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February 15, 2005
A master pianist, not yet out of high school
If you walk down the practice room hallway in Drew Fine Arts, you will probably hear expressive music coming from a piano in one room. Sometimes it continues, nearly uninterrupted, for six hours a day or more.
If you walk a little closer and glance into the practice room window, you’ll see “one of the most dedicated and talented young people this campus has ever seen,” said Alexander Braginsky, a piano instructor at both the University of Minnesota and Hamline.
So who is this sensation? He is Bo Hu, a 17-year-old student from a small town outside of Beijing, China.
“I first heard him play in December of last year when I was giving master classes in Beijing,” Braginsky said. “There were 30 students who played, but Bo Hu was something incomparable.”
Braginsky said he knew that Hu was born to excel in piano, and he wanted to help facilitate his success by bringing him to the United States and by helping him to continue to practice and compete.
A week before Hu was scheduled to arrive in St. Paul, however, the family he was supposed to stay with for the school year backed out for personal reasons. Hu was without a place to stay, and his entire trip was in jeopardy.
When Braginsky heard this, he would not have it, he said. He and his wife made the decision to host the teen for a year. “We had an extra room and I’d be with him all the time anyway, [so] it just seemed logical.”
His decision was a great advantage to Hu; Braginsky’s no slouch on the keys, either. Born and educated in Moscow, Braginsky began studying piano with his mother at a very young age. He has since studied with a number of famous Russian pianists and has performed in over 20 world premieres.
But Hu may give Braginsky a run for his money. Since moving to Minnesota, he has performed in a number of competitions and has been a top competitor in all of them.
Last January, in the Young People’s Symphony Concert Association auditions, he competed against 29 other young musicians and won with a unanimous vote from the judges. The victory ensured him a scholarship and six performances with the Minnesota Orchestra in the coming years.
Recently, he won the Music Teachers National Association competition at both regional and state levels.
He will travel with Braginsky to Seattle on April 2 for the national competition, where he will compete with students from seven other regions.
“Bo Hu is a very grateful, talented and good kid,” Braginsky said. “He is a pleasure to work with and be with.”
“Hu has been an exceptional success story for the program, everyone around him loves him, and he’s winning just about every competition in sight,” said Rees Allison, chair of Hamline’s music department.
Braginsky said the two get along well, adding that when they’re not practicing, they enjoy ordinary pleasures, such as going to the movies.
“I enjoy the life of the American,” Hu said. “There is so much personality.”
In addition to his extraordinary playing, Hu is an honor-roll student at Hamline’s Nacel International School, a high school for international students.
As far as his plans for the future, Hu says he’s uncertain.
“Of course I will try my best, and hopefully I can continue playing and learning music,” he said.
Posted by msveum at February 15, 2005 12:42 PM