Student Spotlight: George Yang, Music Performance

by Kathleen McCoy  |   

UAA music major George Yang is a man of many talents. He is a performance vocal major, but plays an array of different instruments. From the violin, viola, cello, guitar, bamboo flute, piano--his favorite--and the tin whistle, George does it all.

UAA music student George YangIn 2004, George and his family had a family discussion; George's parents and nine other siblings were looking for a change. Originally from Marysville, CA, his family wanted to uproot to a new exciting adventurous place. George and his siblings got on the computer and Googled. What did they find? Alaska.

"We were originally thinking about Juneau, but we realized Anchorage was the largest city, so that's where we went," George said. After visiting in the summer of 2004, George and his family moved to Anchorage.

George graduated from East High School in 2008. With an acceptance to Oberlin College, a prestigious school known to be "highly selective" for liberal arts and music, George's future was all mapped out. But it wasn't until he attended a UAA college tour for high school seniors that he changed his mind. "We were introduced to UAA's music club, CMENC, and I realized UAA had a nice program with students that shared my same passion for music. The quality of attention that faculty gave students was amazing. So I figured I'll give it a year to see how it goes."

George fell in love with UAA's program and music community and decided to stay at the University. He said it's UAA's supportive atmosphere that kept him in Alaska. "I knew Oberlin was going to be very competitive, and the environment was going to be intense. If I make a mistake at UAA, students and professors encourage and support me."

As a junior, George has worked with Dr. Mari Hahn, associate professor of music, someone who has had a huge impact on him. "She's one of the main reasons I'm still at UAA pursuing music. She sees the potential students have and really pulls it out of you," he said.

Although George chose to continue down the music path, he hasn't only been involved musically at UAA. George is also the UAA Student Activities programming manager where he and the team find performers, entertainment and schedules UAA events. "UAA brings up lots of significant speakers from around the world and has some amazing events. I love being a part of the Student Activities Programming Team because I get to know my community better through the events we sponsor, and I also get to see people enjoying themselves at events I work on."

George has also hit the stage at many campus performances including UAA's Opera Ensemble productions Viva Zarzuela, Kismet, L'enfant et les sortilèges and Les mamelles de Tirésias. He also sang with UAA's Wednesday Jazz Combo, performed for Symphony of Sounds 2010-11 and with Gleeprov in 2010. He is also a member of UAA's Glee Club and the 2010 Mickey Belden Vocal Performance Scholarship recipient. George recently performed his junior voice recital on April 5, 2011.

Though he's now an active student on campus, when George started at UAA he was "socially awkward and isolated." Other music students and professors helped him break out of his shell. "I'm still in classes with the same people I started with three years ago. We've all become like a family," he said.

For George, UAA is more than a place to get an education. "UAA is a profound college. There are so many great faculty members that kept me motivated, inspired and enthusiastic about life. I might have underestimated it at first, but it's really made me who I am today."

George will graduate with the Class of 2012.

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