Unless of course, you’re Serena Lu!

In 2004, Serena performed with the Minnesota Opera in the role of “Trouble,” the child of the ill-fated union between Pinkerton, a naval officer, and Cio-cio-san, known by her friends as Butterfly. Since then, Serena has branched out far and wide, and she’s quite the talented young lady. Although now she lives in New York, Serena used to play with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, and performed pretty regularly in the Twin Cities.

“Serena began studying piano at the age of five. She has won first and received honors in many piano competitions, including the St. Paul Piano Teachers Association Concerto Competition and the Minnesota Music Teachers Forum Mozart Piano Concerto Competition. She was 8 years old when she was chosen to perform the with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, making her the youngest musician ever to solo with the SPCO— since then, she has soloed  with six different orchestras: the Minnesota Orchestra, the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, the Mount Olivet Festival Orchestra, the Lake Superior Symphony Orchestra and Kenwood Symphony Orchestra. She was invited to perform for Desmond Tutu at the “National Youth Conference of Leadership” in 2007.

As a rhythmic gymnast, she has won numerous titles in state, regional, national and international competitions. She is the Rhythmic Gymnastic Junior Olympic champion of her age level in the past four years. Serena’s interests also include acting and dancing. She appeared on NBC’s “America’s Most Talented Kids” and acted as “Sorrow” in the Minnesota Opera’s production “Madame Butterfly”. As a ballet dancer, she has performed “The Russian Dance” in  Loyce Houlton’s  ”Nutcracker Fantasy” since 2007 (Alternates with her sister Cindy). “The Russian Dance” was included in the Minnesota Orchestra’s holiday program  in 2007 & 2008″

Here’s an example of how awesome that performance withe SPCO was:

Source:

http://www.kenwoodsymphonyorchestra.dataride-previews.com/pages.cfm?pageID=21

However, we also know that she’s an amazing gymnast and has competed on national and international levels. She’s a three time Olympic gold medalist, representing the United States as a rhythmic gymnast.

“‘I want to go to the Olympics,’ Lu said.

All of her hard work and dedication to this sport has paid off so far, and her coach Margarita Mamzina, hints of future Olympic gold.”

Check this out and you’ll see why her instructor has such faith in her ability!

No, we don’t believe it either. But, GO SERENA! YOU ROCK!

Source: http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=10313