“Can I Play for a Piece of Food?” – They Laughed… Never Imagining She Was a Piano Genius…

“Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for giving me this chance.”

That evening Maya practiced until very late. She played pieces by all the composers that might be on the challenge. She worked on her technique and her speed. She prepared her mind and her fingers for the test that was coming.

Elena made phone calls to arrange the details of the challenge. She spoke to the other faculty members at the conservatory who supported Maya. She made sure that the judging would be fair even if Marcus Sterling was trying to make the challenge impossible.

As Maya fell asleep that night she thought about the week ahead. She was nervous but also excited. This was her chance to fight for her future. This was her chance to honor her father’s memory. This was her chance to prove that she belonged in the world of serious music. Maya didn’t know exactly what pieces Marcus Sterling would choose for her but she knew one thing for certain. She was going to give everything she had to this challenge. She was going to show the world what Maya Chen could do.

Monday morning arrived gray and rainy. Maya woke up at 6:00. Even though her audition was not until noon she was too nervous to sleep anymore. Her stomach felt twisted with worry but she forced herself to eat the breakfast that Elena had prepared for her.

“Remember,” Elena said as they drove to the conservatory. “You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to show them your musical understanding and technical skill. The judges want to see how you handle pressure and how quickly you can learn.”

Maya nodded but she was not really listening. She was thinking about all the things that could go wrong. What if her hands shook? What if she forgot the music? What if Marcus Sterling had chosen a piece that was too difficult for anyone to learn in one day?

The Metropolitan Academy was a beautiful old building with tall windows and marble floors. Maya had been there once before years ago for a master class with her father. She remembered feeling intimidated by the serious atmosphere and the advanced students practicing in every room.

Elena led Mia to a small office where they were supposed to meet Marcus Sterling. The door was open and Mia could see a tall thin man with gray hair sitting behind a desk. He looked up when they entered and Maya saw that his eyes were cold and unfriendly.

“Miss Chen, I presume,” Marcus Sterling said without getting up or offering to shake hands. “I must say, I was surprised when Dr. Rosetti told me about your unusual circumstances. It’s been some time since we’ve had a student with such an unconventional background.”

Maya felt her face get hot. She knew he was talking about her being homeless.

“Yes, sir,” she said quietly.

Marcus Sterling stood up and walked around his desk. He was taller than Maya had expected and he looked down at her with a skeptical expression.

“I want to be very clear about what we’re doing here,” he said. “This conservatory has a reputation for excellence. We cannot afford to take chances on students who might not be able to handle the rigorous demands of professional musical training. This challenge will test not only your musical ability but also your discipline, your work ethic, and your mental toughness.”

Maya nodded.

“I understand, sir.”

Marcus Sterling picked up a piece of paper from his desk.

“Your first piece is box partita number two in C minor, the symphonia movement. You have until noon tomorrow to prepare it. The performance will take place in the main recital hall in front of a panel of five judges.”

Maya’s heart sank. She knew this piece. It was extremely difficult with complex counterpoint and demanding technical passages. Even professional pianists needed weeks to prepare it properly.

“May I see the music?” Maya asked.

Marcus Sterling handed her the sheet music. Maya looked at it quickly trying to assess how difficult it would be to learn in 24 hours. The notes seemed to dance and swim before her eyes.

“You may practice in room 15 for the rest of today,” Marcus Sterling said. “The room will be available to you until 10:00 tonight. Dr. Rosetti may stay if she wishes but no coaching is allowed during the official practice time.”

Maya and Elena went to room 15 which contained an old but well-maintained piano. Mia sat down at the bench and spread out the Bach music. Her hands were shaking slightly as she placed them on the keys.

“Just start slowly,” Elena whispered. “Don’t worry about the tempo yet. Focus on getting the notes right first.”

Maya began to play the first few measures very slowly. The music was beautiful but incredibly complex. Bach had written multiple melodic lines that wove together like a musical tapestry. Maya had to make each line clear and distinct while still keeping the overall flow of the piece.

For the first hour Mia just worked on reading the notes correctly. There were many sharps and flats and the key signature kept changing. Maya’s eyes hurt from concentrating so hard on the small printed notes.

