The Infinite Staircase feat. Concert Pianist, Han Chen

WEBVTT
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Florence Price piano concerto was written in
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1934 and it was believed that the full score
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was lost for a long time until 2019 that they
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recovered the part and scores in her abandoned
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house. It was quite exciting for all people who
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love her music to finally reconstruct the original
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score. But it's actually clearly in three sections.
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Each section has different feel like the classical
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style which has fast, slow and fast structure.
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The first movement is kind of like late romantic
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style and the middle section is the call and
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response between the piano and the oboe and the
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last one is a juba dance which is quite exhilarating.
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Welcome to another episode of The Pianopod, everyone.
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This season, we are exploring creativity and
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connection, highlighting artists who are not
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only exceptional performers, but who are also
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actively reshaping how classical music is experienced,
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programmed, and built. Today's guest is pianist
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Han Chen. Han is one of those artists who doesn't
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just perform at a high level, he builds. From
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Beethoven's Hammerklavier to the complete Ligeti
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Etudes, he's taken on some of the most demanding
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works in the repertoire, while also creating
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projects that push beyond the traditional recital
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format. He was recently nominated for the 2026
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Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental
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Solo for his recording of Florence Price's Piano
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Concerto in One Movement, a piece he describes
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as immediate, visceral, and something that really
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speaks for itself. His recording of Ligeti's
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complete etudes was selected by Alex Ross of
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the New Yorker as a notable classical recording
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of 2023, and it was actually during the pandemic
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while living with these works that a much larger
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idea started to form. That idea became Infinite
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Staircase. a project that began simply as a way
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to reconnect with composer friends and grew into
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a 36 -piece program pairing Ligeti's 18 etudes
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with 18 newly commissioned works. In this episode,
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we talk about that process, what it means to
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follow an idea before you know where it will
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lead, how curiosity shapes his work, and why,
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for him, music is not separate from life, but
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part of it. Before we begin, thank you to our
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listeners for supporting The Piano Pod. Your
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engagement helps sustain this growing community
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of artists and thinkers. Here is Season 6 of
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The Piano Pod with concert pianist Han Chen.
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Please enjoy the show. You are listening to The
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Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds
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in the industry about how they are bringing the
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piano into the future and thriving in a complex,
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ever -evolving world. Han, welcome to The Piano
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Pod. It's such a pleasure to have you here. Where
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are you joining us from today? Well, thank you
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for having me. I'm in New York right now in my
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home. Oh, great. Do you live in Manhattan? I
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live in Long Island City, Queens. Great. Yay.
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That's a beautiful part of Queens. Yes. Yeah.
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Thank you so much for joining. And we actually
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had a chance to work side by side a few years
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ago. I don't know if you remember. Yes. Cannot
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start a competition. As judges. Yes. Yes. It
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was fun. That was a lot of fun. Yes. And in what
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feels like a short time ago, but so much has
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happened for you and for your career from Infinite
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Staircase to... a grammy nomination oh my gosh
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congratulations thank you so much thank you that's
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a huge deal huge milestone as a as a musician
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so i've been spending time some time listening
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to your recordings amazing recordings and learning
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more about your recent projects. And then what
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strikes me is the scale and then the intentionality
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behind everything you do, not just as a concert
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pianist, but as someone shaping conversations
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through programming, commissioning. All of that
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leads beautifully into my first question, which
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is about the foundation of your artistic world.
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With everything you've built and explored as
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a concert pianist, recording artist, curator,
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and commissioner, of new work. What is the driving
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force, meaning your mission and passion behind
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your work today? Well, first of all, I love playing
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the piano. I think the love for the instrument
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and music is definitely the foundation for all
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musicians. And I am very lucky coming from a
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family where my mom was a piano teacher. So I
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was always surrounded by piano students with
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people loving the music. And my mom also did
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different jobs like she was a temporarily a radio
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host for a classical music thing and for a very
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very short period of time so she liked to talk
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about music to show me all different kinds of
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music and she's just really passionate and i
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grew up in that environment where that music
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is part of our lives so we would go to concerts
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we would you know practice my sister is a violinist
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it's just everything is so natural to me so i
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think from very early on music is so essential
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in my life that i don't feel like it is something
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uh different from the life itself it is part
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of life so um with that uh i remember one special
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album that really influenced me a lot is when
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I was in high school, I listened to Maurizio
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Pellini's album, where he played Boulez's Sonata
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No. 2, which is a piece that I always admired,
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but I've never tried myself. In that recording,
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I was actually learning the Petrushka at the
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time, and I wanted to listen to other interpretations,
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and I turned on the CD, and I just let the CD...
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keep playing and then he played the Webern variations
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and then the Boulez Sonata and my mom shouted.
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that, what are you listening to? Can you stop
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that? And it was just a lot of fun. I mean, I
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was very curious. I'm still a very curious person.
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I love hearing music that I don't know. And that
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became something really driving me when I started
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to study music professionally is to discover
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new things that I've never heard of before. And
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especially when I moved to New York to attend
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the Juilliard School, I was surrounded by so
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many great composers and they were always exploring
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new ideas I have never thought of. So I like,
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you know, working with composers because I feel
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they are really doing something that is so current
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and so new and or just like so innovative. It
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doesn't have to be. to be groundbreaking you
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know but just like to have this idea and then
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you turn that into a piece of music it's just
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so fascinating this whole process so then after
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um graduation i realized that i really like the
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idea of commissioning and i started commissioning
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my friends to write for me and then i like playing
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their music and it's just naturally you know
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i never really thought about that is gonna be
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my artistic plan it's just like what happened
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to me because i was surrounded by all these great
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composers and also of course with your curiosity
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right yeah yeah i feel that's very different
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from a lot of my colleagues because um even when
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i was really young um i always like to play things
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i don't know um For example, in my school, where
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I was studying at the Shanghai Conservatory Elementary
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School, Middle School, High School, it's all
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one school, that we had technical exams. So you
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have to play etudes. You know, everyone plays,
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you have to play Chopin etudes, you have to play
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Liszt etudes, and then blah, blah, blah. And
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then you can choose a free one. Most people will
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just do Rachmaninoff, you know, that's like the
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safest choice. But I was, I... I was in a bookstore,
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a score store that I was just browsing around.
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And then I discovered the Ligeti Etudes, which
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I had never heard of as a, I think, a middle
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schooler at the time. I was like, what is this?
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And I opened a score and I couldn't understand
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a thing. I was like, what is this? I have to
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at least purchase that score first and then to
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figure it out. And luckily, my teacher at the
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time. just graduated from the Manhattan School
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of Music and went back to Shanghai to teach and
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he was really open -minded and he let me play
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that one of the piece from the collection for
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my exam. I don't know how I did at a time but
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you know that just opened a door for me to always
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explore new things. Wow so you just told me a
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lot of things about you and you know as several
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years ago sitting right next to you I just didn't
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realize how you know curious of a person you
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were so i'm so happy that we're having this conversation
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so um yeah you mentioned the gettys uh but you
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know what let's talk about your grammy nomination
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right so yeah the 2026 grammy award for best
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classical instrumental solo for your recording
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of florence prices piano concerto in one movement
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really congrats oh my gosh that's a Huge, huge
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thing. And I've been listening to the album over
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the past few days and including the violin concerto
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and other works by Florence Price. And then the
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concerto itself is incredibly compelling, of
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course. And there's so much such clarity and
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sweep and conviction in your plays. And so when
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you recorded it, then received the Grammy recognition
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down the road. And what did that mean to you
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personally? Well, I was first approached by my
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label Nexus to record this concerto. They have
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been doing a series of her orchestral works in
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the past few years. So I think this was the fourth
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album that they put out of music by Florence
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Price. And they asked me whether I was interested.
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And at a time, to be honest, I didn't know her
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music. I had to listen to... her music online,
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to listen to other music by her as well, not
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just the concerto, to understand what I was going
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to play. And, you know, at the moment I heard
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the concerto, I immediately fell in love. It
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is something that is so visceral that you listen
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to it and it gets into you. I remember i started
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practicing it and my mother -in -law was with
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us at the time and she could hum the melody after
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a few days so that's that kind of music you know
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it's just so touching and um so immediate that
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it gets to your heart um so i said yes and i
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prepared for it i went to record but this whole
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time i you know it's my fifth album so i didn't
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think about, I didn't think that it would lead
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to something, you know, just like I keep recording
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music and recording music is fun, you know, and
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it's such a great music. So I went and I met
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this conductor, John Jeter, who has been the
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one who recorded all the Florence Price's music.
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And he is very involved in the whole process
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of getting on the ballot of the grammy and then
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to you know to campaign for it and to talk to
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people about this whole thing and he brought
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me in he was like um i was gonna do this thing
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do you wanna join me and i said yes i didn't
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know what that meant at the time i just felt
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that we did a good recording of this i want people
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to listen to it so um then the recording was
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released and then we went to la to play excerpts
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of it to you know make people realize that there's
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this album on the ballot people should listen
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to it and then we got the nomination it just
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happened that way and I was extremely lucky and
00:13:43.970 --> 00:13:47.129
grateful for this whole thing whole process felt
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really smooth and it's just it was like you put
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in the work and it happened but you know in music
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a lot of time it's not the way you're putting
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a lot of effort and you don't know what's gonna
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happen but this was really really um very lucky
00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:07.169
for me to get this for this recording and i just
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came back from the ceremony uh half a week ago
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it was a lot of fun uh at the crypto arena and
00:14:13.090 --> 00:14:16.629
the peacock theater uh i got to meet so many
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great great musicians there a lot of composers
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a lot of uh conductors instrumentalists it's
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just a lot of uh great minds coming together
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so i was very lucky um to be there and i was
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also very honored because then the winner of
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my category was yoyo ma and to about just be
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in the vicinity of that name it's just like a
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dream country for me yeah but you know nomination
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itself is already winning, right? You're the
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winner. So I really want to congratulate you.
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So bravo to you. Yeah, it's not only your talent,
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but also it's a long years and years of training
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and dedication. So yeah, it's almost almost two
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years since we recorded this album. So that's
00:15:07.169 --> 00:15:10.330
how long this whole process took. That's fantastic.
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You know, and this piece is also iconic like
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you know it was premiered in 1930s and in a with
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price herself at the piano right what a what
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a you know history and legacy and how do you
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hold that legacy honoring her yeah Well, she
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is so cool. I love hearing about her. And you
00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:38.659
know that she went to the New England Conservatory
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where I also went to school. So I felt that legacy
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is part of my education. I love the fact that
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we went to the same school and stuff like that.
00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:49.820
But like you said, her concerto was premiering
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in the 1930s and it was actually one of the most
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performed pieces. of hers in her lifetime. So
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she played herself, she conducted, but also other
00:16:00.779 --> 00:16:02.899
people performed this work. It's just so popular
00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:06.539
at the time. It's a great work, has many different
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emotions. It has more songful first movement,
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but it also has a dance in the last movement.
