Did you know that a student at Nazareth won first place at the Illinois State Teachers Association for his piano playing?  The Announcer spoke with Hudson Hu about his piano prowess.  

He’s been playing piano for 12 years and practices for about 40 minutes each day. Hudson has been in America for the past year and a half.  When he was younger he felt pressure to play, since playing piano  in China is roughly as popular as playing basketball in the United States of America.  Success is extremely important in China, and parents want what’s best for their child so they can bring honor to their name and family.  

Hudson’s parents encouraged him to learn piano from a very early age.  He practiced one hour per day on the weekdays and two hours on the weekends in China.  

He originally didn’t like it, but now he does. “After I won, I felt proud of myself so it pushed me and I started to enjoy it,” he stated.  Hudson competed at the Illinois Music Teacher Association Contest  where he competed at individual contests and with groups of other kids.  He has gotten first place so many times that he couldn’t even give me a number for how many times he has placed first simply stating that it is “a lot, I don’t know exactly but I usually get first.”

Hudson also said that his parents didn’t originally plan on him coming to America but that he did have an English tutor and his parents stressed the importance of learning the English language.

Most English language tutors are American and Hudson said that learning English in China is similar to learning Spanish here.  He said, “they really pushed me to learn English since it’s so useful wherever you go.  It is a really popular and important language.”  

Hudson also is a part of the Jazz band here at Naz, and also plays some songs for choir.  Despite not enjoying it at first, Hudson enjoys playing piano and is excited for more competitions so he can bring home the first place trophies.