Nepal Earthquake Relief

        Event background: 

 

As a young musician living in the Silicon Valley, I had no concept of the conditions under which many people around the world must live. An 8.0 magnitude earthquake in California is almost nothing compared to an 8.0 in Nepal. During the April 25th Nepal earthquake, entire villages were destroyed, leaving some families with nothing left. By exposing me to such a tragedy, GYP has opened my eyes to the broader world.

 

Three years ago, two of our GYP members visited Nepal. They got in contact with an orphanage near Kathmandu, the First Love Children’s Home, and even got the chance to stay with the children for a few days. When they returned, we held our first benefit concert to provide support for the children back in Nepal. Our funds bought bunk beds, flooring, and guitars for the kids to play on. After the devastating earthquake in April of this year, we were able to check in with the same orphanage in Bhakunde.  The damage was so great that the children and staff had to move out and live in temporary shelters until the repairs could be made.

 

This year, I hope to help these children recover from this tragedy. Since our first concert, we have stayed in touch with the children living there, and we are familiar with their needs.  Our funds will provide them with mattresses and a washing machine, as well as building materials to fix up their home. Through this concert, GYP is able to bring people together, breaking the barriers of distance and lend a helping hand to those in need. This connection is what makes GYP so special, and to help out a child living halfway around the world through our music, is the best feeling of all.


George Wang
 Event Chair
 
     
Event: Fundraising Concert "Nepal Earthquake Relief"
  When: Nov. 1, 2015 at  4PM
  Where: Center of Performing Arts, Recital Hall, Santa Clara University (at the corner of Lafayette and Franklin)
  Address 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, 95035-0341
     
  Event Outcome:  Raised $8,404.5 while incurring expense of $1,327.23, which yielded a net amount of $7,077.27

This amount has been donated to First Love International Ministry and their acknowledgement is here.
   
                                                      

                                                            

   

Back (left to right) Nathan Tran, Matt Zhou, Justin Tsin, George Wang, Jeffrey Chang, Eric Huang

Middle (left to right) Jessica Lee Margeret Chien, Claren Dai Connie Xu

Front (left to right) Shannon Cheung, Janae Zhang, Claire Chang


  Profiles of Team Members
  
  Claire Chang (Event performer)
 Claire is a sophomore at Monta Vista High School and has been playing piano for ten years, starting at the age of five. Apart from piano, she is on the junior var-sity volleyball team at her school and a member of Monta Vista's FBLA and Speech and Debate. In her free time, she enjoys doing pilates and watching nu-merous movies and television shows. This is Claire's fourth year in GYP and she is very grateful for the opportunity to help the victims of the recent Nepal earthquake through her music.

Jeffrey Chang (Event performer)
Jeffrey Chang, senior at Lynbrook High, is an avid musician who began his classical training at age 6. He plays principal French Horn in the California Youth Symphony, and he also held principal in the 2015 All-State and All-County honor bands. In addition to mu-sic, Jeffrey is also interested in linguistics, machine learning, and computer science. He spreads his pas-sion for science as the President of Lynbrook Science Club. In his leisure time, Jeffrey enjoys playing fris-bee, reading satirical scientific journals, composing music, and helping orphans around the world.

Shannon Cheung (Event performer)
Shannon Cheung is a rising freshman at Homestead High School and has been playing piano for about six years now. She participates in her school's stellar con-cert band as a flute player. As a strong enthusiastic for music, Shannon is proud to be part of GYP for her first time. She hopes to greatly improve and impact many lives positively as she uses music and love as her two valuable means.

Margaret Chien (Event performer)
Margaret Chien is a senior at Lynbrook High School. She has played bassoon for six years. In addition to playing in her school band, Margaret has played in California Youth Symphony for four years. Aside from playing the bassoon, she also plays the flute and enjoys drawing, painting, and writing essays. Marga-ret also has an immense love for turtles. She is very grateful to be able to help orphans in Nepal through music.

Charen Dai (Event performer)
Claren is a freshman at Homestead High School. She is 14, now playing piano for about 8 years. As a freshman, she looks forward to participating in the many clubs and teams high school offers. Claren is a creative person who loves any form of art; draw-ing, dancing, and playing piano. She is excited for her 3rd year participating in GYP and is looking forward to helping the orphans in Nepal this year!

 Eric Huang (Event performer)
 Eric is a freshman at Monta Vista High School and is 14 years old. He was been playing the piano for eight years, ever since he was six. Apart from play-ing the piano, Eric loves the field of mathematics and has enjoyed some success in recent years in competitions including MathCounts and AMC/AIME/USAJMO. This is his fourth year in GYP, and would truly be honored to help out people in need through music in Nepal.

 Jessica Lee (Event performer)
 Jessica is a junior at Monta Vista High School and an officer of Musician's Society, a service club at her school. With over ten years of experience in playing the Chinese harp (guzheng), she has re-cently passed level 10 and has also won 1st place in the first competition she has ever participated in, the CMTANC International Youth Music Competi-tion. In her free time, Jessica loves sharing her mu-sic with the community by performing in senior centers, festivals, and other events. Jessica is ex-tremely grateful to be able to be part of GYP and for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of orphans across the world.  

 Nathan Tran (Event performer)

Nathan is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. Other than piano he plays for the high school tennis team. This is his second year of GYP and he hopes that you will enjoy the show!


Justin Tsin (Event Performer)
 Justin is an 11th grader at Gunn High School. Alt-hough he plays piano only as a hobby, he is excited to perform at the GYP concert. Among his other interests are origami, graphic design, and painting. He has even published two children's books, which he wrote and illustrated himself. Justin also designs event post-ers and shirts for his school. Captivated by the culture and people of Nepal, he is more than willing to ex-tend an arm to help those affected by the earthquake.

Janae Zhang (Event performer)
Janae is a junior at Monta Vista high school and has been playing piano since she was seven. She is an officer of MV GSA and of MV ArtReach, and is an active member of the school's robotics team. When not attending her numerous weekly activities such as archery, Janae likes to sew and read.

Mathew Zhou (Event performer)
Matt is a 10th grader at Lynbrook High School. He has been playing piano since the age of 5, and passed level 10 in 7th grade. Besides music, he is a varsity public forum debater, and enjoys app de-velopment and powerlifting. Though he has never personally been to Nepal, he is excited to use his talents to help the less fortunate.

George Wang (Chair, Event performer)
George is a junior at Saratoga High School and a pi-ano player for ten years. He plays sax and piano his his school’s marching band and wind ensemble. When he is not playing music, George enjoys reading history, biking, and learning about the world. He is a member of his school’s national history bowl team. This is George’s fourth year participating in GYP, and he is very excited to send his love to less fortunate children around the world through his music.