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So it can fit into many different occasions.
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It could be traditional. classical concert. It
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could be a pop concert. It could be a lot of
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things. You know, it's just great music to be
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:26.360
programmed. And if 17 minutes, it fits with other
00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:29.620
pieces. But the thing is that when Florence passed
00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:34.159
away, the score, the full score was lost. So
00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.799
people didn't have the access of the full score,
00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:39.980
but they had the two piano arrangements. So people
00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:44.639
still knew about this piece, but they were just
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:49.429
not performing it. until um well trevor was commissioned
00:16:49.429 --> 00:16:53.269
to reconstruct the orchestra part but then in
00:16:53.269 --> 00:16:58.009
2009 that the uh florence prices scores were
00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:01.029
rediscovered in her abandoned house in illinois
00:17:01.029 --> 00:17:05.509
and this whole resurgence of her scores became
00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:08.089
a big thing that people started to go through
00:17:08.089 --> 00:17:12.289
the, I think, some 900 scores to just to know
00:17:12.289 --> 00:17:15.269
what was in there. And then eventually the original
00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:19.049
full score was published. So that's the score
00:17:19.049 --> 00:17:22.250
we used in the recording. And I feel like to
00:17:22.250 --> 00:17:26.210
be part of this whole legacy of hers and to the
00:17:26.210 --> 00:17:30.250
story of discovering is just so, it's something
00:17:30.250 --> 00:17:33.410
that you cannot dream of. You cannot. work hard
00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:35.690
towards it's just like it happened that time
00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:38.630
and then you join the force of this whole thing
00:17:38.630 --> 00:17:42.029
and you know as a musician we study music history
00:17:42.029 --> 00:17:44.809
all the time and this is the kind of thing you
00:17:44.809 --> 00:17:47.650
you want to be part of you know like it's not
00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:52.150
something that people can um create it's just
00:17:52.150 --> 00:17:54.829
it's not a good thing because it was lost but
00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:58.029
the resurgence the rediscovering is something
00:17:58.029 --> 00:18:00.549
as a musician you want to be part of and i was
00:18:00.549 --> 00:18:05.150
just so honored to be part of this So when listeners
00:18:05.150 --> 00:18:08.329
hear your recording today, what do you hope they
00:18:08.329 --> 00:18:11.509
experience from your performance beyond the story
00:18:11.509 --> 00:18:13.609
surrounding the composer? What do you hope they
00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:17.710
actually hear in the music itself? Well, as much
00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:20.549
as I love to talk about stories, because I mean,
00:18:20.569 --> 00:18:23.289
stories are great. I feel music has to speak
00:18:23.289 --> 00:18:26.049
for itself. And I feel this piece definitely
00:18:26.049 --> 00:18:29.630
speaks for itself. It doesn't, I think the audience
00:18:29.630 --> 00:18:33.019
doesn't have... have to know the story behind
00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:37.680
it to appreciate it to enjoy it to be moved by
00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.160
the music so i would just say just listen to
00:18:41.160 --> 00:19:22.029
it and enjoy it as you like I have been, I want
00:19:22.029 --> 00:19:24.730
to talk about your infinite staircase. Oh my
00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:27.829
gosh, this project, it happened two years ago,
00:19:27.930 --> 00:19:29.930
three years ago, something like that. Three years
00:19:29.930 --> 00:19:34.470
ago. But let's start from your recording of the
00:19:34.470 --> 00:19:38.410
Ligeti Etudes. So, you know, I have been listening
00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:42.630
to that album on streaming and then to master
00:19:42.630 --> 00:19:47.029
all 18 of them, those Ligeti, it was almost...
00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:51.069
That itself is a huge milestone as a pianist.
00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:54.250
And what did it mean for you to live with and
00:19:54.250 --> 00:19:57.029
learn all these and record the complete Ligeti
00:19:57.029 --> 00:20:05.549
Etudes? So they are so difficult. It all went
00:20:05.549 --> 00:20:10.650
back to the pandemic when it was shut down. Naturally,
00:20:10.650 --> 00:20:17.630
a lot of people lost what they were doing. I
00:20:17.630 --> 00:20:20.650
wanted to do something, although we were shut
00:20:20.650 --> 00:20:24.849
down. We were at home, and I discussed with my
00:20:24.849 --> 00:20:31.670
label company, and I brought up that the centenary
00:20:31.670 --> 00:20:34.950
of Ligeti was coming up, whether they were interested
00:20:34.950 --> 00:20:37.609
in doing an album of Ligeti's etudes. I mean,
00:20:37.710 --> 00:20:41.150
I was just throwing out ideas. It's just one
00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:43.490
of the ideas I threw out at them, and they picked
00:20:43.490 --> 00:20:46.849
up this one. To be honest, at the time, I only
00:20:46.849 --> 00:20:50.670
knew two or three etudes in my hands. I'd have
00:20:50.670 --> 00:20:54.309
played only two or three. But to play 18, I didn't
00:20:54.309 --> 00:20:57.650
know what I was getting myself into. I was just
00:20:57.650 --> 00:21:00.650
like, okay, let's do it since there's nothing
00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:04.589
else to do. So I started learning it. And of
00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:06.150
course, I gave myself a lot of time. I think
00:21:06.150 --> 00:21:09.509
I prepared for almost a year before the recording
00:21:09.509 --> 00:21:12.970
happened. So I was just learning, practicing,
00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:18.579
learning, practicing. um and i i have to say
00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:22.859
now looking back at it i felt that these attitudes
00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:27.859
helped me through the pandemic because you know
00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:30.019
pandemic is such a difficult time for everyone
00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:33.299
and especially for performing artists like you
00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:35.579
don't have a stage to go on to and you don't
00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:38.440
have we love connecting with people you don't
00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:40.420
connect with people you're just playing the music
00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:48.369
and um the difficulty of life was sort of getting
00:21:48.369 --> 00:21:51.509
better when you are facing something so difficult
00:21:51.509 --> 00:21:56.089
at the piano. Because every day I wake up, I
00:21:56.089 --> 00:22:01.690
do these etudes. It feels like the life is actually
00:22:01.690 --> 00:22:06.609
easier than what I was doing with the Ligeti
00:22:06.609 --> 00:22:10.630
etudes. So learning these pieces really helped
00:22:10.630 --> 00:22:15.140
me. alive at a time that everything was not alive
00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:22.500
literally and and then you know during the pandemic
00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:25.079
in new york it was a little a little better and
00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:26.940
then it got worse again a little better it got
00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:32.420
worse again so uh i really felt that um this
00:22:32.420 --> 00:22:36.339
wave that we were writing was pretty in sync
00:22:36.339 --> 00:22:39.130
with my feeling with the attitudes like some
00:22:39.130 --> 00:22:41.430
days i will feel good about them i feel sometimes
00:22:41.430 --> 00:22:44.730
i feel that these are impossible actually all
00:22:44.730 --> 00:22:50.230
the emotions and everything it just transcended
00:22:50.230 --> 00:22:56.490
into my musical journey and i felt that i was
00:22:56.490 --> 00:22:59.069
again lucky to have that because a lot of people
00:22:59.069 --> 00:23:04.509
were probably not having a thing to do but me
00:23:04.509 --> 00:23:08.430
having something to hold on to was actually a
00:23:08.430 --> 00:23:12.170
good thing at the time. I would say that if we're
00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:15.410
not the pandemic, I wouldn't be doing this project,
00:23:15.589 --> 00:23:20.109
I guess. But this was really, I feel very, you
00:23:20.109 --> 00:23:24.450
know, happy to have done it. But again, I love
00:23:24.450 --> 00:23:27.450
connecting with people. And as I said, I have
00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:30.089
so many composer friends surrounding me and all
00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:32.710
that. And it's always commissioning and everything.
00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:37.630
What did I do in the pandemic was that I also
00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:40.190
wanted to connect with people. And luckily, one
00:23:40.190 --> 00:23:43.750
of my, we're talking about influence staircase,
00:23:43.910 --> 00:23:48.009
one of my friends, Nina Yang, the composer, she
00:23:48.009 --> 00:23:51.450
told me about the project she was doing. She
00:23:51.450 --> 00:23:56.710
was writing in pair to the Bach, I think it was
00:23:56.710 --> 00:23:58.750
the two -part invention, maybe the two -part
00:23:58.750 --> 00:24:01.529
and three -part. So for each invention and symphonica,
00:24:01.670 --> 00:24:06.119
they found a composer to write in response. to
00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:09.319
those pieces. And we were just chatting. I was
00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:12.460
like, maybe I'm playing 18 Ligeti etudes. Maybe
00:24:12.460 --> 00:24:15.079
I can do the same thing. So she gave me the idea
00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:20.059
of commissioning 18 composers to write in response
00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:22.759
to these etudes, because that's what I was practicing.
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.359
And if I were to invite someone to do something
00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:29.619
related to what I was doing, that's the way to
00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:35.450
do it. i started writing to my friends i started
00:24:35.450 --> 00:24:37.450
to connect with them it's like i was thinking
00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:39.809
in my mind that it's actually a great excuse
00:24:39.809 --> 00:24:43.069
to reach out to people i just i don't want to
00:24:43.069 --> 00:24:45.269
be the creepy person just emailing out of blue
00:24:45.269 --> 00:24:49.569
saying that oh i miss you can we talk or no but
00:24:49.569 --> 00:24:54.799
i yes i use that as an excuse to to you know,
00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.740
reconnect with my friends and also make new friends
00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:01.660
because I then had to find more composers on
00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:05.480
board for the 18 etudes. And when I was reaching
00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.380
out, I didn't know where I was going to perform
00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:10.619
them, what I was going to do with them, or whether
00:25:10.619 --> 00:25:12.460
I was going to record them or anything. I had
00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:17.339
zero idea. I was just like, I'm going to ask
00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:22.740
first. And as part of my personality, I'm not
00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:25.059
sure about you, but I'm always the person that
00:25:25.059 --> 00:25:27.619
I do things first, and if it doesn't go through,
00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:30.079
I'll just forget about it. So I was actually
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.019
having that mindset. I was just like, let's try,
00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:34.700
and if it doesn't work, then never mind. But
00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:39.200
then, surprisingly, all the composers said yes
00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.500
to me. I mean, they were so... They were probably
00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:46.579
bored at home as well, but they were so generous
00:25:46.579 --> 00:25:51.079
to be part of this project. to do this i was
00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:55.440
um paying very little at a time um i also didn't
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.579
have a promise of a venue to perform but they
00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:01.900
just like said sure i will write you something
00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:04.579
so i asked each of them to just write me something
00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:07.599
two to three minutes in response to the etudes
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:11.589
and and here i had the project and after that
00:26:11.589 --> 00:26:14.569
i started to look out for people who would be
00:26:14.569 --> 00:26:17.869
producing the concert a venue and then a donor
00:26:17.869 --> 00:26:20.509
and everything it's just like things came after
00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:26.869
the project was formulating and so i now always
00:26:26.869 --> 00:26:29.069
tell people that you if you have an idea you
00:26:29.069 --> 00:26:32.609
just execute it first even though you might not
00:26:32.609 --> 00:26:35.369
have the resource at a time but if you really
00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:38.319
create something things will follow Well, at
00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:40.599
least for me, that was how it happened. I know
00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:43.180
it's not always the case, but I got lucky at
00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:46.519
the time that people really liked the idea. And
00:26:46.519 --> 00:26:50.160
there are just so many composers on board, so
00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:54.220
people really treated it as a very big project.
