Teenager Returns Favor at Chinese-American Gala

It takes thousands of hours of practice to get from “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to a Beethoven sonata.

But 17-year-old Garrick Chak--winner of last year’s Pacific Symphony Chinese-American League competition--proved his mastery when he performed at a benefit Saturday in Costa Mesa.

Looking older than his years in a sleek tux, the poised high school student took his place at a Yamaha grand piano and thrilled league members and their guests when--from memory--he played selections by Beethoven and Schumann.

The crowd of more than 300 people had come to the Westin South Coast Plaza to celebrate the Chinese New Year and raise funds for this year’s competition--the seventh annual Chinese-American League Showcase for Young Musicians. Showcase winners will perform with the Pacific Symphony at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on May 16.

Chak learned to play the piano at a Yamaha Music School when he was 5 years old, he said during the gala reception. He smiled at the memory of his small hands plinking out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the keyboard.

His parents learned he had perfect pitch, and his musical talent developed.

“I found out I was good when I was placed in an advance class and I was the youngest student,” said Chak, of Hacienda Heights, who attended the benefit with his parents, Theresa and Paul Chak, and his brother Lorin, 15.

To win the statewide showcase competition, Chak--who performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1--competed against 14 other young musicians in a closed audition before judges.

“I had mixed feelings that day,” he said. “I was afraid of losing but also very excited to win.”

It earned him the opportunity to appear last year with the Pacific Symphony in Cheng Hall at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, an occasion he won’t soon forget.

“I felt very honored to play with the orchestra,” said Chak, who plans to study medicine and music in college. “I don’t know when I’ll get such a good chance again.”

Pacific Symphony music director Carl St.Clair told guests that leading the orchestra during performances by showcase winners “has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve had the opportunity to do.”

St.Clair also praised the vision of showcase founder Arlene Cheng of Newport Beach. “To bring us all together the way she has, with the class she has, is to be lauded and applauded,” he said.

During dinner, Cheng confided that helping young people develop careers in music gives her “great joy.”

“Tonight’s gala is the league’s way of showing people what we do,” she said.

Gala net proceeds were estimated at $35,000. Cheng and Ruby Au chaired the event. Caleb Zia is chairman of the Chinese-American League.

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Fighting mental illness: Nine years ago, her teenage son’s bizarre behavior had authorities thinking he was a drug abuser, said Vicky Glass of Irvine.

Out of the blue, her happy 16-year-old had become paranoid. “He kept thinking someone was after him,” Glass said last week during the Mental Health Assn. of Orange County’s Community Service Awards luncheon. “Police agencies, hospitals--they didn’t have a clue to what was wrong. They thought he was on drugs.”

Glass, herself, was at a loss for an answer. She knew her son was clean. Then, during one of her son’s hospital visits, she met a social worker who suggested she take him to a psychiatrist. The diagnosis: schizophrenia--a mental illness characterized by delusions and hallucinations.

After several years of treatment, her son is now “much better,” Glass said during the Thursday event at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. He has been well enough to attend “medical assistant school and graduate,” she added proudly.

Recently, though, he had a setback. “The good thing about it was that he’s come far enough to recognize that ‘the person who talks to him’ is a delusion,” she said. “He picked up the phone and was back in the hospital for treatment before I even knew he had a problem.”

If not for the support of the Mental Health Assn., Glass might not be the serene person she is today.

“It’s really tough dealing with this disease,” she said. “But with the association’s support, I am able to separate myself from it emotionally.”

Glass was among 215 guests who attended the annual benefit where Mary-Evelyn Bryden of Fullerton and psychiatrist Steven Potkin of UCI Medical Center received the Thomas F. Riley Community Service Award. They were honored for their efforts to promote the cause of mental health in Orange County.

After lunch, guests heard from Clea Simon, author of “Mad House” (Penguin), a memoir describing how she and her parents coped with the mental illness of her brother and sister. They were diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 1970s.

“My family went through the classic cycle of confusion, anger and denial,” said Simon, an editor at the Boston Globe. “There were nights when [my siblings] were missing, nobody slept--and we called the cops. And there were nights when they were home but they were acting erratic and my mother would hide all the sharp objects.”

Today, a diagnosis of schizophrenia is not the “horror story” it once was, Simon said. “There are excellent medications for patients and support groups like the Mental Health Assn. that help families.”

To people who have a loved one with a mental illness, Simon offered this advice: “Learn all you can about the disease. The more you find out, the less scary it is--and the more you find you’re not alone.”

To reach the mental health association: (714) 547-7559.

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Cypress College Awards: The Cypress College Foundation presented Judith Swayne--founder of the Orange County Community Foundation--with its Americana Woman of the Year Award during a benefit dinner Saturday at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

Disneyland also was recognized at the annual Americana Awards Banquet, receiving the school’s Distinguished Business Partner award for its support of local education programs and nonprofit institutions.

Receiving Good Citizen awards for contributions to their communities were Paul Kott of Anaheim; Richard Tefank, Buena Park; Bill and Gay Hannah, Cypress; Connie Margolin, Garden Grove; Louie and Irene Yamanishi, La Palma; David Appling, Los Alamitos; and Sandy Hemphill, Stanton.

Myldred Jones of Los Alamitos--winner of last year’s Woman of the Year award--was honorary gala chairwoman. Mary Bouas chaired the event. Gross proceeds of $105,000 will go toward school funding and scholarships.