"I am very excited about playing at Carnegie Hall," says Shi. "It is a great honor to be able to go to such a famous stage where the greatest musicians of the world have performed."
Shi admits he's not really nervous about the performance and rarely gets stage fright. "Whenever I start playing a piece on the piano, I begin concentrating on the music itself and forget about nervousness," he says. "When I play on a good piano, I feel even more focused, and it also brings out more expression."
As for preparing for the concert of a lifetime, Shi says he only practices an hour a day and this week has been no different because his honors classes, homework and orchestra practice have kept him busy. The high school freshman says he doesn't plan on pursuing music as a career, but wants to study mechanical engineering in college.
"Playing piano is really a hobby of mine as well as a form of relaxation," he says. "Sometimes when I feel stressed, playing the piano clears up my mind and puts me at ease. Music can express many things that words cannot. It has tone, rhythm, colors, which in combination form an international language."
