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Flavia De Souza
FOR as long as I can remember there has always been music and a piano in my life. My mother played the piano. She had taken the Trinity College diploma examination and had studied under a pupil of the great Polish pianist and politician, Paderewski.
I must have been about 3 1/2 years old when music fascinated me. As soon as my mother finished playing, I would climb the piano stool to be allowed "my turn" as a pianist!
I wanted to play everything my mother had performed and begged her to teach me to read music. When I turned four, she taught me my first notes at the piano.
When I was five, I attended a piano recital by Hovita Anciano Senn at the old Town Hall in Kuala Lumpur. Shortly after that, the pianist gave me a few lessons during her stay in Kuala Lumpur. She suggested that I try a piano exam and so I did. My Second Grade examination was when I was five, playing from memory and obtaining my first distinction!
My mother continued to be my mentor and I attribute all my cultural finesse to her and my father. They encouraged me in everything I did. My primary school education, from Standards Two...