Whiz Kid: Johannes Gray, First Place Musician

This Week's Whiz Kid: Johannes Gray, 13-years-old

School: Wilmette Junior High School/Music Institute of Chicago

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Johannes Gray won first place of the 2011 Crain-Maling Youth Auditions on March 5.  For the prize, Gray will play Prokofiev’s Symphonie Concertante with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during its 2011-2012 season.

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: There are several key elements to being successful at cello, or even any musical instrument. First, is the will power to focus and concentrate on what you are doing at that moment. You have to focus very hard when practicing, and you also have to focus when you are in a concert or a competition, because you only have one chance. It doesn’t matter if you are amazing, if you don’t play well at that time, it doesn’t matter. You have to be completely focused in the moment.

Second, you need to dedicate the time to develop the skills and technique needed to play the repertoire at an advanced level. I started playing cello at age two, and have practiced every day since, even on holidays and vacations.  I always practice at least two hours every day no matter what. On some days, I might practice over five hours. Some people say that in order to be really successful at something, you need to ‘put in your 10,000 hours’, and throughout the years, I have built a total time of playing cello over 10,000 hours. Playing cello takes a lot of commitment.

One of the most enjoyable things about playing cello is performing.  It is fun because of all the adrenaline that comes when you perform, and also, it is fun to tell my story with music to the audience. My goal with playing is to make people happy, and as one of my teachers says, 'You need to suffer to make other people happy.'

All the hours spent in the practice room pay off in the end to open up other opportunities for performances, or winning competitions, like the Crain-Maling Competition that I won most recently.