After the first hour Mia began to work on the fingering. In piano music the choice of which fingers to use for which notes is very important. Good fingering makes difficult passages possible to play smoothly. Bad fingering makes even simple passages sound choppy and awkward.

Elena sat quietly in a corner of the room occasionally offering encouragement but mostly just listening. She could see that Maya was working harder than she had ever worked before. By lunchtime Maya had learned about half of the piece. Her fingers were getting tired and her back achd from sitting at the piano for so long.

Elena brought her a sandwich and some water.

“How do you feel about it so far?” Elena asked.

Maya rubbed her eyes.

“It’s very difficult, but I think I can learn all the notes by tonight. The hard part will be making it sound musical instead of just technical.”

Elena nodded.

“That’s always the challenge with Bach. The technical demands are so high that it’s easy to focus only on getting the notes right and forget about the beauty of the music.”

Maya ate her lunch quickly and went back to practicing. The afternoon hours passed slowly. Maya worked on small sections over and over again gradually building up the tempo. Some passages required her to play very fast scales with both hands moving in opposite directions. Other passages required delicate touch and careful balance between the different melodic lines. By 6:00 in the evening Maya had learned all the notes of the piece.

But learning the notes was only the beginning. Now she had to work on making the music sound expressive and polished. Maya practiced the piece from beginning to end several times. Each time she discovered new problems that needed to be fixed. Sometimes her hands would get tangled up in a difficult passage. Sometimes she would play a wrong note and have to stop and correct it.

Elena ordered dinner for them and brought it to the practice room. Maya ate while reading through the music again trying to memorize it. She knew that performing from memory would give her more freedom to be expressive.

“Maya,” Elena said gently. “It’s 8:00. You need to pace yourself. You can’t practice effectively if you’re exhausted.”

But Maya was determined to use every minute available to her. She practiced until 10:00 when the building closed. By then she could play the entire piece from memory though not perfectly. Elena drove Mia home through the quiet streets. Maya was so tired that she almost fell asleep in the car but her mind was still racing thinking about all the passages that needed more work.

“Try to get some sleep,” Elena said as they arrived home. “Your brain needs rest to absorb everything you practiced today.”

But Maya could not sleep. She lay in bed thinking about the music playing through difficult passages in her mind. She was worried that she would forget something important. She was worried that her performance would not be good enough.

Maya finally fell asleep around 2:00 in the morning. She woke up at 7:00 feeling tired but alert. She had only five hours left to practice before her audition. Elena made her a good breakfast but Maya could barely eat. Her stomach was too nervous to accept much food.

They arrived at the conservatory at 8:00. Maya went straight to room 15 and began practicing. She worked on the most difficult passages first playing them slowly and carefully. Gradually she built up the speed until she could play them at the proper tempo.

At 11:00 Elena reminded Maya that she needed to stop practicing and prepare for the audition. Maya’s hands were tired and her mind felt overloaded with musical information.

“Remember,” Elena said. “You know this piece now. Trust your preparation. Trust your musical instincts and most importantly don’t forget to breathe.”

Maya walked to the main recital hall feeling like she was in a dream. The hall was small but elegant with excellent acoustics. Five judges sat at a table near the front. Marcus Sterling was in the center looking stern and skeptical.

Maya sat down at the beautiful grand piano on the stage. She adjusted the bench and tested the pedals. The piano had a rich warm tone that was very different from the practice room piano.

“Miss Chen,” Marcus Sterling called out. “You may begin when you are ready.”

Maya placed her hands on the keys and took a deep breath. She thought about her father and all the hours they had spent practicing together. She thought about the beautiful music that Bach had created hundreds of years ago. She thought about how grateful she was to have this opportunity.

Maya began to play. The first notes were soft and careful but as she continued her confidence grew. Her fingers moved across the keys with increasing assurance. The complex counterpoint began to make sense and the different melodic lines sang out clearly. There were a few small mistakes but Maya did not let them stop her. She continued playing with focus and determination. The music filled the hall with its intricate beauty.