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ant onsite music
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Let's sit down and sing no more Let's sit down and sing no more
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Let's sit down and sing no more.
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In the dark يا・・
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Let's fighting up!
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To the Sky artificial
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Let's sit down and sing no more These are the rocks
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La sa지는
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Welcome back to another episode of The PianoPod.
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I'm your host Yukimi-san.
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And today's episode is a heartwarming, emotionally moving, and inspiring one.
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So I suggest you to have facial tissue or handkerchief handy.
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So for anyone listening or watching The PianoPod for the first time, welcome.
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I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City.
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And this podcast is for anyone who plays the piano, loves listening to piano music, or
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for someone who is currently pursuing a career in piano or works in the music industry professionally.
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In each episode, we interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting new ground
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in the music industry.
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Before getting started, I want to thank amazing TPP fans and listeners for tuning in.
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Please rate the show and review it on Apple Podcasts because every rating review will
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help people find the show.
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So let me reveal the name of the guest.
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It's Dr. Jihoon Kerska, the founder of Keys to Success, MIT graduate, electronic engineer,
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and pianist.
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Since the launch of The PianoPod, I wanted to interview her so badly because I have been
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following Dr. Kerska and her work for Keys to Success on social media.
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And even from what I saw on social, what she's been doing through this nonprofit organization
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is outstanding.
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So what exactly is Keys to Success?
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Well, you're about to find more about this amazing organization directly from the founder,
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Jihoon.
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But let me share what it says on its website.
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Keys to Success was founded by Jihoon Kerska, a Julia-trained classical musician with a
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doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT, who wanted to provide the young children
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of new work, the cultural enrichment.
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So I just finished interviewing her a few minutes ago and wow, Jihoon is an incredible
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person, strong, kind, generous, plus a great storyteller.
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So please stick with me till the end of the episode because you get to hear how she overcame
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her own challenges in her youth and became who she is today.
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So off we go.
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Please enjoy the show.
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You are listening to The PianoPod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
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about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
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I am delighted and honored to welcome Dr. Jihoon Kerska, the founder of Keys to Success,
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electrical engineer, and pianist.
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Keys to Success is a program she founded in 2016 to improve the lives of children growing
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up in the most underserved areas in Newark, New Jersey through music education.
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Dr. Kerska studied piano in the Juliette Pre-College program and has an extensive performance career
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playing at prestigious concert venues such as Boston Symphony Hall and Lincoln Center.
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She also has had the opportunity to perform with the world-renowned cellist, Mr. Yo-Yo
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Ma, while enjoying her musical path, she decided to pursue academics and engineering
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at MIT and achieve the highest degree, Ph.D., in electrical engineering and computer science.
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She continued her engineering career in the semiconductor industry for the following 20
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years.
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During that time, Dr. Kerska was actively involved in the Newark community and a series
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of projects for its youth.
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Through this experience, she so firsthand the effects of generational economic disparity.
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As a result, she developed a passion for investing in youth lives, ultimately leading to her
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decision to withdraw from her engineering career and work full-time with the children
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of Newark by founding Keys to Success.
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So Jihoon, welcome, and thank you for being on my show.
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Yay.
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Great.
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It's my pleasure.
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Finally here, I've been wanting to interview you since the launch of this show and whether
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someone recommended to be in touch with you or somehow we were connected on Instagram.
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So I've been following you on social and love your work at Keys to Success.
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And before getting into your incredible life, once a Juliette Pre-College student turned
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to become the engineer with a Ph.D. from MIT with a full-right scholarship, oh my gosh.
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So I think everybody wants to know what is Keys to Success?
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I mean, dropping all this amazing career and then you found this wonderful organization.
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So let's start with that.
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We'll talk more detail later, but briefly, what is Keys to Success?
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Well, Keys to Success, we bring classical music training, particularly focusing on the
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piano, to students in Newark.
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The main difference of what we do is that we go to the students.
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We go into the neighborhoods and deliver the piano lessons there, rather than having the
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students come to a central location.
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And the other thing that we do slightly differently is that the program is 100% free for everyone
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who is involved.
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So we don't charge the families and we also don't charge the whole institution.
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And the reason we do that is for the sake of equity.
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Wonderful.
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And then currently, how many students are involved?
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We have 150 students slightly over right now involved in Keys to Success.
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And the age range is very large.
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We start as young as pre-K and we go all the way through high school.
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And our goal is always that we try to stay with the students as long as we're able to.
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Before being an engineer and before being this nonprofit founder, you started as a musician.
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Music is a big part of your life.
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So let's start with that.
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What's the relationship to music?
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How did you discover the love for music?
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I'm a Malaysian.
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I was born in Malaysia and Chinese Malaysian, actually.
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And if you know anything about that culture, pretty much every little Chinese girl in Malaysia
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grows up playing the piano, at least during my era.
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And so it wasn't anything unusual that I played the piano.
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But what was unusual was my mother.
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My mother was particularly ambitious for her kids.
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And she was determined that we weren't just going to play the piano like everybody else,
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but that we were going to be the best in the whole country.
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So yeah, it's Taige mom to the nth degree.
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So my mom, she knew how to help us practice.
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That was the main thing.
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So ever since we started piano at the age of six, we practice a lot.
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And in Malaysia, they go through the basically a British system, Royal Conservatory, right?
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So we would take those exams every year.
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And actually, I guess, you know, when you practice that much, you end up being pretty
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good.
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So my sister and I, I have a twin sister.
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My sister and I would consistently get, you know, the highest marks in the whole country
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and things like that.
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So fast forward, we come to America when I was 11 years old, our entire family immigrated
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to America and primarily for our sake to give us opportunities.
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And my mom, you know, she decides, hey, you know, I heard Julia is a really good school.
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Why don't we just see if we can get in?
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So she calls up Julia pre-college and it just so happened.
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She was able to get through to Olenia Fuski, who was the director of the pre-college program
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in the 80s.
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Fuski listened to us and she knew that we weren't actually quite at the Juliet level,
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but she wanted to invest in us.
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So Fuski took us under her wing.
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And literally for a year and a half, I was back down doing five finger scales and completely
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redoing my whole technique.
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And of course, later when she entered us into the audition, we got in.
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Wow.
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Yeah.
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Ms. Fuski, actually, she's really quite an unusual person.
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She's still alive and I actually just saw her recently at the pre-college reunion.
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Oh, wow, really?
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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It was really emotional for all of us to get together again.
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I bet.
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And then I know I read your articles and everything and you mentioned that your mom would, you
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would sacrifice her time and effort in your education and would have a round trip to taking
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subway and buses to just for you to get into Juliet pre-college.
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Fuski lives up in the Bronx area.
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So we went all the way from Queens taking subway and then the bus and then walking a
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little bit and yeah, it was quite the trip.
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I actually watched your performance.
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This is like totally pretty recent, so that's like turned the clock forward and 2020, I
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think it's during pandemic 2020 or 2021.
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We were performing variations on a theme of Corelli by Rachmaninoff and yeah, marvelous.
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You know, Miss Fuski's teaching style was that she actually really pushed us hard by
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entering us into competitions.
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So we were constantly in competitions and constantly performing.
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For me, you know, it was actually so important to have that because as my mother actually
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couple of years after arriving in America got cancer.
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It was cancer of the breast and back in the 80s, there really was not a lot of good treatment
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for that.
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So it was very traumatic for her and as a result for my sister and I as well.
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But even as her treatment when up and down through all kinds of changes, I could focus
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on music.
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I could focus on just learning a piece and getting ready for the competition and having
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a goal to keep me going.
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For me, you know, that is stabilized me and it helped me feel like I had a place in this
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new country, even though things in my life was very tumultuous.
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My sister and I in particular performed a lot because you know, twins.
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So Miss Fuski actually had to work on the two piano repertoire, two piano contratos
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as well as two piano, just two piano music.
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And we actually played with several orchestras because of that.
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Actually probably the most significant one I would say was in my junior year, which was
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1985.
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Miss Fuski arranged for my sister and I to perform with the orchestra in every Fisher
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Hall, Lincoln Center.
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And we were playing Carnival of the Animals.
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At that time, my mom was actually really sick because the cancer went from breast into her
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liver.
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It just went over the body.
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So she had not been able to come out of bed for a while by then.
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But on the day of the concert, she just decided this is important.
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This is why we came to America.
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This is why I worked my whole life in Sacrifice Corps family, right?
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And she willed herself out of bed.
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She got dressed, put on makeup, and she actually looked really good.
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I remember seeing her in the audience, right?
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I remember seeing her, even though she was already very shrunken.
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I could see the pride in her face.
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I could see that she was happy.
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That turned out to be really one of the biggest performances my sister and I did in high school.
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But it was also the last one that my mom saw.
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She passed away a couple of weeks after that.
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So she just pulled herself together to see this amazing concert, one of the best concerts
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you ever gave.
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She must know something at that time.
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Yeah, definitely.
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Wow.
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And that's so devastating.
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What sort of trauma you had to go through, even just to taking care of your mother in
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such a young age.
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But still, you have to focus on your academics.
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And then also, plus, what's amazing is, as you're going through this hard times, but
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you have these amazing opportunities to be able to perform.
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Yeah, yeah, that's incredible.
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And what struck me about that phase of your life, you wrote a little note to your mom
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after she passed away.
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And it's like a poem.
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And let me just read it for my audience.
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My house falls down every day.
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Jump to break the ceiling, but it is too high.
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Try to leap out window, but the crowds cheer me.
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It's different there next door.
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The house will never fall.
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I can get there if I knock hard enough.
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That is a beautiful poem, but tells me how desperate you were.
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And I'm sure there is a sense of isolation and loneliness, not only from the loss of
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your mother.
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So, but how were you able to survive that phase?
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Looking back, I know that I'm a child of charity, really.
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For sure, my piano teacher played a huge role, because she didn't stop entering us into competitions
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and after my mom died, she actually stepped up in her role in taking care of my sister
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and I.
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But also, the extended family helped.
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My dad was always there.
