He fosters a love through the instrument
by referencing the classical music gods.
It's almost like a religion for him
because it's been with him all of his life,
and he's trying to foster that with me.
- Yeah, you know the old saying,
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
- André: For fun, I generally do things with my friends.
We play lots of board games.
- Friend: We'll play for as long as we can.
- André: 'Cause our public library
does board game rentals, which is really cool
because we can just cycle
through pretty much infinite things.
I'm a freshman in high school,
but I go to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
for music theory classes and for math.
I'm probably gonna get a bachelor's in math,
but hopefully, then I can go to music school
and keep music, like, through my entire life.
They're opposites, because one of them is super logical,
and the other really emotional, which I really like the variety.
I was in the International Young Artists Concerto Competition.
They have 16 kids play with a professional orchestra,
which is the most I've ever seen before.
It was a great experience.
Playing with an orchestra is just one of those experiences
that you don't forget.
♪ ♪
Playing with the Madison Symphony Orchestra,
I think it's gonna be really exciting
'cause they are super high level.
I'm playing Saint-Saeëns' 2nd Concerto, the first movement.
It starts really tragic,
and then it kind of gets to a more hopeful section.
And I really like the variety
because it challenges me in every way,
which, I need to do it to survive as a musician.
My teacher always says that if you have a feeling,
then you convey it through the music
and the audience is gonna feel it as well.
If you want to serve other people with music,
you have to serve the music first.
I'm proud of the thing that I get to do
because I get to showcase what I've done and my hard work
in front of so many people. [ending note]
[audience applauding]