00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.599
But, you know, in my mind, it was just me connecting
00:26:56.599 --> 00:27:00.160
with my old friends. But, you know, the idea
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.269
of playing the Getty came from your... youth
00:27:03.269 --> 00:27:06.309
when you were right right and then that became
00:27:06.309 --> 00:27:09.650
the album and became this project that's huge
00:27:09.650 --> 00:27:12.970
that's something meaningful right yeah yeah it
00:27:12.970 --> 00:27:15.549
feels like it combined all my interests together
00:27:15.549 --> 00:27:21.789
yeah yeah then tell me so exactly how you executed
00:27:21.789 --> 00:27:25.009
this project did it become an album or did it
00:27:25.009 --> 00:27:29.630
become a concert yeah so um eventually i premiered
00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:33.450
all um 18 new pieces at the national sawdust
00:27:33.450 --> 00:27:37.890
brooklyn on september 24th 2023 that is the premiere
00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:41.789
concert and i where i played all legacy attitudes
00:27:41.789 --> 00:27:46.609
and the 18 commissioned uh pieces and i just
00:27:46.609 --> 00:27:50.190
recorded all of them last year the 18 new pieces
00:27:50.190 --> 00:27:53.410
and it will be probably released next year in
00:27:53.410 --> 00:27:57.170
2027 it's just um we are editing it right now
00:27:57.170 --> 00:27:59.670
so it's actually pretty much still in my life
00:27:59.670 --> 00:28:02.009
right now to listen to all these works and to
00:28:02.009 --> 00:28:04.329
read the scores that they wrote to go back to
00:28:04.329 --> 00:28:06.190
emails that we wrote to each other it's just
00:28:06.190 --> 00:28:12.589
a lot of fun um and um i also perform these pieces
00:28:12.589 --> 00:28:15.250
a selection of the pieces in my recitals when
00:28:15.250 --> 00:28:18.029
i go to different places to perform i choose
00:28:18.029 --> 00:28:21.250
the the pairs or maybe i just play the new pieces
00:28:21.250 --> 00:28:24.690
and and that way i get to play them in different
00:28:24.690 --> 00:28:30.049
occasions. It's a kind of project that is so
00:28:30.049 --> 00:28:34.549
cool when you put all together but it's also
00:28:34.549 --> 00:28:37.730
very cool to pick out individual pieces to see
00:28:37.730 --> 00:28:41.609
what the composers were thinking. You can see
00:28:41.609 --> 00:28:45.410
that it's so different. Everyone approached this
00:28:45.410 --> 00:28:47.730
project so differently and it's just so cool
00:28:47.730 --> 00:28:51.009
to see because you wouldn't be able to see that
00:28:51.009 --> 00:28:56.180
if you don't have a I'm calling it a foundation,
00:28:56.339 --> 00:28:58.000
like the legalty attitude is the foundation,
00:28:58.259 --> 00:28:59.880
right? You have to give them this foundation,
00:29:00.019 --> 00:29:03.180
but how they deal with this, so different. I
00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:06.880
mean, when I was commissioning them, I explicitly
00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:10.359
said that I don't want them to feel limited by
00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:12.900
this attitude, that they could do whatever they
00:29:12.900 --> 00:29:15.359
want. So you can see that some of them really
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:20.589
just not. really not doing anything or or trying
00:29:20.589 --> 00:29:23.990
to draw more extra musical idea from the etude
00:29:23.990 --> 00:29:26.430
but some of them use literal quotation from the
00:29:26.430 --> 00:29:29.450
work and then develop a complete new piece out
00:29:29.450 --> 00:29:31.930
of it so yeah it's just so fascinating you know
00:29:31.930 --> 00:29:35.329
composers are so much fun yes wow that is fascinating
00:29:35.329 --> 00:29:41.349
and so 18 different people and so how did so
00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:45.470
each one of them were paired with one specific
00:29:45.470 --> 00:29:51.039
Ligeti i asked them to to uh tell me what which
00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:53.359
one they want to be paired off but i said whoever
00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:56.799
comes first get to choose so i gave them a little
00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:00.140
bit urgency there so yeah they uh most of the
00:30:00.140 --> 00:30:02.680
most of them got what they wanted but there are
00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:05.660
a couple of the more popular ones that they didn't
00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:12.079
get so yeah first comes first served right there's
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:17.619
no better way exactly that's great so one of
00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:20.880
those but maybe tell us a little bit about those
00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:24.200
18 composers maybe you know on top of your head
00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:27.019
i i don't know if you can name all their names
00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:30.140
but maybe their backgrounds like nationality
00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:34.400
yeah most of them are my friends and they are
00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:38.079
from all different places just like your classmates
00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:40.319
at juilliard they're all from different places
00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:47.259
um let me think well um there are of course american
00:30:47.259 --> 00:30:50.140
composers but there are also chinese composers
00:30:50.140 --> 00:30:56.369
korean composers um Iranian composers in there.
00:30:56.670 --> 00:30:59.829
And yeah, it's just all different. But, you know,
00:30:59.829 --> 00:31:02.150
I really didn't think about that when I was asking
00:31:02.150 --> 00:31:04.690
them. I was just asking whoever came to my mind,
00:31:04.789 --> 00:31:09.410
you know. And we'll talk about one of these Chinese
00:31:09.410 --> 00:31:13.210
composers. Very cool. Meng Wang, who is now teaching
00:31:13.210 --> 00:31:18.009
at Manus, I think. was very interested in many
00:31:18.009 --> 00:31:21.410
different things, but one of them is the theatrical
00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:26.250
aspect of performance. So she had me stand up
00:31:26.250 --> 00:31:32.450
and use a guitar pick to pluck the strings. And
00:31:32.450 --> 00:31:35.869
she created this effect that is more like a Chinese
00:31:35.869 --> 00:31:43.000
instrument Yangtze kind of effect. I was playing
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.299
the keys and then I plucked the string and I
00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:47.299
play the key, I pluck the same string and I keep
00:31:47.299 --> 00:31:49.539
playing like that. And it just creates a very
00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:52.359
zen feeling. And I was actually reaching over,
00:31:52.420 --> 00:31:54.940
but also with my hand down there and standing
00:31:54.940 --> 00:31:57.519
up and it looks like I was hugging the piano.
00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:01.079
And then I have to move around and stuff like
00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:03.660
that. It's almost like a dance. So it's very
00:32:03.660 --> 00:32:07.099
cool because I'm not the best person to use the
00:32:07.099 --> 00:32:10.339
whole body. I'm not. that coordinated and everything
00:32:10.339 --> 00:32:13.599
and you know my foot really hurt it in the performance
00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:18.119
because i had to stretch so far to reach the
00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:20.599
strings and stuff but yeah um but it was fun
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:24.079
it was just like you you can see that a different
00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:27.400
composer has different idea of music and that
00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:29.759
was totally out of my comfort zone but i still
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:34.380
loved it right wow wonderful so to perform all
00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:39.539
36 Did you go like this one Ligeti and then one
00:32:39.539 --> 00:32:44.240
paired composer or how did you program? That
00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:47.220
was my original idea and I realized that the
00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:51.240
music doesn't flow that well. Eventually we came
00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:56.900
up with six sets. Every set has six pieces in
00:32:56.900 --> 00:33:01.220
them. And ideally all six are pairs, but I don't
00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:04.200
go with the order. I go with how the music develops.
00:33:04.339 --> 00:33:08.980
So I still want to create a narrative out of
00:33:08.980 --> 00:33:13.420
this program. So it may be that I play three
00:33:13.420 --> 00:33:16.549
Ligeti etudes and then I play three. commission
00:33:16.549 --> 00:33:19.690
works. Or I do in pairs, but then flip order
00:33:19.690 --> 00:33:21.650
and stuff like that. It all depends on how the
00:33:21.650 --> 00:33:24.869
music connect with each other in between. And
00:33:24.869 --> 00:33:30.490
all six sets, I was working with this Metropolis
00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:33.450
Ensemble based in New York that they had this
00:33:33.450 --> 00:33:37.630
great idea that they commissioned another sound
00:33:37.630 --> 00:33:41.009
designer or composer that he created electronic
00:33:41.009 --> 00:33:45.960
backdrops. in between pieces, in between sets.
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:49.359
So at the beginning of the concert, I walked
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:52.039
out on stage and I started playing the first
00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:55.420
set. After I played the first set, I stayed seated
00:33:55.420 --> 00:34:00.119
at the piano and the light dims and then electronic
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:05.920
music for one minute and I rest. And when the
00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:10.440
electronic music finishes, the light comes back
00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:13.280
on and I play the second set and then so on.
00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:16.840
So I never leave the stage. I keep playing all
00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:20.519
36. But in between sets, I have one to two minutes
00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:24.199
of breaks where they play electronic music in
00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:30.980
the background. Wow. Because we want to be as
00:34:30.980 --> 00:34:33.719
compact as possible. We don't want people...
00:34:33.900 --> 00:34:36.619
i leave people clap i come back clap again and
00:34:36.619 --> 00:34:39.219
it's just wasting a lot of time and it's such
00:34:39.219 --> 00:34:41.179
a long program eventually the whole thing it
00:34:41.179 --> 00:34:43.760
was it's not that long after all it was about
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:48.039
two hours ish two two hour ish something like
00:34:48.039 --> 00:34:51.360
that but because of course there are still breaks
00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.940
and stuff like that and then clap at the beginning
00:34:53.940 --> 00:34:56.599
at the end and talk and it's a lot of things
00:34:56.599 --> 00:34:59.980
so i thought that was the best way to you know
00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:04.739
just do it in sets wow but oh my goodness i i
00:35:04.739 --> 00:35:09.500
you have to really have the stamina the endurance
00:35:09.500 --> 00:35:15.460
yeah it was yeah yeah and now i want to thank
00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:17.340
with composers because they didn't really give
00:35:17.340 --> 00:35:20.199
me that heart of the time you know a lot of them
00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:24.099
are writing pieces where i could breathe so that
00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:30.400
was really good breath so that's that's so difficult
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:36.099
and even like in your Ligeti album you didn't
00:35:36.099 --> 00:35:40.340
do it in order right like yeah the book one came
00:35:40.340 --> 00:35:43.880
and the book three or two came and uh I don't
00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:46.780
remember exactly but one book three book two
00:35:46.780 --> 00:35:50.360
right yeah but in concert because i have played
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:53.579
all 18 etudes in one concert the best way is
00:35:53.579 --> 00:35:56.739
to for me is to do book three book one intermission
00:35:56.739 --> 00:35:59.599
and book two it's just because book three starts
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:03.719
a little easier and so you warm up and then book
00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:07.460
one ends so well book one is actually designed
00:36:07.460 --> 00:36:11.219
to perform as one piece by Ligeti so one number
00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:14.340
one to number six etudes the end of number six
00:36:14.340 --> 00:36:16.860
is a great you know piece to end the first half
00:36:17.210 --> 00:36:21.050
Then book two is the longest. It just stands
00:36:21.050 --> 00:36:25.429
itself for a full half. So I think that's my
00:36:25.429 --> 00:36:27.650
concert order. But in the recording, we started
00:36:27.650 --> 00:36:33.730
with book one. So let's go back to this title,
00:36:33.869 --> 00:36:37.769
the infinite staircase. I'm sure the staircase
00:36:37.769 --> 00:36:41.789
comes from the famous devil's staircase, correct?