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My dad, I don't talk about him much, because he was more in the background compared to
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my mom.
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But after my mom passed away, he definitely stepped more into my life.
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And he is a different kind of, he's a gentle parent.
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He's not that Taiga mom.
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So, we also had a church, the minister, and even the congregation, they continued to stay
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in my life, really.
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One of them actually ended up coming to my wedding.
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This was like 20 years later.
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It was like a long time later, right?
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We certainly didn't make it in this country, because of pulling ourselves up by our own
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bootstraps.
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We had a lot of people helping us, right?
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I have a very distant, somewhat distant cousin who grew up in America.
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He was a professor at NYU.
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And he and his wife at the time took my sister and I around to visit different colleges and
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introduced us to MIT.
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So we're definitely, and then not to mention so many relatives who sent money and just
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kind of made sure we were okay.
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I won't say it's easy, but I also know now that I'm older, my experience is also not
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unique.
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You know, especially with the kids and the families that I work with these days, I find
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so much resonance in that, you know, this is not a unique story.
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This episode is presented in collaboration with our good friends at Forte, a free alternative
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the link in the description.
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Let's continue with the episode.
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So then, you know, after really pre-college, you decided to pursue your career in engineering,
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so you went, you were accepted by MIT of all places.
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And then did you go from undergraduate until?
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Yeah.
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So I went to MIT because my mom told me before she died that, you know, I'm not to become
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a musician.
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Frankly, I'm back to music.
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So I applied to MIT.
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I didn't even apply to any kind of conservatory.
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So I knew that I was going to become an engineer because my mom told me I was going to become
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an engineer.
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Okay.
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That's what my dad was also, actually.
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My dad also was an engineer.
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And I applied to MIT, but I love piano a lot.
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So I continued playing the piano, had a private lessons with David DuVaux.
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Really?
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Wow.
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Yes.
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And so MIT has a musical department or?
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It's actually pretty good.
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I mean, the music department, the professors are amazing.
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It's very small, of course, as you can imagine, but the quality is amazing.
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Yeah, I continue to perform and continue to improve on piano.
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And you got to perform with Mr. Yo-Yo Ma.
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Tell me a little bit of the experience.
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So as you may know, John Harbison is a composer, and he's a professor at MIT.
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So at the time, yeah, he was coaching my chamber music group, and he had written a, he was
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commissioned to write a piece for Yo-Yo Ma to perform with the Boston Symphony, I believe.
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So John Harbison wanted to make opportunities for his students.
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So he created this opportunity for us to be the accompanying pianist.
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So that was an amazing experience for us.
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And your career is in a semiconductor industry.
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And I first thought it was a musical terminology conductor, but it wasn't.
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And you were working in that industry for like two decades or something after graduating.
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So what is semiconductor industry?
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So it just refers to the material that's used to make the computer chips.
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So every cell phone, every computer has these little chips in there, which is like the brains
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of the computer or phone.
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So it's like, you know, I worked on all the way from just looking at how long that chip
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is going to last to helping to be part of the team to design the new chips.
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So I did all kinds of work in there.
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Yeah, I'm really thankful for all the opportunities that I had when I was in semiconductors.
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I was sure I developed a lot of the skills that I needed to start pieces of this.
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Because as I said, I was in many different roles.
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I manage people, I manage projects.
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I was in the strategy organizations.
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So I understood how to build business cases and, you know, how to do projections and all
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those things that you need to run your own organization.
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What do you think about your musical career?
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Did it help to be a good engineer or a good student at MIT and eventually to be the founder
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of organization?
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Let me tell you a little bit more about my musical career.
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And I, you know, I just kind of played music.
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I never thought about what it meant for many, many years, right?
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And actually in 2001, I stopped playing the piano.
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So 2001, my son was born.
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And I thought, oh, I got to focus on my career and raising my son.
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So something has to give.
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So I gave up piano, I lately stopped playing it.
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I wasn't playing chamber music, wasn't doing anything with it.
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This went on for more than a decade.
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And then out of the blue, my piano teacher from MIT, you know, who consultizes quite
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a bit with the Boston area, he writes me a handwritten letter, which who does that anymore?
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But he did and he said, hey, listen, I've been invited to be a soloist with the Boston
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Pops.
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And I thought it would be fun if the two of us played the Mozart two-piano concerto.
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He had no idea that has stopped playing piano because I didn't keep in touch with him,
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right?
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So I said, oh, yeah, of course.
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I took a bunch of time off work, actually, to just like brush up on piano again and then
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record, which was amazing.
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But what that made me realize was that, you know, playing the piano, of course, is good
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for your brain.
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It's good for your emotional development and everything.
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You know, everybody knows that.
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But it made me special.
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It gave me opportunities that I would never have otherwise, right?
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Because I love being an engineer, but, you know, I was just one of many engineers, right?
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But playing the piano gave me gave my life some a different dimension that I wouldn't
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have had if it wasn't music.
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So actually, it was that realization that made me stop and think, oh, I wonder if that's
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something I can do in Newark.
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So during my whole career in engineering, my family and I, we have been involved in
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Newark volunteering, you know, so we were involved in a youth program where my kids
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were, you know, participating in it, along with kids who lived in public housing in different
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places in Newark and they're just growing up alongside them.
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I could see that developmentally, my kids had an advantage because they had access to
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lots of extracurriculars, right?
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That kids in Newark at the time, because there was no music or any kind of art in the school
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at the time, had no access to.
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But for many years, I didn't know what to do about it because I could see, you know,
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lots of really dedicated teachers doing what the best already, which is great.
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And I wasn't trained as a teacher.
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But when this happened with the Boston Pops, I realized I could give them maybe some music,
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right?
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Music lessons, which could possibly open up new doors for them, who knows what's going
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to happen, right?
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So that's kind of the very long-winded way of answering, you know, how to starting,
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you know, keys to success, right?
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And what music had meant to me all these years.
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Music has always given me opportunities and I didn't appreciate it until I was almost
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50 years old.
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So you moved to Newark with your family and then started doing community work, maybe through
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local organization or maybe church or something like that.
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And what did you see that maybe your children had or you had, but those that the children
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of that community didn't have?
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To be more precise, I live in a suburb of Newark.
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So it's called New Providence is about five to 10 miles away.
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It's very close.
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But New Jersey is somewhat segregated.
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So in our community, the public schools have excellent music programs.
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Excellent.
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My son actually never took private lessons, but you know, had an amazing music training
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and my two daughters had access to this great school nearby, Wharton Arts, you know, they
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took panel lessons there.
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So I'll tell you what I saw, right?
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So I got involved in Newark throughout church.
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We decided to attend church in Newark.
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And the kids I was working with, I started working with them in kindergarten.
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And what was interesting for me anyway, even though I grew up in New York, I didn't really
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see outside of my own bubble much, you know, so I came to Newark with some preconceived
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notions we could not correct as it turns out.
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So when I started working with kids in kindergarten, I found myself being surprised to learn that
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all kids are the same.
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Which kind of shows you like just prejudice or high part, you know, why should I be surprised?
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That should be just true, right?
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You know, they were equally capable in doing the things at the kindergarten level, right?
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Whether it's puzzles or learning the ABCs or whatever it is at the kindergarten level,
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right?
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And they were all eager to please, eager to learn.
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But actually by first grade, I started seeing differences in reading a novel and you know,
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say mental math, you know, things like that, right?
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That my kids were developing in.
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And then by third grade, they were practically in different grades already.
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It started really fast.
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That was surprising to me.
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The only thing I could really point to that was like truly different between what my kids
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were given versus their friends were growing up in Newark with that.
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My kids had, you know, like the mommy and me type music programs, right?
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We signed them up for like art classes or, you know, things in the rec center, children
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in lower income households spent their time helping their family at a very young age,
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which is actually not a bad thing, right?
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It actually creates a kind of person which sometimes is lacking in children growing up
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with more athletic households, right?
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Yes.
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A little bit more self-sufficient, a little bit more aware of their responsibilities,
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right?
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So, but that was differences.
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And unfortunately in our society, you know, what you get in your math and English score
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and your language arts scores mean a lot, right?
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Mean a lot.
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And nobody's measuring how mature you are as a person, right?
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Probably what inspired you to get into keys to success?
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Have you started teaching piano lessons?
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00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:10,080
Actually I've always said that, oh, I will never teach piano.
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I'm a terrible teacher.
413
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:12,960
I can't do that.
414
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,800
I can't perform, but I can't teach.
415
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,040
You know, you probably know when you play piano, everybody's asking you to teach their
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00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:19,040
kids, right?
417
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,480
And I'm like, no, no, no, I'm going to destroy your kids if I teach them.
418
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:28,400
But then, you know, like this thing happened with the Boston Pops, which made me think,
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oh, maybe I want to bring piano lessons to, is a new work.
420
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,720
And then one of my, two of my good friends actually, they immediately spoke up and said,
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00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,360
yeah, you could teach our kids.
422
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:41,360
You can experiment.
423
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:48,640
You can experiment with teaching with our kids, which I am eternally grateful for because
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as soon as I started teaching them, I realized I loved it.
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But so I was probably because of my background in the corporate world, I approached all of
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this with caution.
427
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:05,520
I would say I did some market research, a lot of market research actually.
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I made appointments to meet with as many people from who are involved in music education
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in Newark as possible.
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I volunteered my time with music, music schools to learn what's happening on the ground.
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And through that, actually, I met some champions.
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00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:31,040
So I would say one champion would be Marshal Kumohon.
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She is the vice president of New Jersey Symphony Education Department, and she continues to
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be a good friend to help keep the success.
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00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:46,960
So she was able to give me a lot of guidance, or she also told me something that, you know,
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00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,360
it's actually very hard to get into the school system, which is what I wanted to do because
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that's where the kids were gathered, right?
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00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:59,360
And that, you know, really the only way to do it was if the parents advocated.
439
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,840
Well, I actually had some good friends, right?
440
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:03,840
You know what?
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Because of all of those years I've been volunteering.
