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Today we visited Raphael House on a warm and sunny day, which matched the warmth and love we shared with the audience. Sihong opened the performance with the pipa, a traditional Chinese musical instrument. The pipa created many different sounds, from soft and beautiful melodies to strong and exciting rhythms. Her fast finger-plucking techniques even sounded like rustling wind, falling rain, and galloping horses. Sihong also showed the pipa to the audience, and everyone was very interested in learning about this special instrument. The audience gave her loud applause and happy smiles. Next, Frankie performed a soft and beautiful piano piece with great skill and expression. Avery then impressed the audience with a graceful ballet dance performance. After that, Aiden played one of the most famous and beloved piano pieces, Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Major. Its dreamy melody and peaceful accompaniment made the room feel calm and relaxing. Kanami and Yuto performed a violin duet of the famous Japanese song “Carrying You” from the movie Castle in the Sky. Their beautiful rhythm brought the classic Studio Ghibli melody to life. Finally, Vincent closed the concert with a powerful piano performance, showing both strong technique and emotion in his music. The performance ended with warm applause from the audience, but our mission to share music and love will never end. (Report by Candice Xu)
 Due to the suspension of the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) in May 2025, we commissioned a special set of custom “Music and Love” volunteer medals for 2025. These medals were designed in accordance with the service standards and requirements of the PVSA to continue recognizing the outstanding dedication of young volunteers. This year, 19 children were awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in recognition of their commitment and service to our local community. Many of these award recipients are 10 years old and younger, making their achievements even more inspiring. Earning these medals required a significant amount of dedication and service throughout the year. For children ages 10 and under, the Bronze Medal required at least 26 hours of volunteer service, the Silver Medal required at least 50 hours, and the Gold Medal required more than 75 hours of service. We are incredibly proud of our young musicians for their hard work, compassion, and commitment to serving others through music. We hope to see even more children work toward earning these volunteer awards in the coming year. (Reported by Jacqueline Chung)
On this beautiful Mother’s Day, many members of Music and Love visited Raphael House to perform for the seniors and celebrate this special day together. We were also honored to have a very special guest, Miss Historic Maryland, join us and sing for the seniors. Her voice was clear and beautiful, and everyone truly enjoyed her performance. Moreover, she also brought lots of sweet treats for the young performers and the seniors, which was very thoughtful and caring. We also had three wonderful duets today. The first was “Ave Maria,” performed by Chloe and Claire. The beautiful combination of piano and violin brought warmth and emotion to this timeless piece. The second duet, “Douze Petits Duos,” was performed by Ester and Faith. Their skillful violin technique made the performance both elegant and impressive. Finally, Allie and I performed our orchestra piece, “Strings of Fire.” This lively and powerful piece was very well received by the audience. In addition to the duets, there were many outstanding solo performances throughout the concert. To name just a few, several young pianists performed popular Chopin pieces, while our talented young violinists presented sophisticated solo works with remarkable skill and expression. Music and Love is such a talented group of young people filled with passion, kindness, and a desire to give back to the community through music. I am very proud and grateful to be a member of this group, and I look forward to many more concerts and activities together in the future. (Reported by Jacqueline Chung)
The performances today were amazing! As many people made such major, and very noticeable differences. They showed much more confidence as before, and was able to play with more heart. They didn't make as many mistakes and they were able to play professionally. To conclude today's Music and Love performances, big shoutouts to Peter and Jake were able to improve so much during a short time and everybody was able to play beautifully as well . I believe that we made many improvements with our playing and confidence. Today was an amazing performance, congrats to everybody. (Reported by Faith Tian)
Today, Allie, Sophia, and I had the exciting opportunity to participate in the FOXES Children’s Business Fair on behalf of our organization, Music and Love. I felt proud to represent our group because our mission is to share music, spread kindness, and help people in our community. This event was extra special because all the money we earned would be donated to the Children’s Inn at NIH to support children with rare diseases. This organization helps children with serious illnesses and their families by giving them a place to stay and support during treatment. To prepare for the fair, we worked hard to create a booth that shared our mission. We talked to visitors about what Music and Love does, including performing concerts for seniors and organizing community events. We also shared how we partnered with the Children’s Inn at NIH to help raise funds. I felt proud as I talked to people and explained our cause and mission. During the event, many families stopped by our booth. Some people asked questions, and others picked items they wanted to purchase. It made me happy to see that so many people cared about what we were doing. When people supported us, I felt like we were making a real difference together. At the ceremony, the judges selected us for second place in Best Presentation in the 10-year-old group. We received a goodie basket as our prize and a book about children’s businesses, which made me feel very excited and honored. What made this experience even more meaningful was knowing that all the money we raised would go to the Children’s Inn at NIH. Thinking about how our efforts could help those children made me feel very grateful and motivated. Overall, participating in the business fair taught me a lot about teamwork, communication, and helping others. I realized that even as a fourth grader, I can contribute to something important. I am very thankful for this experience and hope to continue using music and service to make a positive impact in the future. (Reported by Grace Zhou)
Tonight was incredible! Allie and Benjamina had the honor of performing at The Children’s Inn at NIH for their annual "An Evening for Hope" Gala. We’ve been partnering with the Inn since 2024, and it’s always so special to be back. As we played our violins for the guests, we could feel the amazing energy in the room. It was so inspiring to see the community come together—by the end of the night, the event reached a huge milestone of over $1.7 million raised for the kids and families at the Inn! At Music and Love Inc., we believe that music can really make a difference. Performing at such a big event showed us how our passion for music can help support a great cause. We are so grateful to The Children’s Inn for having us, and we can’t wait for our next performance! (Reported by Allie Rui)
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