By Ruichen Feng (operational director of CYOC Chamber Ensemble)
October 20, 2025 — Rockville, MD
Today was a truly memorable day for all of us in the Capital Youth Outreach Club (CYOC) Chamber Ensemble. Since our official founding on September 1, 2025, we have been rehearsing regularly, and this was our first community performance. We were honored to visit the CCACC Academy (Chinese Culture and Community Service Center), where we shared our music with about 50 preschoolers and 60 day camp elementary students.
Our ensemble now has a total of 16 members, seven of us performed at this event, representing our group with great excitement and pride. Our performers included violinists Judy Wu, Leeann Sun, Sophie Zhu, Jenny Yu, and Ruichen Feng; violist Derek Zhang; and cellist Luna Zhang. We performed several pieces, with our major songs being “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and “The Same Song”. The young audiences responded with bright smiles, applause, and laughter, filling the room with warmth and joy.
To make the event more interactive, we also played short popular children’s songs on different instruments and invited the kids to guess the song titles. Those who answered correctly received stickers as prizes, bringing even more excitement. Many students eagerly participated, showing how engaging and fun music can be.
After the performances, we introduced the children to our instruments in more detail — explaining the different parts, what they are made of, how sound is produced, how to hold them, and how to play basic notes. During our “instrument petting zoo”, interested students had the chance to touch the instruments and make their very first musical sounds. It was heartwarming to see their enthusiasm and excitement.
As one of the performers, I felt proud and deeply inspired. Watching the children’s curiosity and joy reminded me that music is not just about performance — it’s about sharing, teaching, and inspiring others. This experience showed how powerful music can be in connecting people and sparking creativity in young minds.
We all left the CCACC Academy that day with smiles and full hearts, grateful for the opportunity to bring music into the community and inspire the next generation of young learners.
Website Editor: Sophia Wang
华府青年 CYOC 
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