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So I went to a mom who lived in Pemington Court, public housing, and I said to her, you know,
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I would love to teach piano at the South Street School, which is a school near the public
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housing.
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And she immediately went and spoke with the principal the next day.
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She was actually at a hospital at the time.
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00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,720
She called me and she said, hey, I got you, the principal said that she'll speak to you
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tomorrow.
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I went in and spoke with the principal.
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And literally that week I was in that teacher.
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00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:43,560
Actually what opened the door at the very end was the community.
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00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:48,440
It was, you know, it wasn't people with titles or anything like that.
453
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It was just a bomb.
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00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:54,040
Taking on my behalf and opening that door, right?
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Right, right.
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Oh, it's a powerful thing.
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And then not only that group of people who helped you through the community, but also
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00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,520
to be accepted in that community of new work, right?
459
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:13,600
That's a different story because you don't want to go in there thinking, hey, I have this
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00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,600
amazing thing for you.
461
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,840
I don't think anybody wants to hear that.
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00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:18,840
Nobody wants that.
463
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:19,840
Yeah.
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00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:21,760
Right, because nobody wants to be sympathized.
465
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,880
Nobody wants to feel like, yes, how will you do this?
466
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:30,120
For me, so that's actually, that's an excellent question.
467
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:35,080
That's actually the key, the success of keys to success actually.
468
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:41,480
It's the community engaged acceptance, I would say, acceptance, right?
469
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,960
And it's particularly striking because I'm Asian, right?
470
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:50,360
I can, you can see, oh, that's one, that one does not belong in that picture.
471
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:57,880
So the first community, you know, the way it got opened up to us took a long time, right?
472
00:31:57,880 --> 00:31:59,440
And I didn't do all that work.
473
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:04,400
It was primarily the church, the members of the church who, you know, this took like,
474
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,240
I would say 20 years for the relationship to build to the point where the mom would
475
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,560
go and open the door for me at the school, right?
476
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,520
Well, that was our first location.
477
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:18,600
So then the question for me two years back was, how do I replicate that in other areas
478
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:19,600
in Newark?
479
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,000
Newark is largest, is like Newark City, right?
480
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:29,080
I realized actually what I need is a relationship with somebody who's already embedded in the
481
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,080
community.
482
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:38,800
So that person or group, usually a person, would then transfer their credibility to me.
483
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,560
So for example, on the west side of Newark, the first location was in the east side.
484
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:49,240
The west side of Newark, I have a partner, name is Marcia Heard, and we worked together
485
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,760
over the pandemic.
486
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,640
It really wasn't a long time, you know, and then we just saw that we saw life the same
487
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:57,640
way, right?
488
00:32:57,640 --> 00:32:59,000
So it's very, very similar ways.
489
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:00,000
We value the arts.
490
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,160
Now, the big difference is Marcia spent her entire life in Newark.
491
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:05,160
She raised her kids there.
492
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:13,680
You know, they are very successful young people, but she also knows the struggle of being in
493
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:18,200
the Newark school system, right?
494
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:27,280
So Marcia literally found a space for us to teach him, and she literally went down her
495
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:33,920
street knocking on doors to tell parents about Kisa's success and enroll them in the piano
496
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:34,920
program.
497
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,960
It's not really very glamorous when you think about it.
498
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:38,960
It's very human, right?
499
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:39,960
It's very human.
500
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:45,800
It comes down to a person trusting another person, telling another person about it.
501
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,800
That's a true grassroots.
502
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:49,760
Yeah, it's truly grassroots.
503
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:50,760
Yeah.
504
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,280
And I have other stories like that too.
505
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:58,000
So, you know, Kisa's success, we've never advertised, and it's all about students telling
506
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,800
their friends who then joined the program, who then convinced their parents to let them
507
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,200
do all these different things with us.
508
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,880
So you know, it's, you know, word of mouth.
509
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:08,880
Wow.
510
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:17,920
You know, I'm really not here to basically light certain group of people or economic
511
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:18,920
background.
512
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,240
That's not what I'm here for.
513
00:34:21,240 --> 00:34:29,280
What I'm here is about how you created this really meaningful two-way community, right?
514
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,040
So I think, yeah, what you're doing is incredible.
515
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:40,640
Now, and then also we always, lately, especially after 2020 with Mr. George Floyd's unfortunate
516
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:45,280
death, and then that brought up a lot of conversation about inclusion.
517
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:51,720
And even in classical music, people started to include more piano literature by composers
518
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:54,920
of color, person of color.
519
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:55,920
It's amazing.
520
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:56,920
That's great.
521
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,360
But we have to be very careful about inclusion.
522
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,120
How you want to include, does that make sense?
523
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,120
Yeah, completely, completely.
524
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:13,240
Yeah, because when we think of making a program diverse, right, we think about, oh, bringing
525
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:20,040
in, so in the case of an educational program, we think about just like bringing in people
526
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,600
from different backgrounds and putting them together, right?
527
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:28,800
But in my experience, I learned that there's actually a cost, a very high cost for doing
528
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:29,800
that.
529
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:34,840
And there's also a very high reward if you are willing to pay that cost.
530
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:35,840
Okay.
531
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,160
So what do I mean by the high cost?
532
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:42,160
The cost is this, that you cannot come in contact with somebody who's so different than
533
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:47,320
you without being willing to be changed yourself.
534
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:52,320
Because when somebody is so different than you, they have something to teach you.
535
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:59,160
And it's not something that we are all excited to learn to be taught by somebody else.
536
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,360
But what is the reward, right?
537
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:07,840
For me, what I found is that the only way I can explain this is that my life is richer.
538
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:14,640
I'm not only living life through my own lived experience, but I have somebody else's lived
539
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,120
experience to, let me just give you an example.
540
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,600
So for example, right?
541
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:24,920
Actually, so I just came back from visiting my aunt in Malaysia.
542
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,880
She's getting old and her memory is fading.
543
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:33,760
I recently cleaned up her house, put a lot of things away, which I loved.
544
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,720
I loved seeing how clean it was.
545
00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:40,080
But what was even more meaningful was when I brought her into the house to look at things
546
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:45,200
and to see her kind of go through things slowly and examine what I've done with it, right?
547
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:49,720
It's living life through another person's eyes that makes you know that you're not
548
00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:52,400
alone in this world, right?
549
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:56,280
And that, you know, there's one community together, right?
550
00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:02,880
So that is the richness from when I am able to see the world, right?
551
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,000
Through Fasiya's eyes.
552
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:10,280
That is the richness that I have experienced in my own life.
553
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,000
Inclusion, right?
554
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:17,080
I would say it always has to start with yourself, especially when you're dealing with kids.
555
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:22,200
Say we're just going to bring, you know, one of each kid and make them get along when
556
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,680
on the staff, if we don't have that diversity, we are not modeling that acceptance and learning
557
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:28,680
from one another.
558
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,240
Then why are we doing that with the kids, right?
559
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:32,240
Of course.
560
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:39,360
On our staff, we're very, very intentional about having diversity in their staff.
561
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,880
Same thing with the board, on the board level, it's the same way.
562
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:48,240
In fact, we skew more to historically underrepresented minorities because that's the
563
00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:50,920
community that we're working in.
564
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,960
I've always wanted to talk about the true meaning of inclusion.
565
00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:00,960
It's really your willingness to feel what it's like to be in the other person's shoe.
566
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:02,520
It's hard, actually.
567
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:04,040
It's really hard to do.
568
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,800
You think you're doing it, but you're not because you have to become vulnerable.
569
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:09,440
Wow, thank you.
570
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,280
You mentioned that there's no school building.
571
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:16,800
But I saw the video clips of children playing keyboard.
572
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,480
I don't know how many keyboards.
573
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,120
I don't know how you do it, but how this happened.
574
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,920
It seems like the piano lessons or group lessons take place every day.
575
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,680
Yeah, every day, different locations.
576
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:32,920
Do you bring them each time or the keyboards?
577
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,240
So I'll tell you how we do this.
578
00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:38,960
We're supported primarily by individual donors, actually.
579
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:44,520
So 80% of our income is from individuals and from small sums.
580
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:45,520
Just to kind of...
581
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:46,520
Like myself?
582
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:47,520
Oh, yeah.
583
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,120
For sure, like yourself.
584
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,080
So I'll give you just some numbers.
585
00:38:53,080 --> 00:39:00,280
So we have about 400 donors by any given year will be like 250 donors, right?
586
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:05,040
Only five of those donors donate more than $10,000 a year.
587
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,120
Everybody else is donating as small as sums, right?
588
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,560
So the average being like $100.
589
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:15,760
We don't charge the parents and we don't have a requirement for donation or volunteer time
590
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:19,480
either, but the parents voluntarily donate as well.
591
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,240
We have donors that give $25.
592
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:23,240
It's not...
593
00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:27,640
I always say, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, it's not the number that matters
594
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:31,800
because every donation says, I believe in you.
595
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:33,640
That is actually what counts.
596
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:40,240
So in terms of the instruments, interestingly, we haven't bought a single instrument.
597
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:45,320
So because I live in New Providence, it's a relatively well-resourced neighborhood.
598
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:49,800
So when I started, I just kind of put a word out and say, hey, we're doing piano program.
599
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,240
You guys have any keyboards lying around?
600
00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:55,480
It just came pouring in.
601
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:58,680
And even some of those 88 keys are donated.
602
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,240
So that's the thing.
603
00:40:01,240 --> 00:40:05,640
Part of what we try to do in Keys to Success is bring communities together, right?
604
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:10,440
So in one community, like New Providence, there's a keyboard that's sitting in the basement,
605
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:16,200
unlocked, unused, but we give it to Keys to Success and it's played on every day.
606
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,480
In terms of moving keyboards around.
607
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:22,000
We do a combination of things right now.
608
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,520
We teach online.
609
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,240
We teach in person.
610
00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:32,080
We teach in relatively permanent spaces, like the church where you saw the concert.
611
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,600
They gave us a storage space.
612
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:41,400
There are other spaces that we have to bring the instruments in and set up every time.