00:36:42.230 --> 00:36:47.110
by Ligeti Etude. And so Infinite, I love that.
00:36:47.210 --> 00:36:52.329
So the possibilities are infinite, I guess. Yes,
00:36:52.349 --> 00:36:56.250
Infinite, it comes from the next Etude by Ligeti,
00:36:56.469 --> 00:37:00.690
number 14. What is it called? Infinite Column,
00:37:00.750 --> 00:37:05.670
I think. Yeah, and those two pieces are the hardest
00:37:05.670 --> 00:37:11.440
ones in the Ligeti sets. So I chose... both words
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:15.820
from the two etudes. The funny thing about the
00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:19.159
number 14 etude is there's actually a second
00:37:19.159 --> 00:37:22.539
version. There are two versions of this piece,
00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:26.639
14 and 14a. 14a is actually the original one.
00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:29.019
Ligeti wrote the original one first and it was
00:37:29.019 --> 00:37:32.099
too difficult to perform, so he had to come up
00:37:32.099 --> 00:37:35.000
with the easier one. But then the original one
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:37.659
became the one that he put on player piano. so
00:37:37.659 --> 00:37:40.380
automatic piano could play because there's so
00:37:40.380 --> 00:37:43.519
many notes but then people started playing them
00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:47.420
and I was asked you know I was when I was proposing
00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:49.579
this whole project Nexus was like can you also
00:37:49.579 --> 00:37:53.159
do 14 -8 I didn't know at the time I was like
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:56.539
okay sure why not and so that one is the most
00:37:56.539 --> 00:37:59.760
painful one to do but I don't do that in concerts
00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:03.219
yeah that it only exists in my recording and
00:38:03.659 --> 00:38:07.300
I'm glad to not play it again. But you did it.
00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:08.739
You did it in the recording. That's amazing.
00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:12.400
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Thanks to my engineer
00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:16.440
who is, you know, a magician. He could do anything.
00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:21.699
So then, you know, how do you envision from here?
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:26.199
So now that I was about to ask, you know, what
00:38:26.199 --> 00:38:28.860
happened to those commissioned works, then you
00:38:28.860 --> 00:38:33.949
said you record it. So do you have now, Any more
00:38:33.949 --> 00:38:38.289
ideas or vision about this whole Infinite Staircase
00:38:38.289 --> 00:38:45.849
project? Yeah, I do want to play more. Not only
00:38:45.849 --> 00:38:48.090
the Ligeti Etudes, but also the commissioned
00:38:48.090 --> 00:38:52.269
works. I feel that when the album comes out,
00:38:52.349 --> 00:38:56.489
it will help the composers to be heard by more
00:38:56.489 --> 00:39:01.050
audience. And hopefully people will be talking
00:39:01.050 --> 00:39:03.670
about this project again so that people would
00:39:03.670 --> 00:39:06.030
listen to them and to get to know all the composers
00:39:06.030 --> 00:39:09.769
and to know their work, not just the ones they
00:39:09.769 --> 00:39:11.969
wrote for the Infinite Staircase, but in their
00:39:11.969 --> 00:39:14.610
career that they are doing so many great things.
00:39:15.429 --> 00:39:19.949
And I'm also commissioning more works. So I hope
00:39:19.949 --> 00:39:23.510
that things will fall through. It's just always
00:39:23.510 --> 00:39:27.309
the timing and the budget and everything is always
00:39:27.309 --> 00:39:30.150
the most difficult part. It's harder than playing
00:39:30.150 --> 00:39:34.309
the piano, trust me. So, yeah, it always takes
00:39:34.309 --> 00:39:36.329
a lot of time, but I'm always hopeful that things
00:39:36.329 --> 00:40:32.679
will happen. You mentioned a little bit about
00:40:32.679 --> 00:40:35.760
your childhood. And so you grew up in Taiwan.
00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:39.960
Your mother is a piano instructor and so on.
00:40:40.059 --> 00:40:43.539
So I'm curious, can we revisit your childhood?
00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:47.599
Because it's so fantastic coming from that background.
00:40:47.820 --> 00:40:51.539
But was there a moment when music suddenly shifted?
00:40:51.699 --> 00:40:55.179
Oh, this is something I want to do and just meant
00:40:55.179 --> 00:41:01.150
something. Yeah. There's a very personal experience
00:41:01.150 --> 00:41:08.110
to me that I had a very close friend in my middle
00:41:08.110 --> 00:41:10.530
school that we always hang out and everything.
00:41:11.889 --> 00:41:17.250
And we always like to go out to play. But as
00:41:17.250 --> 00:41:20.650
you know, like you need to practice. And at the
00:41:20.650 --> 00:41:23.369
time I was preparing for this competition, it
00:41:23.369 --> 00:41:25.610
was actually my first time coming to America
00:41:25.610 --> 00:41:31.269
for. competition in phoenix arizona i was probably
00:41:31.269 --> 00:41:38.869
12 or 13 and then i was um that day i was supposed
00:41:38.869 --> 00:41:43.389
to be practicing at home and but my friend asked
00:41:43.389 --> 00:41:46.869
me to go out with them to go play and i forgot
00:41:46.869 --> 00:41:49.750
what we were going to do but i remember vividly
00:41:49.750 --> 00:41:52.929
that they got really angry at me saying that
00:41:53.449 --> 00:41:55.630
do you really love piano so much like are you
00:41:55.630 --> 00:41:58.849
really gonna be a pianist or what it's very funny
00:41:58.849 --> 00:42:01.449
because we're all so childish it's just like
00:42:01.449 --> 00:42:05.369
it's just like the way they said it made me really
00:42:05.369 --> 00:42:08.090
think about it because i didn't have to think
00:42:08.090 --> 00:42:11.789
about it for all of this time i was just practicing
00:42:11.789 --> 00:42:15.750
studying and i went to music school i went into
00:42:15.750 --> 00:42:19.429
music school from grade three So it's just so
00:42:19.429 --> 00:42:22.110
natural that everyone else was doing this and
00:42:22.110 --> 00:42:24.489
I didn't have to think about it. So when they
00:42:24.489 --> 00:42:27.170
asked me this question, I was like, oh, like.
00:42:27.739 --> 00:42:31.179
are there any other choices? Can you not be a
00:42:31.179 --> 00:42:33.659
pianist? I was like, I didn't even think about
00:42:33.659 --> 00:42:35.940
that. But at the time I was just like angrily
00:42:35.940 --> 00:42:38.659
said that, of course, yeah, I'm going to win
00:42:38.659 --> 00:42:41.519
this competition, blah, blah, blah, which I didn't.
00:42:41.519 --> 00:42:45.980
But anyway, I went back to practice and everything.
00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:49.880
And it just like made me start to think about
00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:52.900
it. And I just realized that music is a good
00:42:52.900 --> 00:42:56.690
thing. every time every day i sit in front of
00:42:56.690 --> 00:43:01.489
piano of course i like all all every like everyone
00:43:01.489 --> 00:43:04.849
we hate practicing but still practice makes me
00:43:04.849 --> 00:43:10.989
practice actually makes me relax mentally not
00:43:10.989 --> 00:43:14.750
like physically or psychologically because you
00:43:14.750 --> 00:43:19.190
suffer yes but but if i don't practice i suffer
00:43:19.190 --> 00:43:23.599
more i realized i don't know just like As long
00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:26.960
as I know today I practiced, I feel better about
00:43:26.960 --> 00:43:30.380
myself. I feel I accomplished something. Yeah,
00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:34.460
yeah. Right, yeah. So that accomplishment, the
00:43:34.460 --> 00:43:37.179
feeling of that you did something, it's not easy
00:43:37.179 --> 00:43:40.800
to get. And afterwards I realized. Only recently
00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:42.980
I realized. A lot of people, they do so many
00:43:42.980 --> 00:43:45.940
things in their lives, but they feel not accomplished.
00:43:47.079 --> 00:43:50.860
And I think playing the piano is the way for
00:43:50.860 --> 00:43:54.659
me to feel. accomplishment so i feel that is
00:43:54.659 --> 00:43:58.500
actually a given a giving that how do i say um
00:43:58.500 --> 00:44:03.679
it is a gift not everyone has and since i already
00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:07.119
had it this whole time i feel i might as well
00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:10.630
keep playing the piano I hope that makes sense.
00:44:10.730 --> 00:44:13.710
It's not because that I think my career is so
00:44:13.710 --> 00:44:16.469
great that blah, blah, blah. No, I actually feel
00:44:16.469 --> 00:44:20.389
that everyone's career is difficult and there's
00:44:20.389 --> 00:44:23.530
no one having a perfect career or anything. But
00:44:23.530 --> 00:44:26.929
it's just because that playing the piano itself
00:44:26.929 --> 00:44:29.710
gives me a sense of accomplishment that helped
00:44:29.710 --> 00:44:34.789
me through this whole time. I decided when I
00:44:34.789 --> 00:44:37.929
was going to music school, I was going to do
00:44:37.929 --> 00:44:42.110
music. So that never changed. Even though there
00:44:42.110 --> 00:44:44.650
are times where I feel like I will not be able
00:44:44.650 --> 00:44:48.929
to just play the piano and survive, I still think
00:44:48.929 --> 00:44:52.570
that I would just play the piano. Because anything
00:44:52.570 --> 00:44:57.969
else I do, I don't feel satisfied. So I feel
00:44:57.969 --> 00:45:00.289
that if... This is a young person who listens
00:45:00.289 --> 00:45:03.610
to this podcast and think that they want to know
00:45:03.610 --> 00:45:06.289
whether they want to choose this career. Just
00:45:06.289 --> 00:45:08.510
ask yourself whether you could live without it.
