- So I'm Sean Cooney.

I play the piano, and I currently go to Doane Stuart High School in Rensselaer, New York.

(bright upbeat piano music) So this is the Liszt Transcendental Etude number 10 in F minor.

This piece represents a very passionate feel, as in someone has a wish that has not been met, and that can be brought out through all the intense passages of the piece, but also the more lyrical ones in a more subtle way.

(bright piano music) I like how in the soft sections you have like the imagination of a world that would look very perfect if that wish had been met, but then all the dramatic sections help to really bring out the suffering.

(bright piano music) To me, the most difficult part of this piece is the coda, especially the first 10 measures of it.

It's all of these big jumps.

Musically, I have to bring out the sound of the left hand very well and coordinate it with the right hand.

(bright upbeat piano music) (gentle piano music) So I practice seven days a week, and for two to three hours a day.

I started playing way back when I was four.

I just love how you're pressing a lot of notes and you can bring out a wide variety of sounds.

The piano can also bring out a whole bunch of emotion in this way.

I want to study music in college, and I want my specialty to be music performance.

(bright upbeat piano music) My piano teacher, Akina Yura, nominated me for this.

I would love to thank two people for the most part, my mom and my piano teacher, both for providing me the support and the motivation, and for pushing me hard to do the best that I possibly can.

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