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Raul Shui 水乐山

@shuileshan

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PEK➡️PVD➡️NYC 🗣️: 🇨🇳🇺🇸🇩🇪🇪🇸
♏️，INFJ-A
BNDS '18 &'21 🐲 Brown '25 &'26 🐻
🇺🇳@unhabitat_ny
⚽️ referee/Jazz French Horn player/Specialty Coffee lover
MIA SAN MIA！

POSTS STORIES REELS

2️⃣4️⃣🎂
预备，各就各位，
一二三跳，跳进染缸。

Ready, get set,
One, two, three—jump into the dye vat. by @shuileshan

🚨 HERE WE GO! RAUL SHUI SET TO INTERN AT UN-HABITAT NEW YORK LIAISON OFFICE 🇺🇳🗽 by @shuileshan

One person; one city.

One person guarded one city; one city welcomed one person.

One person is leaving one city; one city is bidding farewell to one person.

One person cherishes one city; one city misses one person. by @shuileshan

ONE French horn,
TWO band directors,
THREE music folders,
FIVE years,
TEN semesters,
OVER TWENTY performances,
COUNTLESS numbers of tunes
……

Before I start telling the story, there’s a fun fact: I memorized a lot of solos during our past concerts by listening to the recordings during 10+ hours of intercontinental flights. Friends also rated me the last person to survive if there’s a hunger game happening within our band members, and @cristinabarbella gave her reason by describing my character as strong, intelligent, and cunning.

I still vividly remember the first day of my freshman year, when I nervously entered the practice room with boundless dreams and expectations, recording a video for the big band audition. Back then, I lacked confidence in improvisation and could only clumsily navigate simple scales within familiar standards. Now I had become the longest serving veteran, witnessing and contributing to the revival of Brown’s entire jazz community after the pandemic—and turned myself into the “one and only” jazz French Horn player on campus.

Yet the growth I gained from the band far exceeded from the realm of jazz itself. From Ed and Timo—who came from different eras and countries—I learned perseverance, dedication, and an open-minded embrace of world music. Through my undergraduate and master’s Senior Concerts, I had the opportunity to adapt the Chinese music I love into big band jazz arrangements, sharing them with music lovers across oceans.

Last year’s arrangement, “Rock on the New Long March,” felt like the perfect intersection of my three undergraduate concentrations—education studies, East Asian studies, and music—leading me to reflect deeply on how people in that era interpreted life, culture, and change. This sparked my growing interest in the musicological aspects, especially exploring the history of various countries during their resistance movements, ultimately shaping my Capstone “Jazz Revolutionary Songs,” brought to life by a group of over a dozen talented friends who share a passion for creating music together.

After entering the one-year master’s program, preparing for farewell became a theme I was destined to face. Rather th by @shuileshan

I didn’t expect my first World Cup in person experience would be this. Getting a ticket two hours before the game from the resale marketplace and went straight to Foxborough just to support the boys for a team that has continuously disappointed us for most of the game in the past decade.

I know that Rome wasn’t built in one day, and the cancer of German football didn’t become terminal after just one tournament. It is not just the fault of the coach, or the players who performed poorly, but rather something systemic, deep-rooted in the mindset and everyday life of the nation.

I just feel really sad for my childhood hero @manuelneuer , who exhausted his last bit of strength at his (extra) final game wearing this shirt, saved the match point penalty but still couldn’t stop the Titanic from sinking.

The worst thing is that the team that I really love since day one @onsoranje also got eliminated through the penalties four hours later in the same day. Now this World Cup is over for me, the only thing I can do is to appreciate the beauty of this sport, and wishing the best for the Bayern players for them to win the trophy and later the Ballon d’Or. by @shuileshan

It is my greatest honor to serve as the Graduate Advisor for Brown China Summit @brownchinasummit this year!

As a loyal supporter of the summit during my undergrad years, I was very fortunate to receive the collective invitation last spring by then president Alan @alanbear888 , as well as this year’s president and vice president Emma and Peter, to assist in organizing the event as a “cheating code” and help the club with strategic oversight.

This year’s team members are incredibly multi-talented, by exploring many novel fields that were completely unfamiliar to everyone at the panels while also demonstrating an extremely strong sense of dedication. After a year of working together, I believe that everyone can pool their wisdom and continue to make the club bigger and stronger in the future.

The most exciting part was spending over two months meticulously preparing for the “Conversation with Yo-Yo Ma” event @yoyoma . From the initial confirmation of the maestro’s schedule by Emma, to suggesting to the team about inviting my music professor, Anthony Cheung @anthonyscheung as the moderator, to the final stage of preparing all the interview questions and smoothly running every details of the event. The successful hosting of this talk not only marks a perfect conclusion to our work this year, but also further solidified Brown China Summit’s reputation and influence on campus.

Thank you colleagues all for your hard work, especially shout out to Emma @emmabrignall , Peter @xyluo__ , and Irene @irene_z.30 , where we had multiple group meetings at midnight. I am extremely grateful to everyone for your trust and support, hope all the best for the club’s future, and I’ll always be the one to help! by @shuileshan

Starting my coffee journey with @specialtycoffeeassociation certified training programs. by @shuileshan

2⃣️3️⃣🎂
我只能看到前面，看不到后面，
这样不是就有一半的事情看不到了吗？

I can only see what’s in front, not what‘s behind.
So I can only know half of the truth, right? by @shuileshan

The wildflower had a dream of a rose. by @shuileshan

Leshan (Raul) Shui is a senior from Beijing, China. Apart from Music, he is also concentrating in East Asian Studies, along with an Honors degree in Education Studies. He has played the French Horn for over a decade in different types of ensembles. He is also the first permanent French Horn player in the history of Brown Jazz Band, the flagship big band of the university. Raul has also been passionately involved in other jazz related activities: he has served as the leader of Brown Jazz Jams for one year, where he has collaborated with other music enthusiasts to provide a platform for musicians with different levels to have an authentic jazz experience, and he has also performed the works created by the Fermata Composers Collective.

In his spare time, he actively participates in other activities: he served as the co-president of the Brown University Mahjong Club, acted in the Brown Chinese Theater Club, and regularly attended activities held by The Center for Language Studies and the Brown German Club.

Within his music studies, Raul focuses on both performance and the history of the compositions. By taking multiple classes in musicology, he has analyzed the function of musical works played during different historical periods, and their impacts on the audience. For his music capstone, utilizing the skills cultivated by the music theory and composition classes, Raul has rearranged revolutionary songs from different countries to Jazz-suitable genres. Through this project, he intends to connect jazz, a progressive genre itself, to progressive movements around the world.

After graduation, Raul will pursue a fifth-year master’s in Urban Education Policy, with the aspiration to dedicate himself in the educational reform on the global stage.

⭐ Raul and friends perform at Grant Recital Hall this Sunday, May 11 at 2pm. The concert is entitled "Jazz Revolutionary Songs." Admission is free and open to the public.

Photo by DJ Pennix by @shuileshan

2⃣️2⃣️🎂

Salvation Lies Within. by @shuileshan

Officially launched my senior seminar research project for @brown_eas on Genealogy! Starting from my own ancestral home — Shui Village (水家村) in Ningbo, Zhejiang, the place where my family hasn’t visited since my great great grandfather, 150 years ago.

Thanks to the local cultural workers, officials, and relatives, as well as Prof. Nedostup’s help, I successfully connected my current family with the record on the genealogy (1889 version), meaning that I finally found my own “root”, which I can trace back to the time of the first emperor of Song Dynasty (~950 A.D.)! by @shuileshan