«BOSTON UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS | GRADUATION»

May 15th, a bright, gorgeous, sunny day. My fellow BU friends celebrated their academic achievements and each graduated in style.
Tim and I attended the graduation ceremony by invitation from our friend Bess, who received her degree in Master of Music.
Thinking back on last year around the same time, I was in the same position, excited, nervous and a little bit uncertain. It was a very special moment in life.

Professors vs. students
Can you figure out which is which? Of course you can...

Here is Linda and Bess, both coming down from the stairs to be seated.

Other friends I've known in the music department graduating with Doctor of Musical Arts.

Alexandra Costin, a distinguished Romanian pianist. We both had Professor Anthony di Bonaventura as our piano teacher.

Elena Lin, DMA in clarinet performance. Besides her hardworking and driven personality, she is a terrific chef in the kitchen. There's nothing this girl can't do.  She is now living in San Francisco, engaged to be married.

Yuan-chun Liu, DMA in violin performance.

Linda Lei got her Master of Music Education from online courses through BU from Macau, China. I met her two summers ago when we took two summer classes together on campus. It was during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, so she came over to my house a lot, and we watched many hours of the Olympic events.

Time for Bess to go up.

She looked really happy!

By her request, we went around BU campus and took some more photos while she was still in the cap and gown.

Best wishes to all these capable and beautiful musicians! Also, BU, you rock!!!

«BESS IN RECITAL»

Bess in from Taiwan. She came to Boston University a year after I came. We became good friends in the program. She has a sweet personality and a creative spirit. Even though she came to a whole new country all by herself, she never gave in to any difficulties. Her discipline and diligence has paid off.
I am proud to announce that she has successfully finished her degree recital and is ready to graduate this coming Saturday!

These photos are taken before her recital. Just thought I'd share them with you. ^_~

All the best to my dear friend!

«BECKI'S GROUP»

Some photos from the benefit concert shoot for Becki and her fellow colleagues.

Becki and Molly are a professional singer and pianist duo.

From the left, Emily (singer), Becki (singer), Molly (pianist), Jess (pianist), and Pei-yeh (pianist).

«BENEFIT CONCERT»

I've known Becki from our old church. She is an organized, sophisticated, funny and intelligent lady. She also did her graduate degree in Boston University few years before me. She is a professional singer with a magnetic voice.

Recently, she found out that her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. My heart goes out to her family. She is giving two benefit concerts for breast cancer research, one in Boston and one in Indianapolis, her hometown. She asked me to do a photo shoot of her and her guest musicians for this event. I also made a few designs of posters for her concert advertisements. If you are in the area during the May 21st weekend, please come support.

If you happen to be in Indianapolis around May 28th, then the concert is going to be held in the Indiana Historical Society - Basile Theater at 8:00pm.  

«BROOKE'S RECITAL»

By request, I made my dear friend Brooke posters for her recital. The pictures are provided by her husband Ben taken from one of the Longy's practice rooms where Brooke rehearses tirelessly day in and day out.

Brooke really like this one a lot.

«ROCKPORT | Couples Retreat»

At the retreat (see entry below), we met some amazing couples who honor God in their marriage. Some of them have been married for 40+ years, and they are still very much in love with each other. Tim and I learned a lot from them. Life is not always going to pretty, but having someone to face life together is such a blessing.

Doug and Christine, our wonderful small group leaders

Our topic was "Speaking Truth in Love". At the end of the retreat, each couple made a montage choosing a scripture from Proverbs relating to the topic and with artworks that described how this weekend had spoken to us in special ways.

Luc was few of the babies there at the retreat. He was especially sunny and friendly.

Look at his gorgeous blue eyes. They can melt hearts.

Kris and Laura. Pastor Perkins is the organizer of this retreat.

Ben and Sarah, one of the nicest couples we met.