613
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:43,320
And in the summertime, we teach outdoors.
614
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,400
We teach in gardens.
615
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:51,200
And we have a portable battery source and we can teach in sidewalks anywhere, in backyards.
616
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,880
And so that model, we're actually calling the piano bus model.
617
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:59,600
Right now, there's no bus, but we're working towards this model where we're going to have
618
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:05,200
a trailer attached to a minivan so that we can bring instruments everywhere.
619
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:10,160
And even when the weather is bad, we can teach inside the trailer.
620
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,160
So that's the model.
621
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:12,160
We go to the students.
622
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:14,880
We go to wherever they're at.
623
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:15,880
Amazing.
624
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:22,600
How can I and the piano parts listeners participate in your work?
625
00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:26,400
So first you said, a person like me, I can donate.
626
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,200
Can I donate through your website?
627
00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:29,200
Yes, absolutely.
628
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:30,200
It's keysnewwork.com.
629
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:31,200
Okay.
630
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:32,200
All right.
631
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,880
I will list that in the description as well.
632
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:37,640
What else can I do?
633
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,840
We love visitors, especially musicians actually.
634
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,400
We use volunteers all the time, but I understand your listeners are all over the place.
635
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,760
There's one way that lots of people can participate, whether you're near or far, and that's through
636
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,640
our practiceathon, which is held every spring.
637
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:55,200
And that is our spring fundraiser.
638
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,160
It kind of came out of the pandemic actually, because we're trying to think, what we're
639
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,160
going to do for fundraising.
640
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,560
And so the practiceathon, think of it as like a walkathon.
641
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,880
So you practice.
642
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:11,080
In this case, we send in a clip of you practicing or performing.
643
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:16,320
I find a lot of classical musicians would rather send in a clip of them performing than
644
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:17,320
practicing.
645
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:18,320
And then you raise money.
646
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:23,900
You tell your friends about it and you raise money for, in this case, we use the practice
647
00:42:23,900 --> 00:42:25,960
athon to raise money for our song camps.
648
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:31,000
Any success story, any stories, a student's story from Keys to Success?
649
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:38,640
I want to tell this story because it illustrates that just like for my life, success was not
650
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:40,520
a straight line, right?
651
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:45,560
I went from being on top of the world in Malaysia to kind of going through lots of depths.
652
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:48,040
It's the same with our students.
653
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:53,040
One child who started with us back in 2016, her name is Anya.
654
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:59,160
Anya lives in Penitent Court, which is always so eager to play piano.
655
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,680
We taught at one school when we first started.
656
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,360
This was pre-COVID and when we could teach in schools.
657
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:11,080
And Anya would sneak out of lunch to practice extra with us.
658
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,120
And as a result, she got really good.
659
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:18,400
But as we started working with Anya a little bit more, we realized that she actually couldn't
660
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:19,400
read yet.
661
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:21,360
She was in second grade, but she couldn't read.
662
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:26,080
It also was puzzling because the piano, I could tell, she could read music.
663
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:29,360
Obviously, she's very intelligent, right?
664
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:32,840
So we weren't willing to accept that she couldn't read.
665
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:38,480
So one of my volunteers went out, got some books, just children's books, regular children's
666
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:39,480
books.
667
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,720
And every day after she would practice, we would read with her, Lo and Be Ho.
668
00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:45,440
That year she learned her read.
669
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:50,200
And that year also she made principles lists, right?
670
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:51,200
She did great.
671
00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:52,200
She did great.
672
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:57,560
But unfortunately, the policies of the school was working against her.
673
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:02,440
So that year, unfortunately, she got transferred to another school.
674
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,120
And remember, at that time, we were stuck in one school.
675
00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:10,040
So we couldn't follow her with her musical journey.
676
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:11,760
After that, she got transferred to another another.
677
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,480
By the time she was in sixth grade, she had been in four schools.
678
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:18,240
And as you can imagine, that does not help with academic.
679
00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:24,040
For Anya, though, it turns out COVID was a blessing in disguise, because we were forced
680
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:25,040
to go online.
681
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:29,600
So just like everybody else, we were all afraid to teach online before the pandemic.
682
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,160
And then we all figured out how to do it.
683
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,160
So we figured out how to teach online.
684
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,920
And then Anya came back on just like everybody else.
685
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:42,080
But there was a gap already, right, in her education.
686
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:48,640
So she came back and at that time, again, one great thing about Zoom is all teachers
687
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,080
know is that you become so intimate with your whole family.
688
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:55,800
Because everybody, you can see everybody in the background.
689
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:56,800
Yes.
690
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:57,800
Yes.
691
00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:04,640
So we got to know her godfather, who is this wonderfully committed man who made sure she
692
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:11,920
came to lessons on time and even sometimes would buy her a dress if she needed it for
693
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:13,560
a concert or whatever.
694
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:17,520
So Zoom, we actually became closer with the pandemic and we've been able to work with
695
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:18,840
Anya even more.
696
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:23,440
So this weekend, Anya is going to be auditioning for Arts High.
697
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:24,440
Oh my goodness.
698
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,440
You're like my own child is auditioning.
699
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:29,440
I bet.
700
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:30,440
Yeah.
701
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:31,440
So excited.
702
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:32,440
So excited.
703
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:36,400
And we're so proud, really.
704
00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:42,840
She's one of our first students and she's really the first ones that have started with
705
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:45,800
us that are now getting into the high school age, right?
706
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:50,200
So for us to be able to see her this far, we're very, very thankful.
707
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:52,400
Everything that has happened along the journey.
708
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:57,600
Look what happens with the seed that your mother planted in you and then despite of
709
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:04,880
her fortunate death, but keep growing and how many lives you're changing.
710
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,880
And also they are changing your life as well.
711
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:09,480
Oh, this is wonderful.
712
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:10,480
Amazing.
713
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:14,680
So what's your vision for the future of keys to success?
714
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:21,040
So one of the things that I dream of is that right now we are so unique.
715
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,200
That's absolutely no competition for our services.
716
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:29,480
That's why we don't need to advertise because the kids just keep coming in, right?
717
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:34,800
I hope that by year 15, the stiff competition, because there's going to be lots of organizations
718
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:39,680
going out there to where the students are living to serve them there, right?
719
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:44,880
Not just with piano lessons, but with art lessons, dance lessons, any, all the art forms,
720
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:45,880
right?
721
00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:51,520
So my dream is that there will be a lot of organizations that are doing what we're doing.
722
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:54,960
I know you have the event coming up April 2nd.
723
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:58,880
That's a Baroque orchestra of New Jersey is collaborating with you.
724
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,480
So can you tell us a little bit?
725
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:04,600
The Baroque Orchestra is led by Robert Butts.
726
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:12,120
Really a great community orchestra and also a little crazy because they're not afraid
727
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:13,880
of taking chances.
728
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:19,040
So and that for that, I'm grateful because this was actually, I think back in 2019 when
729
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:24,000
we first played on stage with the Baroque Orchestra, you know, kids were 80 bitty back
730
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,000
then.
731
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:30,840
And but Maestro Butts took a chance and said, yeah, let's perform together, you know?
732
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:36,320
So I love collaborating with the Baroque Orchestra because it lets the students know that an
733
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:40,760
audience who is willing to listen to a professional orchestra is willing to listen to them.
734
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:43,160
That our students are worth listening to.
735
00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:49,760
It's going to be August 2nd, Sunday at the St. Elizabeth College.
736
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:51,360
Is it August or April?
737
00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:52,360
Oh, April.
738
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:53,360
No, it's okay.
739
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:54,360
No, no, no.
740
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:55,360
Great.
741
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:56,360
Are you performing anytime soon?
742
00:47:56,360 --> 00:48:01,240
Well, my next planned performance is going to be in November.
743
00:48:01,240 --> 00:48:02,240
So long performance.
744
00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:06,880
I'll do something in November in the Medicine Arts area.
745
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:08,960
They have something for Thanksgiving every year.
746
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:10,600
Are you live streaming the concert?
747
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:11,800
I'm sure that can be done.
748
00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:12,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
749
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:16,400
That way, our audience can watch your live performance.
750
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:17,920
So before we go, two things.
751
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:23,360
So one is any advice for young musicians who are currently in college or starting out their
752
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:25,200
career in music?
753
00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:30,840
I'm not sure if it's advice, but I would say I just want them to know they hold in their
754
00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:35,800
hands the power to change the world because as we all have said many, many times, music
755
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:39,680
is truly the common language amongst us, right?
756
00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:45,560
And there's opportunity, especially with classical music to make that a reality.
757
00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:52,920
So how we can get involved with Keys to Success is just go to keysnewwork.com.
758
00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:56,320
Find out more information about the organization.
759
00:48:56,320 --> 00:49:00,680
So this has been a really heartwarming and inspirational conversation.
760
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:04,200
Jihoon, and then I enjoyed so much.
761
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:07,720
Now before we go, Jihoon, we have one more thing to do.
762
00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:11,440
It's called the rapid fire questions.
763
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:15,920
So this is part of the show where I get to ask fun questions to each guest.
764
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:21,320
However, as silly as these questions may sound, your answers will reveal who you truly are.
765
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:22,320
So are you ready?
766
00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:23,320
Okay.
767
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:29,680
Yeah, please answer them with the shortest responses as possible and no explanation needed.
768
00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:32,120
Alright, question one.
769
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:33,640
What's your comfort food?
770
00:49:33,640 --> 00:49:36,120
Nasi loma, Malaysian food.
771
00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:37,120
Cats or dogs?
772
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:38,640
Dogs, for sure.
773
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:41,640
So what is your word or words to live by?
774
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:42,920
God is good.
775
00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:46,800
What is the most important quality you look for in other people?
776
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:48,120
Acceptance.
777
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,640
Name three people who inspire you living or dead.
778
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:52,640
My husband, Shane.
779
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:55,640
Oh, I see I'm going to run on numbers.
780
00:49:55,640 --> 00:49:59,680
Wait, my kids.
781
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:04,040
And my aunt, who I just visited in Malaysia.
