Artist of the Issue: Amanda Wang

Wang’s first artistic pursuit was music: “I started my musical journey when I was five. I started by playing the piano… then I picked up the violin but I had difficulty balancing practice for the two instruments, so I focused more on the violin,” she said. Wang joined several youth symphony orchestras and toured with them, performing at Yale’s Woolsey Hall, the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and even at the U.N. for the Lunar New Year festival. Of that experience, Wang said, “We played some traditional Chinese pieces and some classical pieces. It was really fun.” In seventh grade, when Wang came to Hopkins, she began to explore vocal performance: “At Hopkins, I started developing a love for singing…  I was in the Junior School choir and then, in ninth grade, I joined Triple Trio.”

Wang also has developed a passion for creative writing. “I’ve been writing poetry since I was really young… It’s always been something I really like to do.” When she was in middle school, Wang began to submit pieces to anthologies and competitions in the hopes of getting work published. Since then, Wang has been published in The America Library of Poetry National Anthology, a collective meant to amplify the voices of young authors in middle and high school. According to Wang, “Getting work published is not as intensive as it may seem. You literally just send things out to people and see what happens.”

Over the years, Wang has experimented with several different forms of poetry, although she finds herself gravitating toward free-form verse. Wang explains, “I just love the freedom it gives you. I sometimes also like the challenge of structured poems, though. Last year I discovered Abecedarian poems where each line of the poem starts with a new letter. It really makes you think when writing.” Wang draws inspiration for her writing from her everyday life: “Sometimes I’ll write about the stuff that happened to me today, sometimes I’ll write about the things around me like nature.” No matter the topic, though, poetry serves as a way for Wang to reflect on herself and the world around her. 

In the future, Wang hopes to continue to integrate music and writing into her life. “My biggest fear is that I’ll get older and forget how to play the violin or the piano. I don’t know if I’ll pursue music in college but I will definitely join chamber groups and musical clubs.” As for writing, Wang believes that no matter her career path, she will find a way to incorporate it into her professional life. “There’s always going to be essays for my classes or even lab reports where I’ll be able to write. I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing.”