IF you regularly visit Strath Village, chances are you have seen thirteen-year-old Laura Vu playing well-known, much-loved tunes on the shopping centre\u2019s public piano.<\/p>\n
Her music drifts through the building, adding life and colour to the atmosphere as she plays the instrument installed for public use by the Rotary Club of Bendigo late last year.<\/p>\n
With so much skill, it\u2019s surprising to learn that Vu has only been playing for six years, starting soon after her family migrated from Vietnam to Bendigo when she was seven.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey came across me, because I\u2019ve been so dedicated, I\u2019ve been playing a lot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Vu said she was inspired to start learning the piano after hearing a pupil at Camp Hill Primary School play when she first arrived in Bendigo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I entered the main office I could hear someone playing the piano, and I was fascinated by how good the student was,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Along the way Vu said her Camp Hill piano and performing arts teachers, notably Kathleen Gee and Mary Thorpe, were supportive from the beginning, allowing her to push her skill-level to new heights.<\/p>\n
Having started high school at Bendigo South East College this year, Vu said her new teachers were doing lots to help foster her dreams.<\/p>\n
She now practises at BSE\u2019s auditorium or band room when at school, and at Strath Village afterwards for an average of two-three hours a day.<\/p>\n
If she has a day away from the piano, Vu said she will try to inspire herself with videos.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be on my phone watching piano tricks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Like many new Australian\u2019s, Vu said her parents moved to the country for more opportunities, and her mum and dad have been working at the Shamrock Hotel since arriving in 2016.<\/p>\n
They have all also received Australian citizenship, bought a block of land and built a house, and just this year bought a restaurant at Strath Village, Hanoi Street Food.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey dreamed of being chefs since they were little, and now they are living their dreams,\u201d said Vu. \u201cThey gave me inspiration to fulfil my dream as a musician someday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would never have thought that we\u2019d be in Australia now, or owning a restaurant, or having a house, or being citizens here. So, we\u2019ve achieved a lot in eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vu said an idea which motivates her is \u201cthere\u2019s no such thing as talent there\u2019s only skills and hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vu\u2019s dad, Vin Vu, said the family is very proud of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn her seventh birthday we bought her a small keyboard and she started like that, researching by herself. Then she started lessons at Camp Hill,\u201d said Mr Vu.<\/p>\n
\u201cMyself and my wife, we are chefs, we don\u2019t have much musical experience, but Laura has done very well by herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vu said she is thrilled to have been chosen by organisers to play as part of the Strath Village Easter celebration on Saturday, 1 April from 10.45am for half-an-hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IF you regularly visit Strath Village, chances are you have seen thirteen-year-old Laura Vu playing well-known, much-loved tunes on the shopping centre\u2019s public piano. Her music drifts through the building, adding life and colour to the atmosphere as she plays the instrument installed for public use by the Rotary Club of Bendigo late last year. […]<\/p>\n