AFA Spotlight: Melanie Pang

How are/were you connected to AFA?
I attended AFA for four amazing summers as a student and interned for two summers.

What’s your favorite memory of AFA?

Just one? I’ll go with my first favorite memory, chronologically: The first time I heard The Planets live was my first day at AFA. We started with Jupiter and the moment the strings began playing I thought it sounded so good I actually believed it was a recording… and then I realized the conductor was, in fact, conducting and the string players were indeed moving their bows. All embarrassment aside, that happy moment of bewilderment is one of my favorite memories because it was the mark of hearing and experience music from an entirely new perspective. I had only heard Jupiter through my headphones for years, and at that moment, I realized I was going to be hearing it from my own horn.

What was the last concert you attended?
College and graduate school has kept me quite busy, but I tried to make it a point to make it to the composition/choreography collaborative concert at least once since I stopped interning. I love the idea of young artists collaborating. There might never be another performance like the one you see that night!

What are you up to right now?
Although I did not end up pursuing music professionally, I kept music close to me throughout all five years of my undergraduate career, and I still try to practice and perform in my own personal time whenever possible. I have just entered my second and final year as a graduate student of the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. I am a case manager for The Salvation Army, as well as a field work intern at Planned Parenthood and member of various organizations and committee. When I’m not working, you can find me making a concerted effort to not be hit by vehicles while riding my bike around Houston.