Essay Winner
Naperville resident, Alex Kang, was announced as the National Music Week Essay Contest Winner in the North Central Region by the National Federation of Music (NFMC).
This year’s essay theme was “music is a storyteller.” Kang’s late grandfather provided inspiration.
“My essay is about my experiences when I was composing my own music with a friend, as well as my late grandfather and how he had an impact on my life while I was visiting Korea every other year. I could feel that music was something really memorable not just to him but probably to other people as well. My late grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s, would always ask me every five minutes ‘when did you get here?'” said Kang. “However even though he asked the same question constantly he was able to sing or hum songs by memory, start to finish.
“Even though I don’t know exactly what he thought at the time, I perceived that his singing represented his happiness and challenges that he faced over the 70 years of his life.”
Kang is a freshman at Naperville Central High School and began playing the trombone in fourth grade.
National Federation of Music
The NFMC is chartered by the U.S. Congress and is the only music organization member of the United Nations.
“Winning a prize after something that I wrote by myself and something that I really worked hard to express my feelings about is pretty satisfying.”
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
