Charlie Liu’s concert to benefit the Plainsboro Rescue Squad (the News, August 8) was held successfully on August 17 at the Unitarian church in Princeton. The turnout was great — better than I expected. A number of friends/neighbors told me they were on vacation this weekend, but around 150 people showed up! Overall Plainsboro Rescue Squad received a total of $2,533 from the concert, which is a great success! The majority of the proceeds came from the concertgoers and silent auction (thanks to business donating items), although we also made a personal donation in addition to covering all cost for the concert, as we did with Charlie’s first benefit solo recital.
The most important thing is that without you and other media reporting on the event, we wouldn’t have been able to attract so many people at this peak of family summer vacation time, so thank you very much!
Charlie did a wonderful job, and people were so amazed that it seemed effortless that he memorized nearly 70 minutes of repertoire — rivaling solo concerts by adult concert pianists. People not only marvel at his technical virtuosity but also beautiful artistry. His encore rendering of Chopin’s famous Nocturne in C# Minor was the best I have heard him play.
His effort for the concert was also remarkable. A lot of practice hours went into preparing for it, and the length and difficulty of the concert were very tiring for a 13 year old. He was sweating so heavily when playing Liszt’s “La Campanella” that it dripped into his right eye and into his lap. It was a very demanding piece, and when we used to watch the famous pianist Evgeny Kissin sweat heavily — also dripping sweat while playing this piece, now we understand why — a near packed audience, a suit, and a lot of hard work will make that happen!
But he survived, and the event was a resounding success. That’s all that’s mattered. Charlie has always been a good sport for benefit events. At his first benefit solo concert he had a fever and had to take Motrin on the concert day. He still did a wonderful job.
We — including PRS, whose president delivered a speech and made Charlie and his younger brother, William, honorary Cadets — are all very proud of Charlie and what he did. William played a duet piece with Charlie to open the second half of the concert. They looked so cute, and the audience loved it. It was only at that moment that the audience was reminded that this was a concert given by kids! Otherwise it was high quality and high intensity and the fact that it was given by a 13 year old gets lost.
Of course William had the duet because it was the Plainsboro Rescue Squad that took him to hospital when he was very sick, so he wanted to do his part to give back. He also did a great job, and we’re all very proud of him as well.
Thank you again for reporting on Charlie and the event!
Mingyi Liu
