Hi! My name is Ernestina Leung and I’m a professional marimbist. I started to play percussion when I was 11 years old, an energetic and crazy kid, playing percussion in the orchestra was like being in heaven! Playing percussion in the orchestra was really enjoyable. The snare drum, xylophone and triangle, along with the cymbals, timpani and drum set – this wide variety of different instruments! OMG – there were all my little friends! As I continued my studies and grew in my ability to play, I can still remember playing the snare drum in Ravel’s “Bolero”, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade”!
It took many years of training to become an orchestral percussionist. I was excited to play in the orchestra in St. Petersburg, Russia, when I was studying for my Bachelor’s degree. It was such a treasured time in this musical journey of mine. After spending five years in Russia where I experienced a high standard of intensive music training, I made progress technically and mentally. I was starting to think about who I am, what I am and what kind of music I would choose to perform.
I am someone who is filled with rich sensitivity, emotions and imagination, and I’m positive, passionate and brave to accept challenges. I knew I wanted to explore something new. I decided that I had to try and step outside of my comfort zone.
After my graduation in St. Petersburg, I decided to pursue the next course of study with Professors Shoko Sakai and Jacek Wota at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland. Shoko is one of my valued and important marimba teachers, having focused on her 4-mallet technique. Her sound is unforgettable! Her encouragement is what inspired me and gave me the deep passion for the marimba that is now deep within me. Following my two years in Wroclaw, I moved to Leuven, Belgium to study the marimba with Dr. Ludwig Albert. Another door had opened, and he taught me in great details about many mallet techniques, the way and direction of expression and how best to communicate these on the marimba by movement and stroke technique. He opened my eyes and at that moment, I knew – I really knew just how much I loved playing the marimba. I am willing to give my life to performing on this instrument!
Thank you so much for reading this brief introduction of me and my love for being a marimba and percussion player! I think now you know me a little bit more. I’ll be sharing with you a lot more about technique and many other thoughts in future postings!
Bye for now
Ernestina