00:45:10.389 --> 00:45:14.650
That's my answer. Well, thank you for sharing
00:45:14.650 --> 00:45:18.469
that. Now, was your mother your first teacher?
00:45:19.550 --> 00:45:24.969
Thankfully, no. She knew from the very beginning
00:45:24.969 --> 00:45:28.909
that she would not hold herself well if she became
00:45:28.909 --> 00:45:32.289
my teacher. And she had her colleague teach me
00:45:32.289 --> 00:45:35.550
at the beginning. And very early on, she sent
00:45:35.550 --> 00:45:40.909
me to teach her at the local music department
00:45:40.909 --> 00:45:46.070
for pre -college in Taiwan so that I could have
00:45:46.070 --> 00:45:49.250
a more... formal training because she never my
00:45:49.250 --> 00:45:52.030
mom never went to conservatory and she studied
00:45:52.030 --> 00:45:55.190
piano on her own in fact that she really wanted
00:45:55.190 --> 00:45:58.170
to become pianist herself but her dad didn't
00:45:58.170 --> 00:46:00.909
allow her and her dad was against piano study
00:46:00.909 --> 00:46:03.329
because we didn't they didn't have much time
00:46:03.329 --> 00:46:05.550
much money at the time and she didn't want to
00:46:05.550 --> 00:46:08.389
spend money to buy a piano and to send her to
00:46:08.389 --> 00:46:12.929
lessons and stuff so she had to go to um she
00:46:12.929 --> 00:46:14.809
actually saved money and go to lessons herself
00:46:15.800 --> 00:46:19.920
So she really loved piano. And funny thing was
00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:22.760
that when my dad and my mom got married, their
00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:25.820
honeymoon was at the Juilliard School. What?
00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:30.440
There is this ESL English program every summer.
00:46:30.780 --> 00:46:32.800
I'm not sure whether it's still happening, but
00:46:32.800 --> 00:46:36.639
they had the Juilliard dorm as their dormitory
00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:40.099
for the summer school. So they picked that specifically
00:46:40.099 --> 00:46:42.780
that she could see what the Juilliard School
00:46:42.780 --> 00:46:46.360
looked like. So they did that for, I think, two
00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:49.260
weeks or three weeks at the dorm. And then they
00:46:49.260 --> 00:46:53.440
went on a road trip to the Niagara Falls in Canada
00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:56.639
and stuff like that, just driving it. But the
00:46:56.639 --> 00:46:59.460
cruel thing is that they did that after I was
00:46:59.460 --> 00:47:03.860
born. So they didn't even take me there. I was
00:47:03.860 --> 00:47:06.820
just like with my grandparents at home and they
00:47:06.820 --> 00:47:10.480
went on this honeymoon. But ever since that I
00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:12.820
was studying piano, she would tell me all the
00:47:12.820 --> 00:47:16.599
things she saw at the Juilliard. And I don't
00:47:16.599 --> 00:47:18.039
remember a lot of things, but one thing that
00:47:18.039 --> 00:47:20.059
she kept saying that is that, you know, like
00:47:20.059 --> 00:47:22.840
every student at Juilliard could play all Chopin
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:25.130
etudes perfectly. You have to learn all different
00:47:25.130 --> 00:47:28.909
edges and stuff like that. And yeah, she was
00:47:28.909 --> 00:47:32.389
just like really loving it. But she never had
00:47:32.389 --> 00:47:34.630
that education. So she sent me to her college
00:47:34.630 --> 00:47:37.269
to study and then went to music school. But she
00:47:37.269 --> 00:47:41.269
was always there when we practiced. So she was
00:47:41.269 --> 00:47:44.710
around, you know, and she would watch me and
00:47:44.710 --> 00:47:49.010
my sister practice. But that vision was already
00:47:49.010 --> 00:47:55.280
in you, you know? Yeah, I would say that this
00:47:55.280 --> 00:47:58.239
is a happy ending that I did end up at Juilliard.
00:47:58.380 --> 00:48:02.940
Otherwise, I think she will not be happy or anything.
00:48:03.039 --> 00:48:07.719
But yeah, after Taiwan, we moved to Shanghai
00:48:07.719 --> 00:48:10.480
because my dad was doing business in Shanghai.
00:48:10.639 --> 00:48:13.579
And so I went to the Shanghai Conservatory Elementary
00:48:13.579 --> 00:48:16.260
School from grade four and then middle school
00:48:16.260 --> 00:48:19.840
and high school. And it was there that I... had
00:48:19.840 --> 00:48:22.260
this teacher who just came back from New York.
00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:25.139
So they were more in tune with what was happening
00:48:25.139 --> 00:48:28.599
and how I should prepare and everything. So going
00:48:28.599 --> 00:48:32.280
to Juilliard was always like the only path that
00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:35.300
they were thinking that they wanted that to happen.
00:48:35.539 --> 00:48:39.340
And when I got in, I think that they were all
00:48:39.340 --> 00:48:43.980
just like so happy and so, you know, so thankful.
00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:49.139
And after that, my mom really... asked me to
00:48:49.139 --> 00:48:51.440
do anything anymore. It's like her job is done.
00:48:52.860 --> 00:48:55.179
So you came to the United States officially,
00:48:55.340 --> 00:48:57.440
like moved to the United States as a college.
00:48:57.559 --> 00:49:02.219
For college, yeah. Juilliard. And tell me more
00:49:02.219 --> 00:49:04.980
about that time. Maybe the mentors, teachers
00:49:04.980 --> 00:49:09.320
you met. Yeah, at the Juilliard school, I studied
00:49:09.320 --> 00:49:16.260
with Veda Kaplinsky. And I think our time was
00:49:16.260 --> 00:49:21.420
the best time. I really, I really miss the school
00:49:21.420 --> 00:49:23.820
time. I'm still living in New York, you know,
00:49:23.860 --> 00:49:27.420
but when you're at school, it's different feeling.
00:49:29.079 --> 00:49:31.840
Why I said that our time was the best time was
00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:35.920
because we didn't have any good system for practice
00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:40.119
rooms. That was the case for a long time, I know,
00:49:40.219 --> 00:49:43.789
but... Recently, they became an online register
00:49:43.789 --> 00:49:47.469
system where you can book practice rooms online
00:49:47.469 --> 00:49:51.690
or at a kiosk or something. But at our time,
00:49:51.789 --> 00:49:54.469
you have to physically look for a practice room.
00:49:54.550 --> 00:49:57.469
And my favorite thing is when you cannot find
00:49:57.469 --> 00:49:59.809
a practice room and you go out with all your
00:49:59.809 --> 00:50:04.190
friends. You have a great excuse not to practice.
00:50:05.690 --> 00:50:09.349
So that was a great time. My teacher, Beta, was
00:50:09.349 --> 00:50:12.309
really, really supportive of whatever I did.
00:50:13.489 --> 00:50:17.250
Oftentimes, I was caught up in the concerts I
00:50:17.250 --> 00:50:23.849
gave myself. Not that I had any goals or anything.
00:50:24.050 --> 00:50:26.230
I was just trying out so many different things.
00:50:26.489 --> 00:50:32.119
So I would ask myself to... do crazy stuff that
00:50:32.119 --> 00:50:35.039
is not aligned with traditional classical music
00:50:35.039 --> 00:50:39.980
study and she was always fine with it. I cannot,
00:50:40.139 --> 00:50:44.820
I never asked her why because she sometimes is
00:50:44.820 --> 00:50:47.440
pretty strict with other students that I know
00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:51.739
because I talk to other classmates and for example
00:50:51.739 --> 00:50:54.400
I have a classmate she told me that Veda asked
00:50:54.400 --> 00:50:59.019
her to learn a new piece every week. She never
00:50:59.019 --> 00:51:01.980
did that to me. She knew I was already doing
00:51:01.980 --> 00:51:07.239
so many things. I was in the Axiom, which is
00:51:07.239 --> 00:51:12.179
the new music ensemble at the school. We do commissions.
00:51:12.320 --> 00:51:15.840
We do new music from 20th century, from 21st
00:51:15.840 --> 00:51:17.920
century. We have rehearsal. We have performances.
00:51:19.480 --> 00:51:23.340
I was doing Focus Festival where they do all
00:51:23.340 --> 00:51:26.079
the new music. I don't think it's existing anymore,
00:51:26.260 --> 00:51:29.559
but a lot of new music stuff. I was playing Composer's
00:51:29.559 --> 00:51:33.179
Concert where I play my friends' pieces. I help
00:51:33.179 --> 00:51:36.920
them premiere and stuff like that. I was actually
00:51:36.920 --> 00:51:39.260
also taking composition lessons myself. I was
00:51:39.260 --> 00:51:41.679
interested in writing and everything. I don't
00:51:41.679 --> 00:51:44.360
really write anymore, but I sometimes still do
00:51:44.360 --> 00:51:47.719
a couple of things. but it's just like so interesting
00:51:47.719 --> 00:51:51.659
so many different things not the piano i i was
00:51:51.659 --> 00:51:54.699
not really doing the beethoven or the chopin
00:51:54.699 --> 00:51:59.719
or everything which which was fine and until
00:51:59.719 --> 00:52:03.760
one day i told veda that i was gonna do a recital
00:52:03.760 --> 00:52:08.420
at poho poho and you know poho is where you know
00:52:08.420 --> 00:52:10.639
all the big concerts happen for the students
00:52:10.639 --> 00:52:16.409
i myself booked whole hall and created my own
00:52:16.409 --> 00:52:20.170
program i was gonna do all john cage sonata's
00:52:20.170 --> 00:52:24.610
interviews with prepared piano and i talked to
00:52:24.610 --> 00:52:26.929
the piano technician department myself saying
00:52:26.929 --> 00:52:29.710
that i'm gonna do that give me a piano i can
00:52:29.710 --> 00:52:32.849
ruin i didn't say that literally but they gave
00:52:32.849 --> 00:52:36.289
me a smaller piano where they they are okay with
00:52:36.289 --> 00:52:39.630
me putting screws and all the plastics and everything
00:52:39.630 --> 00:52:42.949
inside the strings and i dyed my hair blonde
00:52:43.889 --> 00:52:47.590
I put on weird clothes and I went on, I played
00:52:47.590 --> 00:52:52.289
an hour long of John Cage. And because I was
00:52:52.289 --> 00:52:54.829
doing that at the time, I went to lesson and
00:52:54.829 --> 00:52:58.650
I told Veda that I didn't have anything to play
00:52:58.650 --> 00:53:02.170
for you. But if you come down to Paul Hall, I
00:53:02.170 --> 00:53:04.389
can play the John Cage for you. So she never
00:53:04.389 --> 00:53:07.369
leaves her studio, you know, but she came down
00:53:07.369 --> 00:53:10.550
to Paul Hall with me to listen to me play John
00:53:10.550 --> 00:53:13.710
Cage. now i think about it when i look back i
00:53:13.710 --> 00:53:19.590
was just so in awe of what how how open -minded
00:53:19.590 --> 00:53:25.570
she was and how how like rude i was no no i don't
00:53:25.570 --> 00:53:30.030
think you were rude but that yeah i was yeah
00:53:30.030 --> 00:53:33.230
i had some guts and i i'm always the only student
00:53:33.230 --> 00:53:35.550
who would give like the weird requests to the
00:53:35.550 --> 00:53:37.889
teacher you know like come listen to junkage
00:53:37.889 --> 00:53:41.969
stuff like that but you know i That's a great
00:53:41.969 --> 00:53:44.889
story. I really enjoyed my time there because
00:53:44.889 --> 00:53:48.710
everyone gave me so much freedom. I feel it didn't
00:53:48.710 --> 00:53:51.989
cause any trouble, I think. But I think I did
00:53:51.989 --> 00:53:55.389
things that other people wouldn't do, other students
00:53:55.389 --> 00:53:59.369
wouldn't do. But then who taught you, John Cage?
