Senior Sarah Jiang will be playing in a free concert Wednesday with the Southern Methodist University Meadows Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. in the Caruth Auditorium at SMU.

“I’m really excited to play with SMU because it’ll be my first time playing as a soloist with an orchestra,” Jiang said. “It feels like all the work I’ve put in the past 12 years has built up to this moment. I’m curious to see the differences between playing with a pianist and an orchestra, and I couldn’t be more excited for the performance.”

Jiang’s journey as a musician started at a young age.

“When I was five, my mom brought me to a Sarah Chang concert,” Jiang said. “After I heard her play I really wanted to learn, and the next summer I stayed in China with my cousin who also plays violin, and she helped me start playing the violin.”

Jiang’s program consists of Chausson’s Poeme, a work that orchestra Julie Blackstock is eager to hear.

“I don’t know this piece, so this’ll be new for me,” Blackstock said. “I’m excited about that and I think that’s what’s cool about it is that it’s something that’s probably relatively unknown to the general public. I mean, to have won the grand champion prize, I think is pretty prestigious.”

Although Blackstock is only in her second year of teaching here, she’s already seen Jiang’s growth.

“I’ve only known her for a year and half but I’ve seen a definite difference in her leadership skills and her ability to lead the orchestra,” Blackstock said. “I think she’s grown a lot in that respect over the past year and a half. I also think that her confidence has grown over the past year and a half, and I think that’s helped her with her All-State ranking and things like that.”

Jiang’s close friends have also witnessed her growth.

“I’m so proud of Sarah for winning,” senior Ashley Fong said. “She has grown so much ever since I met her, growing up together. She always claims she doesn’t practice a lot but I know she does. She really does work hard to play the best that she can.”

Jiang believes that the experience will be a memorable one.

“I practiced a ton,” Jiang said. “I practiced my piece for at least two hours a day since I started it two weeks before the first round. After being one of the three first prize winners of the senior strings division, we had finals at SMU where I won grand prize. I couldn’t be more eager to perform with the SMU orchestra, and I’m excited to see where this brings me as a violinist.”