By Sophia Wu, Staff Reporter
The song “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion drifts through Tredyffrin Public Library as juniors Rufei Tang and Hannah Han play the violin and junior Sisi Xu plays the piano.
Han, Tang and Xu are all highly experienced with their instruments. Tang has been playing the French horn since third grade and the violin since second grade. Xu has played the piano since she was 4, and Han has been playing the violin since she was 3. At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, Han, Tang and Xu had the idea to create a chamber music group to play music around the community.
“Because we all play instruments, we thought this was a fun idea,” Han said.
This idea led to the creation of the Golden Symphony, their chamber group. The group began reaching out to senior centers in September and had their first performance at assisted living facility Daylesford Crossing that same month.
“The purpose of the program is to spread the joy of music throughout the community and also fundraise for our community,” Tang said.
In the next few months, the chamber music group began performing at libraries, hospitals and other senior centers. The group performs a variety of music including classical music, chamber music and pop songs. During the holiday season, the group also has holiday performances where they play festive music.
“We take songs that we really enjoy and then also look at the top songs that we assume our demographic would like,” Han said.
The group fundraises through its performances at libraries by collecting donations for Wayne Senior Center at the end. The group raised $100 after its performance at Tredyffrin Public Library.
Currently, the group has held eight senior center performances. They plan to hold more performances at libraries to fundraise for Wayne Senior Center and perform at senior centers. They also want to expand their repertoire of music they play and increase the number of times they perform during the summer.
“I really enjoy delivering music to other people,” Tang said. “Just seeing the smile on people’s faces really makes my day.”
Sophia Wu can be reached at [email protected].