782
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:06,520
Then name one piece in your current playlist.
783
00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:10,440
What is that Howl's Moving Castle song called?
784
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:12,280
I have no idea.
785
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:16,760
I think it's just called Howl's Moving Castle.
786
00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:17,760
Okay.
787
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:18,760
So last question.
788
00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:20,400
Fill in the blank.
789
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,640
The next one is blank.
790
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:23,640
Delicious.
791
00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:25,800
Thank you so much.
792
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,560
So this concludes this episode of The Pianopolis.
793
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:33,400
Thank you, Jihoon, for joining our show today and sharing your stories and insights and
794
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:34,400
expertise.
795
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:41,920
And you can find more information about Keys to Success through its website at www.keysnewwork.com.
796
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:48,560
And we want to encourage the audience to check out the website and to see how you can get
797
00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:50,760
involved with the organization.
798
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:53,400
And all the links are listed in the description.
799
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:57,080
And thanks to our wonderful audience and fans for tuning in.
800
00:50:57,080 --> 00:51:01,680
If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform
801
00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:02,680
you use.
802
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:07,120
And if you are watching us on YouTube, remember to hit the thumbs up button and subscribe to
803
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:08,120
our channel.
804
00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:11,080
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
805
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:13,040
The links are in the description.
806
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:17,520
If you are interested in being the guest or recommending someone to be on our show as
807
00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:22,920
a guest, or you'd like to sponsor, collaborate with us, shoot us an email at thepianopodnyc.com
808
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:27,320
or send us a DM via social media.
809
00:51:27,320 --> 00:51:30,600
We will see you for the next episode of The Pianopolis.
810
00:51:30,600 --> 00:51:31,600
Thank you, Jihoon.
811
00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:33,100
And bye everyone.
812
00:51:33,100 --> 00:51:34,100
Thank you so much.
813
00:51:34,100 --> 00:51:35,100
Bye.
814
00:51:35,100 --> 00:51:36,100
Bye.
815
00:51:36,100 --> 00:51:37,100
Bye.
816
00:51:37,100 --> 00:51:46,960
Bye.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,600
ant onsite music
2
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:18,880
Let's sit down and sing no more Let's sit down and sing no more
3
00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,620
Let's sit down and sing no more.
4
00:00:21,620 --> 00:00:22,280
In the dark يا・・
5
00:00:22,260 --> 00:00:23,160
Let's fighting up!
6
00:00:23,700 --> 00:00:25,720
To the Sky artificial
7
00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:28,520
Let's sit down and sing no more These are the rocks
8
00:00:29,020 --> 00:00:35,600
La sa지는
9
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:45,880
Welcome back to another episode of The PianoPod.
10
00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,120
I'm your host Yukimi-san.
11
00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:53,280
And today's episode is a heartwarming, emotionally moving, and inspiring one.
12
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,080
So I suggest you to have facial tissue or handkerchief handy.
13
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,360
So for anyone listening or watching The PianoPod for the first time, welcome.
14
00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,480
I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City.
15
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:11,240
And this podcast is for anyone who plays the piano, loves listening to piano music, or
16
00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:17,960
for someone who is currently pursuing a career in piano or works in the music industry professionally.
17
00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:22,320
In each episode, we interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting new ground
18
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:23,880
in the music industry.
19
00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:29,280
Before getting started, I want to thank amazing TPP fans and listeners for tuning in.
20
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,920
Please rate the show and review it on Apple Podcasts because every rating review will
21
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:35,880
help people find the show.
22
00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:38,720
So let me reveal the name of the guest.
23
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:46,760
It's Dr. Jihoon Kerska, the founder of Keys to Success, MIT graduate, electronic engineer,
24
00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:48,160
and pianist.
25
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,480
Since the launch of The PianoPod, I wanted to interview her so badly because I have been
26
00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:57,200
following Dr. Kerska and her work for Keys to Success on social media.
27
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,080
And even from what I saw on social, what she's been doing through this nonprofit organization
28
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:03,720
is outstanding.
29
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,480
So what exactly is Keys to Success?
30
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:12,320
Well, you're about to find more about this amazing organization directly from the founder,
31
00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:13,400
Jihoon.
32
00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,760
But let me share what it says on its website.
33
00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:22,800
Keys to Success was founded by Jihoon Kerska, a Julia-trained classical musician with a
34
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:29,520
doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT, who wanted to provide the young children
35
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,400
of new work, the cultural enrichment.
36
00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,800
So I just finished interviewing her a few minutes ago and wow, Jihoon is an incredible
37
00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:43,560
person, strong, kind, generous, plus a great storyteller.
38
00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:49,120
So please stick with me till the end of the episode because you get to hear how she overcame
39
00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:53,960
her own challenges in her youth and became who she is today.
40
00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:55,680
So off we go.
41
00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:57,480
Please enjoy the show.
42
00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:05,840
You are listening to The PianoPod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
43
00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:12,680
about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
44
00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:18,920
I am delighted and honored to welcome Dr. Jihoon Kerska, the founder of Keys to Success,
45
00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,080
electrical engineer, and pianist.
46
00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:27,600
Keys to Success is a program she founded in 2016 to improve the lives of children growing
47
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,640
up in the most underserved areas in Newark, New Jersey through music education.
48
00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:39,040
Dr. Kerska studied piano in the Juliette Pre-College program and has an extensive performance career
49
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,440
playing at prestigious concert venues such as Boston Symphony Hall and Lincoln Center.
50
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:49,080
She also has had the opportunity to perform with the world-renowned cellist, Mr. Yo-Yo
51
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:54,680
Ma, while enjoying her musical path, she decided to pursue academics and engineering
52
00:03:54,680 --> 00:04:01,580
at MIT and achieve the highest degree, Ph.D., in electrical engineering and computer science.
53
00:04:01,580 --> 00:04:06,760
She continued her engineering career in the semiconductor industry for the following 20
54
00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:07,760
years.
55
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,600
During that time, Dr. Kerska was actively involved in the Newark community and a series
56
00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,160
of projects for its youth.
57
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:21,040
Through this experience, she so firsthand the effects of generational economic disparity.
58
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:26,640
As a result, she developed a passion for investing in youth lives, ultimately leading to her
59
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,360
decision to withdraw from her engineering career and work full-time with the children
60
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,880
of Newark by founding Keys to Success.
61
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,840
So Jihoon, welcome, and thank you for being on my show.
62
00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:39,840
Yay.
63
00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:40,840
Great.
64
00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:41,840
It's my pleasure.
65
00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:45,720
Finally here, I've been wanting to interview you since the launch of this show and whether
66
00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,200
someone recommended to be in touch with you or somehow we were connected on Instagram.
67
00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,960
So I've been following you on social and love your work at Keys to Success.
68
00:04:54,960 --> 00:05:00,080
And before getting into your incredible life, once a Juliette Pre-College student turned
69
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:05,240
to become the engineer with a Ph.D. from MIT with a full-right scholarship, oh my gosh.
70
00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,040
So I think everybody wants to know what is Keys to Success?
71
00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:14,280
I mean, dropping all this amazing career and then you found this wonderful organization.
72
00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:15,960
So let's start with that.
73
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:20,520
We'll talk more detail later, but briefly, what is Keys to Success?
74
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:25,560
Well, Keys to Success, we bring classical music training, particularly focusing on the
75
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,240
piano, to students in Newark.
76
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:34,160
The main difference of what we do is that we go to the students.
77
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:40,200
We go into the neighborhoods and deliver the piano lessons there, rather than having the
78
00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,720
students come to a central location.
79
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:49,160
And the other thing that we do slightly differently is that the program is 100% free for everyone
80
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:50,640
who is involved.
81
00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:57,560
So we don't charge the families and we also don't charge the whole institution.
82
00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,080
And the reason we do that is for the sake of equity.
83
00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:02,080
Wonderful.
84
00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,720
And then currently, how many students are involved?
85
00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:10,040
We have 150 students slightly over right now involved in Keys to Success.
86
00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,240
And the age range is very large.
87
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:17,920
We start as young as pre-K and we go all the way through high school.
88
00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,960
And our goal is always that we try to stay with the students as long as we're able to.
89
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:28,640
Before being an engineer and before being this nonprofit founder, you started as a musician.
90
00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:30,760
Music is a big part of your life.
91
00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:32,720
So let's start with that.
92
00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:34,160
What's the relationship to music?
93
00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,280
How did you discover the love for music?
94
00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,080
I'm a Malaysian.
95
00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:44,240
I was born in Malaysia and Chinese Malaysian, actually.
96
00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:50,520
And if you know anything about that culture, pretty much every little Chinese girl in Malaysia
97
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,240
grows up playing the piano, at least during my era.
98
00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,800
And so it wasn't anything unusual that I played the piano.
99
00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,680
But what was unusual was my mother.
100
00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:06,440
My mother was particularly ambitious for her kids.
101
00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:12,600
And she was determined that we weren't just going to play the piano like everybody else,
102
00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,880
but that we were going to be the best in the whole country.
103
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,680
So yeah, it's Taige mom to the nth degree.
104
00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:27,720
So my mom, she knew how to help us practice.
105
00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:29,280
That was the main thing.
106
00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:34,400
So ever since we started piano at the age of six, we practice a lot.
107
00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:41,200
And in Malaysia, they go through the basically a British system, Royal Conservatory, right?
108
00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,880
So we would take those exams every year.
109
00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,480
And actually, I guess, you know, when you practice that much, you end up being pretty
110
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:48,520
good.
111
00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:50,760
So my sister and I, I have a twin sister.
112
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:55,480
My sister and I would consistently get, you know, the highest marks in the whole country
113
00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,400
and things like that.
114
00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:03,480
So fast forward, we come to America when I was 11 years old, our entire family immigrated
115
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:08,760
to America and primarily for our sake to give us opportunities.
116
00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:16,800
And my mom, you know, she decides, hey, you know, I heard Julia is a really good school.
117
00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,160
Why don't we just see if we can get in?
