Alexandra Levitan and Nora Pikar  

Sophomore Grace Li was selected to perform a flute concerto in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Concerto next march, one of two students chosen for the concert.  

 Li will perform in front of a professional orchestra at the Meyerson Symphony Center. 

The 13-minute piece is a challenging and impressive one for a sophomore to perform, according to Middle and Upper School Band Director Brain Donnell.  

“It speaks to Grace’s dedication to her craft, her art and her work ethic as it relates to practicing and preparing and getting up and playing in front of an audience with an orchestra behind you. That’s pretty amazing,” Donnell said. 

Li began her musician career in third grade playing piano and was drawn to the flute after hearing the two instruments in a duet. She said her father’s friends introduced her to a flute teacher, and she began taking lessons. 

“School is very busy and there’s like a lot of things going on, but whenever I go home, I just get to like play flute and that’s kind of like you let go.” 

Li said she also enjoys the nervousness that comes with playing in front of large audiences. 

“I kind of like the nervous feeling, and being able to like play in front of people is like another really great experience,” Li said. “I really like competing and just like getting to like make other people happy with my music.” 

Donnell said Li also shares her musical passion with younger students through the Do-Re-Mi Project, a program started by student musicians who offer free private lessons online. 

After multiple performances, Li has developed a practice routine that starts months before a concert and involves playing the piece hundreds of times.  

“The strategy that I use is just playing everything slowly 500 times, so that’s the main part of the process,” Li said.   

Li said reaching a high skill level of playing the flute requires a lot of commitment. She practices about 15 hours a week. 

“I think that it is very important to not just count minutes when you’re practicing; it should be quality over quantity,” Li said. “That way, practice becomes a process for reaching your goals, not just a task that you have to complete.” 

Even when faced with challenges, Li pulls positives from her experience. 

“Before a competition last year, there was this one line I just couldn’t get right. I was practicing that one thing for six hours that day,” Li said. “So those times are definitely frustrating, but I think it’s part of the experience for preparing and I think there are also lessons that are learned from that.” 

Donnell said the time and devotion Li puts into her music show in her performances. 

“There are no shortcuts. You can’t AI yourself into being a good musician,” Donnell said. 

Li said she wouldn’t be where she is today without all the support from her private teacher and from the Greenhill band instructors. 

“Without my teachers, I would have never even been in this orchestra or known of this competition,” said Li.