LBC CenterStage Matthew Rivera - Long Beach Future Artist Twelve year old Matthew Rivera has been playing violin since he was nine years old and in this short period of time he has become one of Long Beach's finest young musicians. A soft-spoken 7th grader at Tincher Preparatory School, he juggles his school responsibilities with his passion for music. In our continuing effort to highlight some of Long Beach's "up and coming," we put together the following interview. LBC: How did you first become interested in music? How did you get started? Matt: I started playing violin in school [Tincher Preparatory] and I really liked it, so I started taking lessons. LBC: What instruments do you play? Matt: I play violin and guitar. LBC: Which one is your favorite? Why? Matt: I like them both but different. I like "rock" guitar but I really like fiddling [violin]. I play mostly classical music but I also play "Irish fiddle." I like the fast tempo and deep tones. I guess I like the violin more since I started playing it first. LBC: What was your favorite project or musical experience and why? Matt: Playing in the Honor Orchestra for the city, because I met some really cool people. LBC: Can you tell me something about playing music -- for instance, how do you begin learning to play a new piece of music? Matt: I check out the time signature and the key -- the flats and sharps and then I start playing it and practicing it. If it is a hard piece of music it takes me a week or a month to learn. If it is easy I can learn it in a day. LBC: How do you balance your school work and your music? How much time do you spend practicing? Matt: I do my homework as soon as I come home from school. Then I spend an hour playing the violin and another half hour practicing on my guitar. LBC: Do you have a mentor, another musician or music teacher who inspires you and makes you want to become a better musician? Matt: Eileen Ivers, she plays Irish fiddle in "River Dance," and my music teacher, Michelle Bass, because she helps me with [musical pieces] that are hard. LBC: What kind of music do you like to listen to? Matt: I listen to classical music by Vivaldi and Beethoven, but I also listen to pop music by Britney Spears, 'NSync and Christina Aguilera. LBC: Do your mom and dad help you with your music? Matt: They drive me everywhere and they inspire me and tell me when something sounds good or bad. They also give me a lot of encouragement. LBC: What are your hobbies? Matt: Surfing, boogie-boarding, the beach, playing hockey, and using the computer to go on the internet or play games or listen to music. LBC: Tell me about your first time playing in front of an audience. Matt: The thing I will always remember is walking out onto the stage and thinking... am I really doing this? I got really nervous and I started to sweat but then I fell in love with it [perfoming]. I still get jitters before a concert. LBC: Tell me about your most enjoyable time playing in front of an audience. Matt: Playing solos at school recitals -- I get compliments and that makes me want to play better. LBC: I heard that you were recently selected to join a special orchestra… how did that happen and what is it like? Matt: I was asked to try out for the Orange County Junior Orchestra. For the try-out they asked me to play a song that I never played before, some scales and then they asked me to play something that I knew. I ended up making 3rd violin in the chamber strings. LBC: If you could not be a musician, what do you think you want to do? Matt: Probably an artist and I'd like to surf… maybe computer design. LBC: If you become a professional musician some day, what would you like to do? Matt: I'd probably like to play in a trio or quartet for violins, or play guitar in a rock group or maybe fiddling... This is a young man who will eventually become one our community's future artists. Besides this year's seasonal school music events, Matthew will be appearing in concert with the Orange County Junior Orchestra at Chapman College in December and at Disneyland in February. He will be accompanying and performing with the orchestra when it tours Europe in 2002 -- scheduled countries include: The United Kingdom, Austria, Sweden and others. View Matt's LBC page and events Do you know an artist that we should feature in LBC CenterStage? We'd like to hear from you. Send us your LBC CenterStage suggestion