“I find small details in pieces, like phrases, that I think can be expressed in a different way. Or maybe I can show this color in a different emotion,” said senior Momo Wong.
For Wong, music and art feed her creativity and imagination.
Wong started on her performance and artistic route at the age of three, while living in Taiwan.
“In Asia, animation is very popular. I started off with figure drawing and that kind of imagination art world. I was really interested in that,” said Wong.
Wong started at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School just one year after moving to the United States. She studied with a private teacher and began playing in a piano trio at the age of 11.
Wong has performed in New York, Indiana and Washington D.C. with the New England Conservatory.
Junior Francesca Bass, a close friend of Wong’s, attended summer camp with her. She admires Wong’s strong work ethic.
“Whenever she gets on the stage, I always get the sense that she knows what she wants to communicate with the audience. I feel that she really understands the music and is always looking for new ideas to bring to her playing and her performance,” said Bass.
Wong’s ability to understand music on a deeper level ties into her talent for creating dreamy and bright artwork.
According to Wong’s AP Art Studio teacher Donna Sartanowicz, Wong’s best work is observational.
One piece uses deep, rich, swirling colors of red and blue to represent a rose. Thick, gentle waves of color emerge together. At the bottom, small bright lights pierce through deep, dark blues and blacks.
In the middle, the dense and thick waves of red transform into light, airy, delicate strokes of pink at the top of the piece.
“I often say you can create different worlds in art. You just use your imagination,” said Wong.
“From an artistic perspective, Momo gravitates towards detail, a love of form and a love of color. She approaches this from a contemplative and intellectual standpoint rather an emotional standpoint,” said Sartanowicz.
While Wong is still in school and just beginning to figure out what her artistic voice is, she has high hopes for the future which include working in film and television.
“I saw that film and television are a combination of art and music, and so I thought why not pursue it? I can bring both of my artistic and music skills into that field,” said Wong.
What intrigues Wong is finding the deeper meanings behind many well-known artists, including Sergei Prokofiev, a classical musician. These discoveries help Wong learn how to convey a hidden story.
“Expression through music starts with the composer’s notes, but then you have to find the meaning behind that,” said Wong. “In art, I express myself through things that inspire me, for instance, watching movies or going to the museum. I find some aspect of a painting that is interesting, like if the coloring is very strong, or very bright, or maybe the pen work is very detailed. That inspires me to try that kind of inking.”
This summer, Wong traveled to Europe to perform six concerts with the East Philharmonic Orchestra.
“At our very last concert, everyone was extremely tired. The motivation is knowing the purpose of why we all traveled so far,” said Wong. “The purpose for me is being able to express all of our hard work in just that one performance. Showing the ideas behind the music and how music isn’t just this thing you hear in the background, but something you can really be inspired from.”
