Christine

Liang was born and lived in Australia until the age of 14 when her family came to Beijing. Because of her birth date and her Australian academic level, she started at WAB in Grade 10, quite young for the grade, and graduated from WAB last May, having just turned 17. She honestly remembers not liking WAB very much at first because "it was so different" from the private, British, conservative, all-girls school that she had attended prior. WAB was her first co-ed school experienced and just the fact that there was no school uniform, that the teachers didn't wear ties, and that some even wore shorts, was enough to be "mind-blowing" to a 14 year old.

However, it didn't take long for Christine to adjust; part way through Grade 10, she recalls beginning to enjoy WAB, particularly as she began to find her place and passion in the music department with. "Mr. Armstrong and the music department really helped me out. It [the department] was going through some exciting changes – new teachers, additional programming, and growing numbers of passionate music students. I am very proud that I was a part of that."

Christine starting playing piano at 6 years old and violin just one year later. She played both instruments at WAB in Grade 10, before eventually deciding to concentrate on the violin. To her surprise, she also was "discovered" as a singer by some classmates who noticed that she also had a voice that "wasn't too bad." Christine soon found herself a singer in a WAB band, even performing in "WAB Idol."

Since graduation, Christine has remained busy with music, completing three auditions for music schools, teaching private lessons, transcribing music scrolls to digital, and continuing to work with the WAB music department as needed. As if that weren't enough, she also starting playing viola! And just because the WAB music department needed another viola player. That is music dedication!

What she now values most from her WAB experience is that, as a graduate, you "have the option of going wherever you like and doing whatever you want." Having experienced the wonderful WAB mix of both security and freedom as a student, Christine truly feels prepared for whatever comes next. Which is good, because she has pretty varied options. Christine has been accepted into the Trinity School of Music in London and the University of Melbourne. She is waiting to hear from several other schools including the London School of Economics, where she would study Politics and Philosophy, as well as. She certainly does have a world of opportunities waiting.