Melodies of the Fall Breeze - 9/28/2025 Performance and Game Hosting

Authored by Grace Ma

The timing of this performance felt just quite right. With the autumn wind beginning to blow outside, we knew that summer was almost over with fall just to come. Everyone was excited by not only this performance, but also the start of the school year and the holidays that were coming up next.

Different from the past, Hope Wang, a 6 year old, hosted this time’s performance. She was very enthusiastic in introducing each performer, truly captivating the audience’s attention.

Featuring (from left to right) , Cielle Chan, Chloe Li, Grace Ma, Hope Wang, Rien Chen, Elena Chen

The performance started off with Rien Chen, who played Path of the Wind by Joe Hisaishi on the piano. The melodies of this piece were very soothing, bringing the audience countless flashbacks of “My Neighbor Totoro,” the movie in which it came from.

Following, Hope Wang played two songs on the piano as well: Sonata in D by Joseph Haydn and Etude op 76 no 2 by Jean Sibelius. Her musicality was truly praiseworthy and she was fully immersed within her music while performing.

Still on the piano, Elena Chen performed her two pieces Invention No. 13 BWV 784 and Invention No. 15 BWV 786 by J.S. Bach. They were short pieces but a joy to the ear nevertheless.

Next, Cielle Chan brought with her a musical theatre song titled Thank You for the Music by ABBA, as well as an Italian song titled Caro mio ben by G. Giordani. While Thank You for the Music felt warming and exciting, Caro mio ben depicted the longing of a lost love. There was great variety in Cielle’s performance, making it so captivating and fun to watch.

As the last piano piece, Chloe Li played an excerpt from Fantasie in C Major op. 17 I by Robert Schumann. This song is a highly technical piece, yet Chloe performed it seamlessly and made it seem almost as if it were an easy piece to play. There was strong emotion present throughout the piece and melodies that really brought comfort to the audience.

Finally, Grace Ma ended the performance with an excerpt from Eternal Sorrow of Lin'an by He Zhanhao, played on the guzheng. As a piece filled both with strong emotions and complex technique, it is quite a challenge to fully grasp. Nevertheless, Grace performed it with such strength and passion, really allowing the audience to imagine the story’s scenes portrayed by each part of the song, as well as the story as a whole.

To conclude the performance, we asked whether there were any birthdays in September. The Pacifica staff informed us that there were two, but both of them weren’t present today. However, we were also informed that there would be many birthdays in October, which is something to look forward to.

After the musical performance, we all traveled downstairs to play Bingo with the seniors. An exciting Bingo game was played, with noticeable excitement on the seniors’ faces throughout the game. Upon finishing the game, we helped the seniors clean up and prepare for dinner, then headed out.

Overall, it was an exciting day, with a variety of performances and many warm interactions with the seniors.

Performers: Cielle Chan, Elena Chen, Rien Chen, Chloe Li, Grace Ma, Hope Wang

Game Hosts: Elena Chen, Rien Chen, Chloe Li, Grace Ma