Hyatt Regency JFK Airport achieves high performance rating
The Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World New York City operated at a very high performance level during the last quarter of
2021. Photo courtesy of Resorts World NYC
Composing Music as “a Symbol of Hope” After COVID-19
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JAN. 28 - FEB. 3, 2022 9
BY BILL PARRY
Resorts World New York City announced
that its new Hyatt Regency
JFK Airport has been operating with
the highest overall scores for fullservice
Hyatt franchises for cleanliness,
working order and customer
service.
The criteria is based on a standard
set by Hyatt Hotels Corporation
and it covered the final quarter of
2021.
The Hyatt Regency JFK is an
eight-story, four-star hotel featuring
400 residential-inspired guest rooms
and premium suites. The housekeeping
and front desk teams played an
integral role in maintaining the high
scores, inspecting the rooms and
helping to personalize each guest experience.
All department heads are consistently
reviewing guest feedback, so
they know which areas need work.
“Considering we just opened
the prior quarter, this is a huge accomplishment
that’s very hard to
achieve,” Hyatt Regency JFK Director
of Rooms Brian Twomey said.
“We’re appreciative of the entire team
for their hard work in helping us attain
these scores. And of course, we
couldn’t have done it without an incredible
outpouring of positive feedback
from our wonderful guests.”
The hotel includes amenities such
as a fitness center, state-of-the-art
conference and meeting spaces, retail
options and additional gaming areas.
The hotel also features the Sugar Factory
café and confectionary shop.
Its 218-seat dining room features
hot air balloon banquettes, café seating
along with a private dining area
with a stand-alone cocktail bar.
Conveniently located just minutes
away from JFK Airport, the hotel is
accessible by the A train, Q37 bus
and the Long Island Rail Road Jamaica
Station with pickup from the
free casino shuttle.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail
at bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
As an educated film composer, Ruiqi Zhao knows that music is the
glue that pieces an entire performance together. It is the element
that builds beauty or builds tension and tells a story alongside the
performers – even a story as emotional as COVID-19.
“Everyone’s Life is Worth Stopping and Remembering”
Though Zhao’s music scores lean toward the romantic and action
genres, her impressive ability to create something as raw and
relevant as a piece dedicated to COVID proves her talent. Zhao’s
innate ability to mesh genres and create such poetic music is a
talent necessary - especially in the post-COVID world we are
living in.
“Meet You in My Dreams represents a special kind of hope,” Zhao
explains regarding the composition dedicated to the lives lost to
COVID. “Although life is fleeting, we still have to be full of sunshine
every day. The music in the second half of my trio is not very sad
– it’s a symbol of hope.”
Zhao’s inspiration for attacking this project grew from stories told
by her friends who had lost relatives to the disease. Feeling so
personally connected to the devastating losses, Meet You in My
Dreams was created.
“Because of these deaths, I feel that everyone’s life is worth stopping and remembering.
I want to do my best to use music to commemorate the people who have passed,” says
Zhao. “I think this is very meaningful. My music is not only for the people who lost a
loved one to COVID, but for anyone who has a soul.”
Escaping the Darkness Through Musical Stories
“Music had always been my Patronus which dispelled the darkness of my childhood,”
Zhao states of her quiet, lonely youth in Jilin Province, China. She used music as an
escape as she grew up – playing piano, singing, and playing guitar as well as becoming
familiar with other instruments. Zhao left her hometown to study contemporary media
and film composition at Eastman School of Music for her master’s degree. It was during
her time at Eastman when she felt truly blown away by the craft.
“We had to take command of so many skills to be able to step into
this industry,” Zhao says. “We had a lot of recording sessions and
opportunities to conduct our music live with professional players.
It honed our orchestration skills.”
She later moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a film
composter and created scores for directors at Chapman University
Film School and LMU School of Film and Television. Her score, The
Loneliest Whale in the World, was selected for many film festivals
and she received the Hundred Flowers Award from one of the
largest film festivals in China.
“I’ve realized that music is not only important for just me, but it is
something I can use to help people. I once volunteered to go teach
children music theory. They were so immersed and got so inspired,”
Zhao says of this life-changing experience. “They said it was a
brilliant experience for them to learn something they never got a
chance to know. I decided to use my passion to influence and help
more people since then.”
Meshing Cultures and Moving Forward
“I will definitely be focusing more on scoring movies that are both
in China and in the United States,” says Zhao of her future goals.
“I hope I can do something I’ve never gotten the chance to do
before. Maybe compose some pop songs and sing by myself.”
Seeing how far Zhao’s talent and experience has already brought her, there is no doubt
she will conquer her goals and go onto to create even more ambitious ones. As Meet
You in my Dreams continues to connect with more and more listeners, Zhao will
certainly have a growing fan base behind her every step of the way.
“I want to keep improving myself. I hope I can be more proficient at orchestration and
production,” states Zhao. Zhao is currently working at the well-known composer Nathan
Wang’s Studio, their projects including films, television, video games, musical theater,
opera and the concert stage. Zhao scored PUBG Trailer, PUBG is one of the best-selling,
highest-grossing and most-played video games of all time, “It was fun to compose
intense and epic music”
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