How Was Your Summer?

Written By TWoA GmbH

Clockwise from top left: Julian MacKay and Anastasia Smirnova, Korean food, Morgan Johnson, Betania Johnny. Photo credits: Nicholas MacKay, Soo-in Hong (홍수인), Rhi Lee, Michele Stapleton.

Maybe you are already back to your studies and your summer holidays feel like a distant memory. Or maybe you are still gearing up to return to school. Either way: to make the transition a bit more fun, we’ve asked four of the artists we interviewed over the past year to share some of their favourite summer 2023 moments with us, and to give us a hint of their plans for the year ahead!

Julian MacKay, principal dancer, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Munich, Germany

What was your favourite thing to do this summer?

I’m so happy I got to be at home in Montana with my family and my French bulldog Leo! We put on a festival every year in Paradise Valley Montana called the Yellowstone International Arts festival and I feel really blessed to be able to perform just 20 minutes from where I was born! I got this fantastic opportunity to collaborate at the festival with Bayley Graham who is a super star tap dancer. We created this fun show off piece where we just ended up rocking out together on stage. 

Do you have a favourite summer 2023 food or series?

Top summer food was I really started to make a ton of smoothies with fresh fruits. I also love to have a good bison burger when I’m home in MT. Watched a lot of Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix. 

What was your favourite ballet moment this summer?

Had a blast performing with Anastasia Smirnova this really amazing pas de deux by Sébastien Bertaud with stunning Balmain costumes. We performed it at the Segerstrom Center in California and also at the Yellowstone International Arts Festival in Montana. 

Summer 2023 – how much work, how much rest?

Feels like I hit a good balance this summer. I danced for about 80% and rested for the rest. Excited to be back in Munich now and ready for the season! 

Upcoming plans?

Well, this year I have quite a few wonderful premieres at the Bayerisches Stattsballett to look forward to, but I am also wanting to choreograph more and have a couple surprises coming up soon too! 

Seokyoung Hong, winner of the 2023 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition, student at Walnut Hill School for the Arts and New England Conservatory Preparatory School

What is your favourite thing to do in summer?

Since school has a long break in summer, I usually have music festivals and competitions. And these days, I love to go back to Korea and meet my family and friends, have some Korean food, and more.

Do you have a favourite summer 2023 food, book or series?

I don't think this book was published in 2023, but one book that I read this summer was a Korean (fiction) novel about dreams (when sleeping): ‘Dollorgut Dream Store’ by Miye Lee, or ‘달러구트 꿈 백화점’ by 이미예. It is a fantasy novel - which is one of my favourite book genres - and there were so many interesting aspects in the story. Also, most meals I had in Korea were great, maybe because I hadn't had them for quite a long time.

What was your favourite music moment this summer?

After the Cliburn Junior competition, I had a recital in Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul. I liked every moment of it, also when I played a chamber piece (Mendelssohn Piano Trio no.1 in D) with my close friends in the second half of the concert.

Summer 2023 – how much work, how much rest?

In June, I had the Cliburn Junior competition, and I had several concerts in Korea after. I think I didn't really have a period that I fully rested, but I wasn't as busy after the competition. Still, I prepared for concerts and learned new pieces, which made me work hard!

Upcoming plans?

I am considering about temporarily stepping away from participating in competitions. Instead, I think I would learn and play many new pieces including solo pieces, chamber (pieces), and concertos. I might have several more concerts in the U.S., so I would have to prepare and practice earnestly.

Morgan Johnson, ballet student, Princess Grace Academy, Monte Carlo/Monaco

What is your favourite thing to do in summer?

My favourite thing to do in the summer is to spend time at home with my family in Minnesota, USA. We bake, watch movies, and enjoy spending time on the lake.

Do you have a favourite summer 2023 food, book or series?

My favourite summer 2023 food has been dark chocolate covered rice cakes. They are loved by all in our house, and I enjoy making them with my brother on the weekends. My favourite tv series this summer has been “Gilmore Girls.” I love watching this show with my friends and family.

What was your favourite ballet moment this summer?

My favourite summer 2023 ballet moment was during my time at the Houston Ballet Summer Intensive. I thoroughly enjoyed the program and loved performing with my friends and classmates. 

Summer 2023 – how much work, how much rest?

After the season finished at the Academy, I attended four weeks of the Houston Ballet Summer Intensive. Following the intensive, I enjoyed two weeks of rest with my family in my home state of Minnesota. After the break, I resumed classes at my local dance studio to help me get ready for the upcoming ‘23/24 season. 

Upcoming plans?

I am very excited for my third year at the Princess Grace Academy. I love it there, with my APG family!

Betania Johnny, Chinese! violinist and violin student, Royal College of Music, London

What was your favourite thing to do this summer?

My summer holiday this year was an exciting one - I did a lot of travelling! I would say that one of my favourite things to do was go to Wales with my younger brother last month. Every summer, the church that we go to hosts a church conference on behalf of the United Pentecostal Church of Great Britain and Ireland for a few days in August. I was part of the musicians’ team that played the praise and worship songs on both the violin and the keyboard - it was so much fun to take part in such an important element of the services during my time there! It did involve a lot of rehearsals to make sure that everyone knew what to do and what to play for the various sections of each song. Aside from that, I got to spend time with friends that I hadn’t seen for a long time, and I was so happy to see them!

Do you have a favourite summer 2023 series?

My favourite summer 2023 series was one that I have rewatched many times - “Brooklyn Nine Nine”! It is such a good show, and during my time here in New York City, I went and saw the building in Brooklyn that forms the exterior of the show’s police precinct, the 99th precinct! 

What was your favourite classical music moment this summer?

My favourite summer 2023 classical music moment was performing at Bowdoin International Music Festival. I had the opportunity to play the first and last movements of Prokofiev’s 2nd Violin Sonata in Bowdoin College’s amazing concert hall, Studzinski Hall. It was so amazing to play some solo repertoire in such a big performance space, it was such a gratifying experience, and I am so excited to give more solo concerts like that soon!

Summer 2023 – how much work, how much rest?

At the start of the summer, I took part in Bowdoin International Music Festival, which lasted three weeks! It took place in Maine, in the US, and it was a great opportunity to develop my playing as a classical violinist. I had some lessons with my professor at the RCM, Ani Schnarch - it was so rewarding to learn even more from her outside of the academic year and my time at the RCM. I also had the chance to play in a piano quartet, coached by Julian Martin - we performed in a concert as well as a masterclass with violist Rebecca Albers! Following BIMF, I went with a friend to Spain - although it was a last-minute holiday, it was one of the most fun times that I had! We spent a few days there before I came back to London to go to the Netherlands with some members of my family! After what was a long summer holiday of travelling, I came back home to London for a few weeks to prepare myself for a semester of study abroad in New York City at Manhattan School of Music!

Upcoming plans?

I am currently doing a semester of study abroad at Manhattan School of Music in New York, where I am studying violin with Chloe Kiffer. I have been at MSM for just over a week, and I am really enjoying it here. I have done some exploring, taken part in the student orientation events, and even been to a live jazz performance at the Blue Note Jazz Club. I love New York, because it is merely a larger version of London, so it has taken me a short time to become accustomed to the New York lifestyle. I will be in New York until late December, so I am excited to experience the winter season in this amazing city! I have already met so many great people, that I hope will be starting classes tomorrow, so it will definitely be interesting to see how the environment differs from my home institution, the Royal College of Music. After I return to London, who knows what the future may hold? I am taking things one day at a time.

TWoA GmbH
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