00:53:59.630 --> 00:54:03.869
You just learned on your own? i learned um i
00:54:03.869 --> 00:54:07.690
consulted with the conductor who were who was
00:54:07.690 --> 00:54:10.989
already doing junkage in their program so i was
00:54:10.989 --> 00:54:15.449
asking i also had a mentor who was doing a lot
00:54:15.449 --> 00:54:17.690
of new music at a time it's just like there are
00:54:17.690 --> 00:54:20.309
people doing new music but it's just not part
00:54:20.309 --> 00:54:22.449
of the curriculum you know you have to reach
00:54:22.449 --> 00:54:26.070
out yourself to people who have experience with
00:54:26.070 --> 00:54:31.420
it um but after after a few years of craziness
00:54:31.420 --> 00:54:34.079
i still went back to more traditional stuff i
00:54:34.079 --> 00:54:37.239
went to competitions i did all that i did all
00:54:37.239 --> 00:54:40.099
the competitions i played all the classical stuff
00:54:40.099 --> 00:54:43.719
i also you know had chamber music and concerto
00:54:43.719 --> 00:54:46.059
competition and stuff like that so i would say
00:54:46.059 --> 00:54:48.960
that it the school gave me a very well -rounded
00:54:48.960 --> 00:54:52.820
education and also at the same time i had the
00:54:52.820 --> 00:54:57.380
room to reach out to new things on my own and
00:54:57.380 --> 00:55:01.099
then your masters and beyond you still right
00:55:01.099 --> 00:55:03.539
i well i finished my master's at the juilliard
00:55:03.539 --> 00:55:07.699
school and that was actually the so now we're
00:55:07.699 --> 00:55:12.960
getting deep here yes so you realize that you
00:55:12.960 --> 00:55:15.219
will not have a career after you graduate so
00:55:15.219 --> 00:55:17.699
at a time i didn't know what to do so i realized
00:55:17.699 --> 00:55:20.239
maybe i should go back to competitions and i
00:55:20.239 --> 00:55:24.139
wouldn't say that's a stupid um decision because
00:55:24.139 --> 00:55:26.920
of course you do whatever you can do but Thinking
00:55:26.920 --> 00:55:29.159
about competition can give you a career is a
00:55:29.159 --> 00:55:32.500
stupid thing. But anyway, I went back. So I actually,
00:55:32.619 --> 00:55:35.320
after graduating my master's from Juilliard School,
00:55:35.500 --> 00:55:38.599
I took a year off and then went to New England
00:55:38.599 --> 00:55:40.880
Conservatory to do my graduate diploma, where
00:55:40.880 --> 00:55:44.780
in my mind was that I will just do competition
00:55:44.780 --> 00:55:48.039
in these two years. So I did that. I went to
00:55:48.039 --> 00:55:54.219
study with Ms. Wakan Byun, who is very well known
00:55:54.219 --> 00:55:57.070
in the competition field. as you can imagine
00:55:57.070 --> 00:56:00.789
and you know uh yun chan was her student student
00:56:00.789 --> 00:56:03.570
and stuff like that it's just like a lot of great
00:56:03.570 --> 00:56:05.829
people coming out from competitions was related
00:56:05.829 --> 00:56:08.010
to her so a lot of people wanted to study with
00:56:08.010 --> 00:56:11.449
her so i played for her she accepted me and in
00:56:11.449 --> 00:56:14.030
those two years i was really doing competitions
00:56:14.030 --> 00:56:19.900
was doing all that um but the thing is that i
00:56:19.900 --> 00:56:22.219
was still that same person you know i was like
00:56:22.219 --> 00:56:25.440
still doing crazy stuff so i was actually living
00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:28.400
in new york commuting to boston to take lessons
00:56:28.400 --> 00:56:30.880
and come back because i still i already had some
00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:33.780
gigs here like mostly new music composer related
00:56:33.780 --> 00:56:37.099
gigs so i didn't want to give that up but i also
00:56:37.099 --> 00:56:39.280
wanted to study and then to go to competitions
00:56:40.380 --> 00:56:42.659
I think I did okay in competition. I didn't win
00:56:42.659 --> 00:56:45.199
anything big, but I went to all the good ones.
00:56:45.940 --> 00:56:49.500
And she really taught me a lot, but she knew
00:56:49.500 --> 00:56:53.780
I was so into new music and stuff. So, you know,
00:56:53.820 --> 00:56:56.139
New England Conservatory has people coming in
00:56:56.139 --> 00:56:58.860
to give masterclasses. And one of them was Thomas
00:56:58.860 --> 00:57:04.039
Addis. Thomas Addis came and I always loved Thomas
00:57:04.039 --> 00:57:07.949
Addis' music from very, very early on. I was
00:57:07.949 --> 00:57:10.670
playing his music. I already met him in Music
00:57:10.670 --> 00:57:13.849
Academy of the West, but then I wanted to record
00:57:13.849 --> 00:57:17.070
all his music. So that was actually my third
00:57:17.070 --> 00:57:19.769
album was all Thomas Edison piano music. Yes.
00:57:20.190 --> 00:57:23.849
So I took the master class and this piano really
00:57:23.849 --> 00:57:26.650
helped me talking to Thomas Edison saying that
00:57:27.079 --> 00:57:29.480
you know this kid wants to record all his music
00:57:29.480 --> 00:57:32.619
and so he gave me a private lesson afterwards
00:57:32.619 --> 00:57:36.159
and stuff like that so in that sense that Ms.
00:57:36.199 --> 00:57:42.460
Byung was also very very well aware that I was
00:57:42.460 --> 00:57:45.900
not going to do the traditional competition route
00:57:45.900 --> 00:57:49.139
so she already thought that I could you know
00:57:49.139 --> 00:57:51.940
meet up with composer and then create projects
00:57:51.940 --> 00:57:54.800
and stuff like that so she was also very encouraging
00:57:56.010 --> 00:58:02.809
I always get to a lucky spot along the way. Although
00:58:02.809 --> 00:58:05.710
I was in a very tough spot, but then there's
00:58:05.710 --> 00:58:08.210
always one thing that I could hold on to. And
00:58:08.210 --> 00:58:12.389
I think that's how I survived until today. There's
00:58:12.389 --> 00:58:15.449
always one thing that works. I think that's enough.
00:58:16.210 --> 00:58:19.469
That's what you call being innovative and creative,
00:58:19.670 --> 00:58:23.730
no? You carve your own path. You carve your own
00:58:23.730 --> 00:58:26.480
path. That really resonates with me because I
00:58:26.480 --> 00:58:29.920
think there's already no such thing as a traditional
00:58:29.920 --> 00:58:34.659
path as we think of being a pianist. Even when
00:58:34.659 --> 00:58:39.099
you are Yunchan, for example, you have to do
00:58:39.099 --> 00:58:42.420
something, right? You have to have a project.
00:58:42.500 --> 00:58:44.500
You have to do maybe all Chopin or maybe all
00:58:44.500 --> 00:58:47.739
Bach or maybe even Yunchan did Thomas Edison's
00:58:47.739 --> 00:58:50.920
piece, you know? And he also commissioned Korean
00:58:50.920 --> 00:58:54.320
composers. to write for him in his recital so
00:58:54.320 --> 00:58:58.039
it's just like it's just like it's all so so
00:58:58.039 --> 00:59:01.639
self -motivated this whole career thing so you
00:59:01.639 --> 00:59:03.900
have to carve your own thing so i really like
00:59:03.900 --> 00:59:07.900
that so after that after my graduate diploma
00:59:07.900 --> 00:59:11.000
i came i really came back to new york i went
00:59:11.000 --> 00:59:13.739
to the cuny graduate center the city university
00:59:13.739 --> 00:59:18.579
of new york and then i studied with uh ursula
00:59:18.579 --> 00:59:22.769
oppens who is a very well -known figure in the
00:59:22.769 --> 00:59:25.610
new music field she has commissioned all these
00:59:25.610 --> 00:59:29.730
pieces in the 20th and 21st century and she really
00:59:29.730 --> 00:59:32.769
pushed me to do all the crazy projects that we
00:59:32.769 --> 00:59:36.150
were talking about and she was never short of
00:59:36.150 --> 00:59:40.449
inspiration so because you know looking at her
00:59:40.449 --> 00:59:43.409
project and then mine is like it's nothing she
00:59:43.409 --> 00:59:47.400
has done crazier stuff so yeah so whatever i
00:59:47.400 --> 00:59:50.139
did she was just like always very supportive
00:59:50.139 --> 00:59:53.300
and then gave me a lot of advice and inspiration
01:00:44.429 --> 01:00:48.789
So I know you mentioned in the guest form, you
01:00:48.789 --> 01:00:53.150
know, I hand out the guest form to every guest
01:00:53.150 --> 01:00:56.130
so that I can learn more about each guest and
01:00:56.130 --> 01:00:58.670
then, you know, so that we can have a meaningful
01:00:58.670 --> 01:01:02.110
conversation. So you said you want to discuss
01:01:02.110 --> 01:01:08.849
about creative programming. So tell me. Right.
01:01:09.710 --> 01:01:16.369
Well, I think of programming. as if you are curating
01:01:16.369 --> 01:01:21.829
a show in a museum um my second love will be
01:01:21.829 --> 01:01:25.110
museum with art history and paintings and stuff
01:01:25.110 --> 01:01:29.449
like that so i if i'm not practicing i'm always
01:01:29.449 --> 01:01:33.630
loving to go to galleries and museums i even
01:01:33.630 --> 01:01:37.400
when i was at aspen music festival I was so bored
01:01:37.400 --> 01:01:40.400
at the festival. I mean, it's a great festival.
