Accomplished pianist, pre-medical student, speaker, and now writer, Christopher Richardson has a bright future in many areas. Here he talks about why he is adding “blogger” to his already impressive list of accomplishments:
I am a pianist and a lover of music. I was accepted to the Juilliard School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory under Leon Fleisher. Currently, however, I am a pre-med student at UC Berkeley who intends to major in biology, music and economics.
This choice to attend UC Berkeley rather than the two conservatories caused a good deal of internal conflict and required a reaffirming of my conviction to become a great pianist even without attending these world-famous schools. Technically, I have been an adult for only three-fourths of a year. Now, I hope I can confidently add “writer” to my list of titles and experiences.
To be honest, I never thought until recently that I would write anything for any purpose outside of school. I was pretty good at writing, I think, but it never interested me as much as performing and medicine.
The turning point came in the early stages of my senior year of high school, when I was presented the amazing opportunity to speak about and perform piano at a TEDxYouth@Redmond Conference.
I prepared an entire, 2,000 word written speech about how music influenced me and helped me discover my “voice,” so to speak. On the day of the event, I somehow made it through the entire speech, with self-conscious fumbles along the way, and performed my piece.
Surprisingly, despite self-inflicted criticism of my somewhat lacking public speaking skills, I was told afterwards by one of the organizers that I was one of the favorite presenters, and I found the experience of sharing my thoughts on music to be pleasant. Seeing people being inspired by my musical story has inspired me to want to do more, both to promote classical music and to give my thoughts about music to the community.
Though my experience with TEDx was a turning point, my love for musical writing has long been growing. I love music, and with my teachers’ help and influence, I’ve grown to like contemplating and philosophizing about music and its place in the world. With my TEDx inspiration added to the mix, I’ve decided to share my thoughts with as many people as I can.
Writing for a Steinway Society blog site is my debut into the world of musical writing. This is my voice, and I hope it comes across well now and in the future.