118
00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:24,040
So she calls up Julia pre-college and it just so happened.
119
00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:29,520
She was able to get through to Olenia Fuski, who was the director of the pre-college program
120
00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:30,520
in the 80s.
121
00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:37,360
Fuski listened to us and she knew that we weren't actually quite at the Juliet level,
122
00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,240
but she wanted to invest in us.
123
00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,400
So Fuski took us under her wing.
124
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:47,800
And literally for a year and a half, I was back down doing five finger scales and completely
125
00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,240
redoing my whole technique.
126
00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,680
And of course, later when she entered us into the audition, we got in.
127
00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:55,680
Wow.
128
00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:56,680
Yeah.
129
00:08:56,680 --> 00:09:01,400
Ms. Fuski, actually, she's really quite an unusual person.
130
00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,880
She's still alive and I actually just saw her recently at the pre-college reunion.
131
00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:07,560
Oh, wow, really?
132
00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:08,560
Yeah.
133
00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:09,560
Wow.
134
00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:12,480
It was really emotional for all of us to get together again.
135
00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:13,960
I bet.
136
00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:20,080
And then I know I read your articles and everything and you mentioned that your mom would, you
137
00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:27,720
would sacrifice her time and effort in your education and would have a round trip to taking
138
00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:32,280
subway and buses to just for you to get into Juliet pre-college.
139
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,760
Fuski lives up in the Bronx area.
140
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:41,880
So we went all the way from Queens taking subway and then the bus and then walking a
141
00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,880
little bit and yeah, it was quite the trip.
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I actually watched your performance.
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This is like totally pretty recent, so that's like turned the clock forward and 2020, I
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think it's during pandemic 2020 or 2021.
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We were performing variations on a theme of Corelli by Rachmaninoff and yeah, marvelous.
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You know, Miss Fuski's teaching style was that she actually really pushed us hard by
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entering us into competitions.
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So we were constantly in competitions and constantly performing.
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For me, you know, it was actually so important to have that because as my mother actually
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couple of years after arriving in America got cancer.
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It was cancer of the breast and back in the 80s, there really was not a lot of good treatment
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for that.
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So it was very traumatic for her and as a result for my sister and I as well.
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But even as her treatment when up and down through all kinds of changes, I could focus
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on music.
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I could focus on just learning a piece and getting ready for the competition and having
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a goal to keep me going.
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For me, you know, that is stabilized me and it helped me feel like I had a place in this
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new country, even though things in my life was very tumultuous.
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My sister and I in particular performed a lot because you know, twins.
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So Miss Fuski actually had to work on the two piano repertoire, two piano contratos
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as well as two piano, just two piano music.
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And we actually played with several orchestras because of that.
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Actually probably the most significant one I would say was in my junior year, which was
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1985.
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Miss Fuski arranged for my sister and I to perform with the orchestra in every Fisher
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Hall, Lincoln Center.
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And we were playing Carnival of the Animals.
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At that time, my mom was actually really sick because the cancer went from breast into her
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liver.
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It just went over the body.
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So she had not been able to come out of bed for a while by then.
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But on the day of the concert, she just decided this is important.
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This is why we came to America.
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This is why I worked my whole life in Sacrifice Corps family, right?
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And she willed herself out of bed.
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She got dressed, put on makeup, and she actually looked really good.
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I remember seeing her in the audience, right?
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I remember seeing her, even though she was already very shrunken.
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I could see the pride in her face.
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I could see that she was happy.
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That turned out to be really one of the biggest performances my sister and I did in high school.
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But it was also the last one that my mom saw.
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She passed away a couple of weeks after that.
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So she just pulled herself together to see this amazing concert, one of the best concerts
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you ever gave.
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She must know something at that time.
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Yeah, definitely.
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Wow.
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And that's so devastating.
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What sort of trauma you had to go through, even just to taking care of your mother in
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such a young age.
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But still, you have to focus on your academics.
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And then also, plus, what's amazing is, as you're going through this hard times, but
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you have these amazing opportunities to be able to perform.
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Yeah, yeah, that's incredible.
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And what struck me about that phase of your life, you wrote a little note to your mom
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after she passed away.
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And it's like a poem.
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And let me just read it for my audience.
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My house falls down every day.
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Jump to break the ceiling, but it is too high.
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Try to leap out window, but the crowds cheer me.
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It's different there next door.
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The house will never fall.
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I can get there if I knock hard enough.
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That is a beautiful poem, but tells me how desperate you were.
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And I'm sure there is a sense of isolation and loneliness, not only from the loss of
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your mother.
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So, but how were you able to survive that phase?
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Looking back, I know that I'm a child of charity, really.
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For sure, my piano teacher played a huge role, because she didn't stop entering us into competitions
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and after my mom died, she actually stepped up in her role in taking care of my sister
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and I.
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But also, the extended family helped.
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My dad was always there.
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My dad, I don't talk about him much, because he was more in the background compared to
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my mom.
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But after my mom passed away, he definitely stepped more into my life.
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And he is a different kind of, he's a gentle parent.
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He's not that Taiga mom.
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So, we also had a church, the minister, and even the congregation, they continued to stay
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in my life, really.
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One of them actually ended up coming to my wedding.
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This was like 20 years later.
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It was like a long time later, right?
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We certainly didn't make it in this country, because of pulling ourselves up by our own
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bootstraps.
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We had a lot of people helping us, right?
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I have a very distant, somewhat distant cousin who grew up in America.
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He was a professor at NYU.
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And he and his wife at the time took my sister and I around to visit different colleges and
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introduced us to MIT.
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So we're definitely, and then not to mention so many relatives who sent money and just
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kind of made sure we were okay.
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I won't say it's easy, but I also know now that I'm older, my experience is also not
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unique.
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You know, especially with the kids and the families that I work with these days, I find
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so much resonance in that, you know, this is not a unique story.
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This episode is presented in collaboration with our good friends at Forte, a free alternative
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the link in the description.
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Let's continue with the episode.
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So then, you know, after really pre-college, you decided to pursue your career in engineering,
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so you went, you were accepted by MIT of all places.
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And then did you go from undergraduate until?
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Yeah.
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So I went to MIT because my mom told me before she died that, you know, I'm not to become
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a musician.
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Frankly, I'm back to music.
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So I applied to MIT.
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I didn't even apply to any kind of conservatory.
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So I knew that I was going to become an engineer because my mom told me I was going to become
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an engineer.
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Okay.
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That's what my dad was also, actually.
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My dad also was an engineer.
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And I applied to MIT, but I love piano a lot.
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So I continued playing the piano, had a private lessons with David DuVaux.
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Really?
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Wow.
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Yes.
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And so MIT has a musical department or?
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It's actually pretty good.
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I mean, the music department, the professors are amazing.
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It's very small, of course, as you can imagine, but the quality is amazing.
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Yeah, I continue to perform and continue to improve on piano.
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And you got to perform with Mr. Yo-Yo Ma.
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Tell me a little bit of the experience.
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So as you may know, John Harbison is a composer, and he's a professor at MIT.
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So at the time, yeah, he was coaching my chamber music group, and he had written a, he was
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commissioned to write a piece for Yo-Yo Ma to perform with the Boston Symphony, I believe.
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So John Harbison wanted to make opportunities for his students.
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So he created this opportunity for us to be the accompanying pianist.
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So that was an amazing experience for us.
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And your career is in a semiconductor industry.
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And I first thought it was a musical terminology conductor, but it wasn't.
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And you were working in that industry for like two decades or something after graduating.
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So what is semiconductor industry?
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So it just refers to the material that's used to make the computer chips.
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So every cell phone, every computer has these little chips in there, which is like the brains
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of the computer or phone.
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So it's like, you know, I worked on all the way from just looking at how long that chip
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is going to last to helping to be part of the team to design the new chips.
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So I did all kinds of work in there.
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Yeah, I'm really thankful for all the opportunities that I had when I was in semiconductors.
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I was sure I developed a lot of the skills that I needed to start pieces of this.
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Because as I said, I was in many different roles.
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I manage people, I manage projects.
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I was in the strategy organizations.
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So I understood how to build business cases and, you know, how to do projections and all
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those things that you need to run your own organization.
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What do you think about your musical career?
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Did it help to be a good engineer or a good student at MIT and eventually to be the founder
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of organization?
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Let me tell you a little bit more about my musical career.
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And I, you know, I just kind of played music.
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I never thought about what it meant for many, many years, right?
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And actually in 2001, I stopped playing the piano.
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So 2001, my son was born.
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And I thought, oh, I got to focus on my career and raising my son.
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So something has to give.
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So I gave up piano, I lately stopped playing it.
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I wasn't playing chamber music, wasn't doing anything with it.
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This went on for more than a decade.
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And then out of the blue, my piano teacher from MIT, you know, who consultizes quite
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a bit with the Boston area, he writes me a handwritten letter, which who does that anymore?
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But he did and he said, hey, listen, I've been invited to be a soloist with the Boston
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Pops.
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And I thought it would be fun if the two of us played the Mozart two-piano concerto.
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He had no idea that has stopped playing piano because I didn't keep in touch with him,
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right?
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So I said, oh, yeah, of course.
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I took a bunch of time off work, actually, to just like brush up on piano again and then
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record, which was amazing.
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But what that made me realize was that, you know, playing the piano, of course, is good
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for your brain.
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It's good for your emotional development and everything.
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You know, everybody knows that.
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But it made me special.
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It gave me opportunities that I would never have otherwise, right?
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Because I love being an engineer, but, you know, I was just one of many engineers, right?
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But playing the piano gave me gave my life some a different dimension that I wouldn't
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have had if it wasn't music.
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So actually, it was that realization that made me stop and think, oh, I wonder if that's
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something I can do in Newark.
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So during my whole career in engineering, my family and I, we have been involved in
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Newark volunteering, you know, so we were involved in a youth program where my kids
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were, you know, participating in it, along with kids who lived in public housing in different
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places in Newark and they're just growing up alongside them.
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I could see that developmentally, my kids had an advantage because they had access to
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lots of extracurriculars, right?
