Back in October, I posted the first in what will hopefully be a plentiful series of videos of student musicians at Webb. In the previous series, I had this idea to bring the musicians outside of their normal rehearsal spaces and have them perform somewhere on Webb’s 72-acre campus. This plan works really well when dealing with a violinist and a banjo player – not so much with a harpist and the two pianists. Regardless of their location, I am happy to once again present a nice diversion from the everyday with two more videos of Webb students.

A few weeks ago during the afternoon activity period, much like it was when I came across Jennie playing the harp in my first post, I heard the loud, percussive sounds of Marissa Pang ’13 playing a Frederick Chopin’s “Winter Wind” in the rehearsal space beneath Jackson Library. I immediately diverted from my intended mission of photographing the tennis team and pulled up a chair and became completely mesmerized by Marissa’s fingers striking the keys with sharp movements. When it finally came time to record the video, I chose an angle that only showed her hands for very obvious reasons. My only regret is not including a shot of Marissa’s broad, infectious smile when she finished playing.

Listen! (volume four) from The Webb Schools on Vimeo.

The next piece is another Chopin selection, this time it is “Impromptu Fantasie,” and is played by Daniel Zhu ’14. I had never heard Daniel play the piano before; I had only heard from other faculty and students that he is a very gifted musician and I should do myself a favor and listen to him sometime. Daniel asked if he could play on the baby grand in Jackson Library as “it is the best sounding piano on campus.” Sitting among the hand-carved wooden panels of former Webb students of the 1930’s and ‘40’s, Daniel warmed up on a different selection than the Chopin piece he settled on. He couldn’t make it past one section of his notes, it was too unfamiliar to him. So after his third attempt, he pulled his hands away from the keys, turned and looked at me and said, “Mr. Nichols, is it okay with you if I just play a piece I know by heart instead?” By all means, Daniel, by all means…

Listen! (volume five) from The Webb Schools on Vimeo.