01:01:40.579 --> 01:01:43.500
It's just that pianists didn't need to do orchestra
01:01:43.500 --> 01:01:46.519
stuff. And we did have a lot of time. And when
01:01:46.519 --> 01:01:48.800
I was not practicing, I was actually interning
01:01:48.800 --> 01:01:53.539
at the museum, the local Aspen Museum. So I did
01:01:53.539 --> 01:01:59.280
all that. This is all very fun. And to program
01:01:59.280 --> 01:02:03.340
a concert, first of all, I think music is the
01:02:03.340 --> 01:02:05.360
most important thing, of course. It's like how
01:02:05.360 --> 01:02:08.519
you play and how the music is. I'm not saying
01:02:08.519 --> 01:02:12.539
that you have to, you know, compromise that to
01:02:12.539 --> 01:02:15.780
come up with a great program. But after that,
01:02:15.900 --> 01:02:19.420
how you put the program together, it's just so
01:02:19.420 --> 01:02:23.780
fun. You know, there are many different ways
01:02:23.780 --> 01:02:27.679
to think about programming. But for me, I like
01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:30.780
to think that I'm giving my audience an emotional
01:02:30.780 --> 01:02:35.599
right. So we are going through all different
01:02:35.599 --> 01:02:39.219
emotions and then we arrive at a final destination
01:02:39.219 --> 01:02:41.820
and I want you to have that when you go home.
01:02:42.739 --> 01:02:48.139
So first, I'm also very traditional in that sense.
01:02:48.260 --> 01:02:53.300
I feel like I like to have a culmination of a
01:02:53.300 --> 01:02:56.219
concert where it's like so... crazy and loud
01:02:56.219 --> 01:02:59.559
and everything but i also like to have a little
01:02:59.559 --> 01:03:03.820
low point maybe a more serene part of the concert
01:03:03.820 --> 01:03:07.280
so that is so different from the infinite staircase
01:03:07.280 --> 01:03:11.159
but that's not true because like i said the infinite
01:03:11.159 --> 01:03:15.039
staircase composers does have pieces that's very
01:03:15.039 --> 01:03:21.500
very slow and zen and very um intimate and everything
01:03:21.500 --> 01:03:24.360
so that's why i said that i didn't really do
01:03:24.360 --> 01:03:26.579
pairs because i want to still have that flow
01:03:26.579 --> 01:03:31.559
of up and downs in my program and after that
01:03:31.559 --> 01:03:34.659
you can start to think about you are a historian
01:03:34.659 --> 01:03:38.719
where you can think about how things connect
01:03:38.719 --> 01:03:43.980
extra musically So Ligeti was a way for me to
01:03:43.980 --> 01:03:46.079
connect with the new pieces. Because if you just
01:03:46.079 --> 01:03:48.239
look at the 18 composers, it's really hard to
01:03:48.239 --> 01:03:50.579
draw that connection. But because they are all
01:03:50.579 --> 01:03:53.639
responding to Ligeti, that creates a theme for
01:03:53.639 --> 01:03:57.780
this concert. But for example, the concert I'm
01:03:57.780 --> 01:03:59.840
playing at the Phillips Collection this March,
01:04:00.019 --> 01:04:04.760
that there is an exhibition happening at the
01:04:04.760 --> 01:04:09.219
Phillips Collection about Jean Miro. and so the
01:04:09.219 --> 01:04:12.659
presenter and us roberta michel the flutist and
01:04:12.659 --> 01:04:15.400
i are co -presenting this concert that we all
01:04:15.400 --> 01:04:19.519
think about how the musical circle was like or
01:04:19.519 --> 01:04:22.960
the elite circle the cultural thing was like
01:04:22.960 --> 01:04:28.559
when miro was creating in paris so we had composers
01:04:28.559 --> 01:04:32.019
who lived in paris at a time from the rest to
01:04:32.019 --> 01:04:38.960
boulez to strafinski to untile all that, like
01:04:38.960 --> 01:04:43.519
all these composers around Miro to put together
01:04:43.519 --> 01:04:46.159
a program. And it's just like fun to think about
01:04:46.159 --> 01:04:48.659
that because we're not really thinking about
01:04:48.659 --> 01:04:55.260
his personal connections per se. We're thinking
01:04:55.260 --> 01:05:00.239
about more of the whole theme in large. And that
01:05:00.239 --> 01:05:03.820
gives the backdrop to the exhibition that the
01:05:03.820 --> 01:05:06.579
audience can listen to music from that time,
01:05:06.719 --> 01:05:09.199
but also see the art from that time. It's just,
01:05:09.260 --> 01:05:12.280
I love that connection. It's so cool. And of
01:05:12.280 --> 01:05:14.539
course we cannot do that without the collection
01:05:14.539 --> 01:05:19.260
having that exhibition. No, but others you can,
01:05:19.340 --> 01:05:23.099
I also like to think about programming just as
01:05:23.099 --> 01:05:28.010
like your treasure box. You just say. always
01:05:28.010 --> 01:05:31.789
pull out your favorite pieces to play and when
01:05:31.789 --> 01:05:36.789
i say that i really am torn because people nowadays
01:05:36.789 --> 01:05:41.889
really think about programming as a political
01:05:41.889 --> 01:05:46.130
output of like your ideology i don't think that's
01:05:46.130 --> 01:05:48.869
the case i think music is music because that
01:05:48.869 --> 01:05:52.389
transcends everything that you talk about not
01:05:52.389 --> 01:05:56.099
because that these things are not important but
01:05:56.099 --> 01:05:58.980
because it can be transcended that these things
01:05:58.980 --> 01:06:05.900
are equally important. So, you know, when I program,
01:06:06.019 --> 01:06:10.800
I really try not to think too much about what
01:06:10.800 --> 01:06:14.360
I have included in my program. I think more about
01:06:14.360 --> 01:06:19.940
if I am an honest person, that did I really include
01:06:19.940 --> 01:06:22.380
all my friends, like all the people I know here
01:06:22.380 --> 01:06:27.260
in New York? Did I really listen to all the music
01:06:27.260 --> 01:06:30.780
possible to appreciate them? Did I get to know
01:06:30.780 --> 01:06:34.619
enough about all these composers to understand
01:06:34.619 --> 01:06:37.860
what they are going through and what they could
01:06:37.860 --> 01:06:40.440
be representing? So those are the questions I
01:06:40.440 --> 01:06:42.800
ask myself, rather than that I'm just including
01:06:42.800 --> 01:06:47.139
this because of blah, blah, blah, A and B. And
01:06:47.139 --> 01:06:54.340
so you're thinking much larger. concept i guess
01:06:54.340 --> 01:07:00.280
now so which do you like better the traditional
01:07:00.280 --> 01:07:04.500
setting of concert halls or those kind of immersive
01:07:04.500 --> 01:07:10.000
spaces or it's not a either or i guess right
01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:14.800
i think it depends on the music as well um i
01:07:14.800 --> 01:07:19.170
feel concert halls are great because they are
01:07:19.170 --> 01:07:23.690
giving the audience a very concentrated mindset
01:07:23.690 --> 01:07:27.190
to listen to music but the immersive ones are
01:07:27.190 --> 01:07:31.050
more you know it opens up different sense in
01:07:31.050 --> 01:07:34.869
you so all that visual effect and everything
01:07:34.869 --> 01:07:39.710
is also so cool. But there are instances where
01:07:39.710 --> 01:07:42.570
that it cancels out itself. So it's a dangerous
01:07:42.570 --> 01:07:46.130
thing. I feel as musicians, we should really
01:07:46.130 --> 01:07:50.230
focus on music. And if you are to incorporate
01:07:50.230 --> 01:07:53.550
that other aspects of senses, you should give
01:07:53.550 --> 01:07:55.650
that to other professionals to deal with it.
01:07:55.750 --> 01:07:59.829
So in my Infinite Staircase concert, we had lighting
01:07:59.829 --> 01:08:03.300
designers and... you know electronic music designers
01:08:03.300 --> 01:08:05.099
like they all take care of that so i don't need
01:08:05.099 --> 01:08:08.460
to worry about it so that came out well but um
01:08:08.460 --> 01:08:12.119
i have in student times tried to do that myself
01:08:12.119 --> 01:08:14.340
and it was total disaster so i don't recommend
01:08:14.340 --> 01:08:45.239
it you can't do everything right yeah now we're
01:08:45.239 --> 01:08:47.859
you know getting toward the end of our conversation
01:08:47.859 --> 01:08:51.159
but i have just a few more you've built projects
01:08:51.159 --> 01:08:54.600
that feel forward thinking and what is your broader
01:08:54.600 --> 01:08:57.619
vision for the future of classical music as an
01:08:57.619 --> 01:09:02.399
industry well i'm too small to talk about the
01:09:02.399 --> 01:09:05.520
big future and everything that people talk about
01:09:05.520 --> 01:09:10.390
but i like how a friend of mine always say that
01:09:10.390 --> 01:09:12.670
whatever you do is like a little drop in the
01:09:12.670 --> 01:09:16.229
bucket and it could you know overflow when everyone's
01:09:16.229 --> 01:09:21.149
doing that i feel that classical music can reach
01:09:21.149 --> 01:09:25.649
more people if it gives the chance for people
01:09:25.649 --> 01:09:31.909
to listen to them and i recently came across
01:09:31.909 --> 01:09:36.670
with an article I think it's a hot take, but
01:09:36.670 --> 01:09:40.710
Evan Schinner, a very, very great pianist and
01:09:40.710 --> 01:09:44.210
podcaster, you probably know that he had this
01:09:44.210 --> 01:09:47.449
article on New York Times about how classical
01:09:47.449 --> 01:09:54.010
music shouldn't change. That's saying that maybe
01:09:54.010 --> 01:09:57.329
an orchestra shouldn't give out non -classical
01:09:57.329 --> 01:10:01.970
music to goers or stuff like that. It's a really
01:10:01.970 --> 01:10:06.010
hot take, but I kind of like that. Because I
01:10:06.010 --> 01:10:10.489
am so privileged in New York. We have all this
01:10:10.489 --> 01:10:14.310
new music audience. I do crazy stuff. I can play
01:10:14.310 --> 01:10:16.229
two and a half hours new music and people come
01:10:16.229 --> 01:10:20.489
to listen to it. But it's not the mainstream.
01:10:20.829 --> 01:10:26.090
I understand that. I'm also in love with classical
01:10:26.090 --> 01:10:28.710
music, of course. So whenever I do classical
01:10:28.710 --> 01:10:33.050
music, I just keep asking myself why they had
01:10:33.050 --> 01:10:38.399
to. listen to this and for me the answer is very
01:10:38.399 --> 01:10:40.619
easy because i cannot live without it but for
01:10:40.619 --> 01:10:44.279
people who never who never you know listen to
01:10:44.279 --> 01:10:48.359
classical music i feel they they need a chance
01:10:48.359 --> 01:10:52.779
to get into this maybe a friend who listens to
01:10:52.779 --> 01:10:56.579
classical music or maybe a podcast a great podcast
01:10:56.579 --> 01:10:59.420
people talk about classical music or maybe a
01:10:59.420 --> 01:11:01.699
movie about classical music or maybe something
01:11:02.539 --> 01:11:06.420
But classical music itself is perfect. It doesn't
01:11:06.420 --> 01:11:10.439
need to change. It doesn't need to become viral.