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That kids in Newark at the time, because there was no music or any kind of art in the school
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at the time, had no access to.
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But for many years, I didn't know what to do about it because I could see, you know,
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lots of really dedicated teachers doing what the best already, which is great.
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And I wasn't trained as a teacher.
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But when this happened with the Boston Pops, I realized I could give them maybe some music,
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right?
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Music lessons, which could possibly open up new doors for them, who knows what's going
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to happen, right?
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So that's kind of the very long-winded way of answering, you know, how to starting,
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you know, keys to success, right?
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And what music had meant to me all these years.
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Music has always given me opportunities and I didn't appreciate it until I was almost
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50 years old.
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So you moved to Newark with your family and then started doing community work, maybe through
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local organization or maybe church or something like that.
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And what did you see that maybe your children had or you had, but those that the children
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of that community didn't have?
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To be more precise, I live in a suburb of Newark.
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So it's called New Providence is about five to 10 miles away.
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It's very close.
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But New Jersey is somewhat segregated.
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So in our community, the public schools have excellent music programs.
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Excellent.
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My son actually never took private lessons, but you know, had an amazing music training
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and my two daughters had access to this great school nearby, Wharton Arts, you know, they
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took panel lessons there.
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So I'll tell you what I saw, right?
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So I got involved in Newark throughout church.
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We decided to attend church in Newark.
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And the kids I was working with, I started working with them in kindergarten.
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And what was interesting for me anyway, even though I grew up in New York, I didn't really
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see outside of my own bubble much, you know, so I came to Newark with some preconceived
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notions we could not correct as it turns out.
379
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:13,000
So when I started working with kids in kindergarten, I found myself being surprised to learn that
380
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:14,000
all kids are the same.
381
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:20,120
Which kind of shows you like just prejudice or high part, you know, why should I be surprised?
382
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,000
That should be just true, right?
383
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:29,400
You know, they were equally capable in doing the things at the kindergarten level, right?
384
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:34,200
Whether it's puzzles or learning the ABCs or whatever it is at the kindergarten level,
385
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:35,200
right?
386
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,520
And they were all eager to please, eager to learn.
387
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:44,040
But actually by first grade, I started seeing differences in reading a novel and you know,
388
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,560
say mental math, you know, things like that, right?
389
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,200
That my kids were developing in.
390
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,960
And then by third grade, they were practically in different grades already.
391
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:56,400
It started really fast.
392
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:57,960
That was surprising to me.
393
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:02,760
The only thing I could really point to that was like truly different between what my kids
394
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:08,720
were given versus their friends were growing up in Newark with that.
395
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,320
My kids had, you know, like the mommy and me type music programs, right?
396
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:19,600
We signed them up for like art classes or, you know, things in the rec center, children
397
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:26,040
in lower income households spent their time helping their family at a very young age,
398
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,440
which is actually not a bad thing, right?
399
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:34,920
It actually creates a kind of person which sometimes is lacking in children growing up
400
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,280
with more athletic households, right?
401
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:38,280
Yes.
402
00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,680
A little bit more self-sufficient, a little bit more aware of their responsibilities,
403
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:43,680
right?
404
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,360
So, but that was differences.
405
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:48,920
And unfortunately in our society, you know, what you get in your math and English score
406
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,240
and your language arts scores mean a lot, right?
407
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:54,240
Mean a lot.
408
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,800
And nobody's measuring how mature you are as a person, right?
409
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:02,880
Probably what inspired you to get into keys to success?
410
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,600
Have you started teaching piano lessons?
411
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:10,080
Actually I've always said that, oh, I will never teach piano.
412
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:11,960
I'm a terrible teacher.
413
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:12,960
I can't do that.
414
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,800
I can't perform, but I can't teach.
415
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,040
You know, you probably know when you play piano, everybody's asking you to teach their
416
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:19,040
kids, right?
417
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,480
And I'm like, no, no, no, I'm going to destroy your kids if I teach them.
418
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:28,400
But then, you know, like this thing happened with the Boston Pops, which made me think,
419
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:34,720
oh, maybe I want to bring piano lessons to, is a new work.
420
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,720
And then one of my, two of my good friends actually, they immediately spoke up and said,
421
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,360
yeah, you could teach our kids.
422
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:41,360
You can experiment.
423
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:48,640
You can experiment with teaching with our kids, which I am eternally grateful for because
424
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:53,080
as soon as I started teaching them, I realized I loved it.
425
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:58,960
But so I was probably because of my background in the corporate world, I approached all of
426
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:00,280
this with caution.
427
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:05,520
I would say I did some market research, a lot of market research actually.
428
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:12,560
I made appointments to meet with as many people from who are involved in music education
429
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,960
in Newark as possible.
430
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:22,280
I volunteered my time with music, music schools to learn what's happening on the ground.
431
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:27,160
And through that, actually, I met some champions.
432
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:31,040
So I would say one champion would be Marshal Kumohon.
433
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:38,120
She is the vice president of New Jersey Symphony Education Department, and she continues to
434
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,960
be a good friend to help keep the success.
435
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:46,960
So she was able to give me a lot of guidance, or she also told me something that, you know,
436
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,360
it's actually very hard to get into the school system, which is what I wanted to do because
437
00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,600
that's where the kids were gathered, right?
438
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:59,360
And that, you know, really the only way to do it was if the parents advocated.
439
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,840
Well, I actually had some good friends, right?
440
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:03,840
You know what?
441
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:05,800
Because of all of those years I've been volunteering.
442
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:13,880
So I went to a mom who lived in Pemington Court, public housing, and I said to her, you know,
443
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:19,520
I would love to teach piano at the South Street School, which is a school near the public
444
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:20,520
housing.
445
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:25,720
And she immediately went and spoke with the principal the next day.
446
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,720
She was actually at a hospital at the time.
447
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,720
She called me and she said, hey, I got you, the principal said that she'll speak to you
448
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:32,720
tomorrow.
449
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,680
I went in and spoke with the principal.
450
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,120
And literally that week I was in that teacher.
451
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:43,560
Actually what opened the door at the very end was the community.
452
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:48,440
It was, you know, it wasn't people with titles or anything like that.
453
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:49,920
It was just a bomb.
454
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:54,040
Taking on my behalf and opening that door, right?
455
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:55,040
Right, right.
456
00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,360
Oh, it's a powerful thing.
457
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:03,320
And then not only that group of people who helped you through the community, but also
458
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,520
to be accepted in that community of new work, right?
459
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:13,600
That's a different story because you don't want to go in there thinking, hey, I have this
460
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,600
amazing thing for you.
461
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,840
I don't think anybody wants to hear that.
462
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:18,840
Nobody wants that.
463
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:19,840
Yeah.
464
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:21,760
Right, because nobody wants to be sympathized.
465
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,880
Nobody wants to feel like, yes, how will you do this?
466
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:30,120
For me, so that's actually, that's an excellent question.
467
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:35,080
That's actually the key, the success of keys to success actually.
468
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:41,480
It's the community engaged acceptance, I would say, acceptance, right?
469
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,960
And it's particularly striking because I'm Asian, right?
470
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:50,360
I can, you can see, oh, that's one, that one does not belong in that picture.
471
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:57,880
So the first community, you know, the way it got opened up to us took a long time, right?
472
00:31:57,880 --> 00:31:59,440
And I didn't do all that work.
473
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:04,400
It was primarily the church, the members of the church who, you know, this took like,
474
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,240
I would say 20 years for the relationship to build to the point where the mom would
475
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,560
go and open the door for me at the school, right?
476
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,520
Well, that was our first location.
477
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:18,600
So then the question for me two years back was, how do I replicate that in other areas
478
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:19,600
in Newark?
479
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,000
Newark is largest, is like Newark City, right?
480
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:29,080
I realized actually what I need is a relationship with somebody who's already embedded in the
481
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,080
community.
482
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:38,800
So that person or group, usually a person, would then transfer their credibility to me.
483
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,560
So for example, on the west side of Newark, the first location was in the east side.
484
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:49,240
The west side of Newark, I have a partner, name is Marcia Heard, and we worked together
485
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,760
over the pandemic.
486
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,640
It really wasn't a long time, you know, and then we just saw that we saw life the same
487
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:57,640
way, right?
488
00:32:57,640 --> 00:32:59,000
So it's very, very similar ways.
489
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:00,000
We value the arts.
490
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,160
Now, the big difference is Marcia spent her entire life in Newark.
491
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:05,160
She raised her kids there.
492
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:13,680
You know, they are very successful young people, but she also knows the struggle of being in
493
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:18,200
the Newark school system, right?
494
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:27,280
So Marcia literally found a space for us to teach him, and she literally went down her
495
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:33,920
street knocking on doors to tell parents about Kisa's success and enroll them in the piano
496
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:34,920
program.
497
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,960
It's not really very glamorous when you think about it.
498
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:38,960
It's very human, right?
499
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:39,960
It's very human.
500
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:45,800
It comes down to a person trusting another person, telling another person about it.
501
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,800
That's a true grassroots.
502
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:49,760
Yeah, it's truly grassroots.
503
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:50,760
Yeah.
504
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,280
And I have other stories like that too.
505
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:58,000
So, you know, Kisa's success, we've never advertised, and it's all about students telling
506
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,800
their friends who then joined the program, who then convinced their parents to let them
507
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,200
do all these different things with us.
508
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,880
So you know, it's, you know, word of mouth.
509
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:08,880
Wow.
510
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:17,920
You know, I'm really not here to basically light certain group of people or economic
511
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:18,920
background.
512
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,240
That's not what I'm here for.
513
00:34:21,240 --> 00:34:29,280
What I'm here is about how you created this really meaningful two-way community, right?
514
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,040
So I think, yeah, what you're doing is incredible.
515
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:40,640
Now, and then also we always, lately, especially after 2020 with Mr. George Floyd's unfortunate
516
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:45,280
death, and then that brought up a lot of conversation about inclusion.
517
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:51,720
And even in classical music, people started to include more piano literature by composers
518
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:54,920
of color, person of color.
