11-year-old pianist scores highest mark in province
Scores highest mark in province at exam
Jean Jaslin Jesuthasan rises to a challenge. The 11-year-old from Dollard-des-Ormeaux had been taking piano lessons with teacher Adrienne Fischer since she was five, but her skills had levelled out.
So Fischer suggested Jesuthasan take the Grade 1 Royal Conservatory of Music exam.
It worked like a charm. Jesuthasan scored 94 per cent, the highest mark in the province. Her brother Jason, 13, also took the exam and scored 87 per cent.
“Both of them prepared so conscientiously. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Fischer, who has been teaching for 30 years. “Exams aren’t for everybody, but it really worked in this case. Any grade in the 80s is awfully good. Getting a grade in the 90s is spectacular.”
Because it was her first music exam, Jesuthasan didn’t know what to expect.
“I tried my best, but I really thought I would get something like a 74,” she said. “When my teacher called to tell me my mark, I started yelling. When she told me I would be getting a medal (in Toronto), I couldn’t stop crying.”
Jesuthasan was presented with her medal at Koerner Hall in Toronto in February. The trip was extra special because she got to visit cousins who live in the area.
“I’ve always been a bit nervous to be in front of a lot of people, but I did enjoy the applause,” Jesuthasan said of the medal ceremony.
Jesuthasan is busy these days preparing for the annual, invitation-only, spring recital at the end of the month.
It was her mom who enrolled her in piano lessons when she was five. She went along with it, but the pas- sion wasn’t there. The straight-A student at École St-Luc in Dollard was being influenced by her peers.
“In the beginning, I really didn’t like it because (other kids) said piano was boring,” Jesuthasan said.
For the exam, Jesuthasan played four compositions — three memorized and one “study” piece which is given to students a few weeks before the exam. A student can become familiar with the study piece, but not to the same degree as the other pieces.
Jesuthasan’s study piece was Celebration, by Anne Crosby. She scored a perfect mark for technique and interpretation.
“Jaslin’s strongest point as a music student is her musicality,” Fischer said. “She’s not mechanical. And you feel that she is enjoying the music when she plays.”
Celebration was, by far, Jesuthasan’s favourite piece.
“My family liked it, too,” she said. “And the examiner said (in the report card) that I played it like a professional.”
Last year, 45,000 students took Royal Conservatory of Music exams in Quebec and Ontario. The fee to take an exam is $100, which is a lot to pay for some families. The Jesuthasans couldn’t afford the $200 for the children to take the Grade 2 exam this year, so Fischer has come up with her own version of the Grade 2 exam to keep the brother and sister focused.
Students are allowed to skip grades in the Royal Conservatory of Music, so the two will take the official Grade 3 exam next year.
Jesuthasan practices every day and also plays just for fun. She’s hoping to move forward with her exams.
“Mom says that when I’m 16, I can get a part-time job and pay for my lessons,” she said. “I would like to teach piano one day.”
And what about those kids who told her piano was boring?
“After my exam, I’ve got pretty popular at school,” Jesuthasan said.