01:11:10.739 --> 01:11:13.720
It doesn't need to become a 15 second thing or
01:11:13.720 --> 01:11:15.800
it doesn't need to become, I don't know, just
01:11:15.800 --> 01:11:18.699
like to change the form itself. I think it's
01:11:18.699 --> 01:11:23.619
not necessary. So that's the hot take, but how
01:11:23.619 --> 01:11:26.520
that can really, you know, build into the future.
01:11:26.539 --> 01:11:29.689
I don't know, but I try myself to really. deliver
01:11:29.689 --> 01:11:33.050
the best i could and i just hope that people
01:11:33.050 --> 01:11:39.350
would see the value in it then uh what's coming
01:11:39.350 --> 01:11:44.090
up next for you as an artist uh like uh new next
01:11:44.090 --> 01:11:46.529
project maybe you can share with our audience
01:11:46.529 --> 01:11:52.890
sure um my next album is coming out in may i'm
01:11:52.890 --> 01:11:56.539
playing anton rubinstein's sonatas number three
01:11:56.539 --> 01:11:58.939
and four. I have already recorded number one
01:11:58.939 --> 01:12:01.579
and two. Now I'm recording number three and four,
01:12:01.819 --> 01:12:07.140
which are less well -known romantic pieces, but
01:12:07.140 --> 01:12:12.239
really, really epic ones. Each one is like 30,
01:12:12.279 --> 01:12:14.939
40 minutes long. So it's crazy, but it's fun.
01:12:15.140 --> 01:12:19.600
It's very Rubinstein if you know his music. And
01:12:19.600 --> 01:12:24.020
number three and four are one of the best. He
01:12:24.020 --> 01:12:27.340
himself performed them in his concerts throughout
01:12:27.340 --> 01:12:30.319
the world. He actually came to the United States
01:12:30.319 --> 01:12:33.960
to perform. I don't have the exact numbers in
01:12:33.960 --> 01:12:37.819
my head, but I believe he was here for 250 days
01:12:37.819 --> 01:12:43.479
and he gave 235 concerts. Sometimes three concerts
01:12:43.479 --> 01:12:47.779
a day. And I'm not talking about the recitals
01:12:47.779 --> 01:12:50.439
nowadays. He gives concerts that's four hours
01:12:50.439 --> 01:12:57.500
long. And yeah, he's a character and he's a great,
01:12:57.720 --> 01:12:59.880
he's a very important figure in the classical
01:12:59.880 --> 01:13:03.239
music world because he opened like this conservatory,
01:13:03.319 --> 01:13:07.000
he gave recitals, he conducted, he did so many
01:13:07.000 --> 01:13:09.239
things to make classical music the way it is
01:13:09.239 --> 01:13:13.399
nowadays. So I think it's great to be recording
01:13:13.399 --> 01:13:15.579
his music. I'm very excited for this to come.
01:13:16.079 --> 01:13:20.510
Great. That's coming in May. 2026 and how about
01:13:20.510 --> 01:13:24.789
how about the uh those 18 commission pieces uh
01:13:24.789 --> 01:13:27.689
when are they coming as an i believe that should
01:13:27.689 --> 01:13:30.949
probably be in 2027 that'll be the next year
01:13:30.949 --> 01:13:35.029
where we after we edit the pieces and then you
01:13:35.029 --> 01:13:37.510
know mastering that will take a while I just
01:13:37.510 --> 01:13:41.810
finished recording, so we'll see. Yes. Then in
01:13:41.810 --> 01:13:44.489
the meantime, you'll be performing live a lot.
01:13:44.930 --> 01:13:48.829
Yes. March, I'm going to Dallas, going to Washington,
01:13:48.970 --> 01:13:52.210
D .C. In April, I'm going to Santa Barbara and
01:13:52.210 --> 01:13:57.550
Sarasota, Florida. And the next season will come
01:13:57.550 --> 01:14:00.329
out later. So I cannot wait to share with all
01:14:00.329 --> 01:14:03.359
of you. And you'll be performing Ligeti Etus
01:14:03.359 --> 01:14:06.500
in those programs and then some of the commissioned
01:14:06.500 --> 01:14:09.899
pieces as well? The Ligeti, yes. Commissioned
01:14:09.899 --> 01:14:13.979
pieces, not yet. Hopefully more next year. Wonderful.
01:14:15.140 --> 01:14:18.500
So for our listeners, if you would like to learn
01:14:18.500 --> 01:14:22.039
more about Han's work and then would like to
01:14:22.039 --> 01:14:25.619
be in touch with him, please visit hanchenpiano
01:14:25.619 --> 01:14:30.000
.com. That's your website, right? Yes. Is there
01:14:30.000 --> 01:14:33.119
anything else you want to talk about before we
01:14:33.119 --> 01:14:36.140
go to the rapid fire questions? Rapid fire question.
01:14:36.279 --> 01:14:38.779
Okay. Yeah. Let's talk about, go listen to Florence
01:14:38.779 --> 01:14:42.880
Price. Yes, that's right. So all the recordings,
01:14:42.979 --> 01:14:47.210
so we talked about. Not only the Gere Etius,
01:14:47.390 --> 01:14:51.350
but also the Florence Price's piano concertos.
01:14:51.390 --> 01:14:56.970
Thomas Addis and Rubinstein. They are all available
01:14:56.970 --> 01:15:00.770
on all streaming platforms. That's right. And
01:15:00.770 --> 01:15:04.149
I will list the links in the show notes as well.
01:15:05.130 --> 01:15:10.449
Great. So before I let you go. We have this tradition,
01:15:10.649 --> 01:15:13.329
the piano part of rapid fire questions. I'm nervous
01:15:13.329 --> 01:15:16.210
now. Oh, yes. We take this segment very seriously.
01:15:16.409 --> 01:15:19.189
You've shared your story expertise today, but
01:15:19.189 --> 01:15:22.630
these questions carefully curated by our team,
01:15:22.670 --> 01:15:25.810
which is me, will give our listeners a glimpse
01:15:25.810 --> 01:15:29.449
into who you truly are. So let's do this. I want
01:15:29.449 --> 01:15:32.090
you to answer them, each question, as short a
01:15:32.090 --> 01:15:35.369
response as possible. No explanation is necessary.
01:15:35.670 --> 01:15:40.130
Okay. All right. Number one. What is your comfort
01:15:40.130 --> 01:15:45.949
food? Donut. Donut. Oh, that's a first one. That's
01:15:45.949 --> 01:15:48.770
cute. How do you like your coffee in the morning?
01:15:49.329 --> 01:15:55.930
Black. Cats or dogs? Both. Both. Yes. Sunrise
01:15:55.930 --> 01:16:00.670
or sunset? Sunset. I cannot get up. Thanks for
01:16:00.670 --> 01:16:06.649
getting up this morning. Summer or winter? Winter.
01:16:07.010 --> 01:16:10.210
Winter. Even despite of that frigid cold temperature
01:16:10.210 --> 01:16:13.170
we had? Stay home. Practice. Yes, that's right.
01:16:14.489 --> 01:16:18.449
Now, next level. What skill have you always wanted
01:16:18.449 --> 01:16:21.689
to learn but haven't had a chance to? Wake up
01:16:21.689 --> 01:16:26.189
early. Wake up early? Okay. What is your word
01:16:26.189 --> 01:16:32.109
or words to live by? Honesty. Good one. Favorite
01:16:32.109 --> 01:16:35.010
venue you have ever performed in or maybe dream
01:16:35.010 --> 01:16:40.699
venue? That's tough. National Sawdust. That's
01:16:40.699 --> 01:16:44.039
where I did my Infinite Staircase. Perfect. What
01:16:44.039 --> 01:16:46.979
is the most important quality you look for in
01:16:46.979 --> 01:16:51.939
other people? Honesty. Honesty. Name a composer
01:16:51.939 --> 01:16:55.619
you wish more people knew about. Florence Price.
01:16:56.000 --> 01:17:01.640
Oh, yes. Amen. All right, two more. Name one
01:17:01.640 --> 01:17:04.420
piece in your current playlist. Doesn't matter.
01:17:04.460 --> 01:17:07.199
It doesn't have to be, you know. classical or
01:17:07.199 --> 01:17:12.859
contemporary? Can be pop? I usually listen on
01:17:12.859 --> 01:17:15.720
YouTube. I just listened to the Choral Fantasy
01:17:15.720 --> 01:17:21.000
by Beethoven. Oh, wow. Beautiful. I need to listen
01:17:21.000 --> 01:17:23.319
to that. Exactly. That's a piece we all need
01:17:23.319 --> 01:17:27.539
to listen to. Fantastic. Great. Now, last one.
01:17:27.619 --> 01:17:31.760
Fill in the blank. Music is blank. Music is life.
01:17:33.279 --> 01:17:36.319
Beautiful. Han, thank you so much for joining
01:17:36.319 --> 01:17:39.079
us today. Thank you for having me. Oh, it was
01:17:39.079 --> 01:17:42.140
fun. You're sharing your artistry, vision, and
01:17:42.140 --> 01:17:44.500
thoughtful reflections. To our listeners, be
01:17:44.500 --> 01:17:46.979
sure to check out his Grammy -nominated recording
01:17:46.979 --> 01:17:49.899
of Florence Price, Piano Concerto in One Movement,
01:17:49.979 --> 01:17:53.340
as well as his mesmerizing... daring recording
01:17:53.340 --> 01:17:56.680
of the complete The Get It Choose, and as well
01:17:56.680 --> 01:17:59.699
as so many other recordings, both available on
01:17:59.699 --> 01:18:02.520
all major streaming platforms. You can also find
01:18:02.520 --> 01:18:04.739
more information about his recordings and upcoming
01:18:04.739 --> 01:18:08.199
projects on his website at unchainpiano .com
01:18:08.199 --> 01:18:10.899
and across his social media platforms. You are
01:18:10.899 --> 01:18:14.020
active on social media, right? Yeah. Great. You
01:18:14.020 --> 01:18:16.260
can find all the links in the show notes. Thanks
01:18:16.260 --> 01:18:19.520
for spending this time with us, for our listeners.
01:18:19.659 --> 01:18:21.979
If this conversation resonated with you, please
01:18:21.979 --> 01:18:24.520
like this episode and subscribe to the channel.
01:18:24.800 --> 01:18:27.600
I'd also love to hear your thoughts. Leave a
01:18:27.600 --> 01:18:29.739
comment, share this episode on social media,
01:18:29.939 --> 01:18:32.720
and tag us at The Piano Pop. We'll see you for
01:18:32.720 --> 01:18:35.899
the next episode of The Piano Pop. Thank you,
01:18:35.899 --> 01:18:38.420
Han. Thank you so much. Thank you.