519
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:55,920
It's amazing.
520
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:56,920
That's great.
521
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,360
But we have to be very careful about inclusion.
522
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,120
How you want to include, does that make sense?
523
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,120
Yeah, completely, completely.
524
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:13,240
Yeah, because when we think of making a program diverse, right, we think about, oh, bringing
525
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:20,040
in, so in the case of an educational program, we think about just like bringing in people
526
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,600
from different backgrounds and putting them together, right?
527
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:28,800
But in my experience, I learned that there's actually a cost, a very high cost for doing
528
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:29,800
that.
529
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:34,840
And there's also a very high reward if you are willing to pay that cost.
530
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:35,840
Okay.
531
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,160
So what do I mean by the high cost?
532
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:42,160
The cost is this, that you cannot come in contact with somebody who's so different than
533
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:47,320
you without being willing to be changed yourself.
534
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:52,320
Because when somebody is so different than you, they have something to teach you.
535
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:59,160
And it's not something that we are all excited to learn to be taught by somebody else.
536
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,360
But what is the reward, right?
537
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:07,840
For me, what I found is that the only way I can explain this is that my life is richer.
538
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:14,640
I'm not only living life through my own lived experience, but I have somebody else's lived
539
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,120
experience to, let me just give you an example.
540
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,600
So for example, right?
541
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:24,920
Actually, so I just came back from visiting my aunt in Malaysia.
542
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,880
She's getting old and her memory is fading.
543
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:33,760
I recently cleaned up her house, put a lot of things away, which I loved.
544
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,720
I loved seeing how clean it was.
545
00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:40,080
But what was even more meaningful was when I brought her into the house to look at things
546
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:45,200
and to see her kind of go through things slowly and examine what I've done with it, right?
547
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:49,720
It's living life through another person's eyes that makes you know that you're not
548
00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:52,400
alone in this world, right?
549
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:56,280
And that, you know, there's one community together, right?
550
00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:02,880
So that is the richness from when I am able to see the world, right?
551
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,000
Through Fasiya's eyes.
552
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:10,280
That is the richness that I have experienced in my own life.
553
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,000
Inclusion, right?
554
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:17,080
I would say it always has to start with yourself, especially when you're dealing with kids.
555
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:22,200
Say we're just going to bring, you know, one of each kid and make them get along when
556
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,680
on the staff, if we don't have that diversity, we are not modeling that acceptance and learning
557
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:28,680
from one another.
558
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,240
Then why are we doing that with the kids, right?
559
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:32,240
Of course.
560
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:39,360
On our staff, we're very, very intentional about having diversity in their staff.
561
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,880
Same thing with the board, on the board level, it's the same way.
562
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:48,240
In fact, we skew more to historically underrepresented minorities because that's the
563
00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:50,920
community that we're working in.
564
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,960
I've always wanted to talk about the true meaning of inclusion.
565
00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:00,960
It's really your willingness to feel what it's like to be in the other person's shoe.
566
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:02,520
It's hard, actually.
567
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:04,040
It's really hard to do.
568
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,800
You think you're doing it, but you're not because you have to become vulnerable.
569
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:09,440
Wow, thank you.
570
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,280
You mentioned that there's no school building.
571
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:16,800
But I saw the video clips of children playing keyboard.
572
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,480
I don't know how many keyboards.
573
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,120
I don't know how you do it, but how this happened.
574
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,920
It seems like the piano lessons or group lessons take place every day.
575
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,680
Yeah, every day, different locations.
576
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:32,920
Do you bring them each time or the keyboards?
577
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,240
So I'll tell you how we do this.
578
00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:38,960
We're supported primarily by individual donors, actually.
579
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:44,520
So 80% of our income is from individuals and from small sums.
580
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:45,520
Just to kind of...
581
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:46,520
Like myself?
582
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:47,520
Oh, yeah.
583
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,120
For sure, like yourself.
584
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,080
So I'll give you just some numbers.
585
00:38:53,080 --> 00:39:00,280
So we have about 400 donors by any given year will be like 250 donors, right?
586
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:05,040
Only five of those donors donate more than $10,000 a year.
587
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,120
Everybody else is donating as small as sums, right?
588
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,560
So the average being like $100.
589
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:15,760
We don't charge the parents and we don't have a requirement for donation or volunteer time
590
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:19,480
either, but the parents voluntarily donate as well.
591
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,240
We have donors that give $25.
592
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:23,240
It's not...
593
00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:27,640
I always say, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, it's not the number that matters
594
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:31,800
because every donation says, I believe in you.
595
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:33,640
That is actually what counts.
596
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:40,240
So in terms of the instruments, interestingly, we haven't bought a single instrument.
597
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:45,320
So because I live in New Providence, it's a relatively well-resourced neighborhood.
598
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:49,800
So when I started, I just kind of put a word out and say, hey, we're doing piano program.
599
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,240
You guys have any keyboards lying around?
600
00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:55,480
It just came pouring in.
601
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:58,680
And even some of those 88 keys are donated.
602
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,240
So that's the thing.
603
00:40:01,240 --> 00:40:05,640
Part of what we try to do in Keys to Success is bring communities together, right?
604
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:10,440
So in one community, like New Providence, there's a keyboard that's sitting in the basement,
605
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:16,200
unlocked, unused, but we give it to Keys to Success and it's played on every day.
606
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,480
In terms of moving keyboards around.
607
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:22,000
We do a combination of things right now.
608
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,520
We teach online.
609
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,240
We teach in person.
610
00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:32,080
We teach in relatively permanent spaces, like the church where you saw the concert.
611
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,600
They gave us a storage space.
612
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:41,400
There are other spaces that we have to bring the instruments in and set up every time.
613
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:43,320
And in the summertime, we teach outdoors.
614
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,400
We teach in gardens.
615
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:51,200
And we have a portable battery source and we can teach in sidewalks anywhere, in backyards.
616
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,880
And so that model, we're actually calling the piano bus model.
617
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:59,600
Right now, there's no bus, but we're working towards this model where we're going to have
618
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:05,200
a trailer attached to a minivan so that we can bring instruments everywhere.
619
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:10,160
And even when the weather is bad, we can teach inside the trailer.
620
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,160
So that's the model.
621
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:12,160
We go to the students.
622
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:14,880
We go to wherever they're at.
623
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:15,880
Amazing.
624
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:22,600
How can I and the piano parts listeners participate in your work?
625
00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:26,400
So first you said, a person like me, I can donate.
626
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,200
Can I donate through your website?
627
00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:29,200
Yes, absolutely.
628
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:30,200
It's keysnewwork.com.
629
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:31,200
Okay.
630
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:32,200
All right.
631
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,880
I will list that in the description as well.
632
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:37,640
What else can I do?
633
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,840
We love visitors, especially musicians actually.
634
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,400
We use volunteers all the time, but I understand your listeners are all over the place.
635
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,760
There's one way that lots of people can participate, whether you're near or far, and that's through
636
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,640
our practiceathon, which is held every spring.
637
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:55,200
And that is our spring fundraiser.
638
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,160
It kind of came out of the pandemic actually, because we're trying to think, what we're
639
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,160
going to do for fundraising.
640
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,560
And so the practiceathon, think of it as like a walkathon.
641
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,880
So you practice.
642
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:11,080
In this case, we send in a clip of you practicing or performing.
643
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:16,320
I find a lot of classical musicians would rather send in a clip of them performing than
644
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:17,320
practicing.
645
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:18,320
And then you raise money.
646
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:23,900
You tell your friends about it and you raise money for, in this case, we use the practice
647
00:42:23,900 --> 00:42:25,960
athon to raise money for our song camps.
648
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:31,000
Any success story, any stories, a student's story from Keys to Success?
649
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:38,640
I want to tell this story because it illustrates that just like for my life, success was not
650
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:40,520
a straight line, right?
651
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:45,560
I went from being on top of the world in Malaysia to kind of going through lots of depths.
652
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:48,040
It's the same with our students.
653
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:53,040
One child who started with us back in 2016, her name is Anya.
654
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:59,160
Anya lives in Penitent Court, which is always so eager to play piano.
655
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,680
We taught at one school when we first started.
656
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,360
This was pre-COVID and when we could teach in schools.
657
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:11,080
And Anya would sneak out of lunch to practice extra with us.
658
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,120
And as a result, she got really good.
659
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:18,400
But as we started working with Anya a little bit more, we realized that she actually couldn't
660
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:19,400
read yet.
661
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:21,360
She was in second grade, but she couldn't read.
662
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:26,080
It also was puzzling because the piano, I could tell, she could read music.
663
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:29,360
Obviously, she's very intelligent, right?
664
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:32,840
So we weren't willing to accept that she couldn't read.
665
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:38,480
So one of my volunteers went out, got some books, just children's books, regular children's
666
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:39,480
books.
667
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,720
And every day after she would practice, we would read with her, Lo and Be Ho.
668
00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:45,440
That year she learned her read.
669
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:50,200
And that year also she made principles lists, right?
670
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:51,200
She did great.
671
00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:52,200
She did great.
672
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:57,560
But unfortunately, the policies of the school was working against her.
673
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:02,440
So that year, unfortunately, she got transferred to another school.
674
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,120
And remember, at that time, we were stuck in one school.
675
00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:10,040
So we couldn't follow her with her musical journey.
676
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:11,760
After that, she got transferred to another another.
677
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,480
By the time she was in sixth grade, she had been in four schools.
678
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:18,240
And as you can imagine, that does not help with academic.
679
00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:24,040
For Anya, though, it turns out COVID was a blessing in disguise, because we were forced
680
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:25,040
to go online.
681
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:29,600
So just like everybody else, we were all afraid to teach online before the pandemic.
682
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,160
And then we all figured out how to do it.
683
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,160
So we figured out how to teach online.
684
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,920
And then Anya came back on just like everybody else.
685
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:42,080
But there was a gap already, right, in her education.
686
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:48,640
So she came back and at that time, again, one great thing about Zoom is all teachers
687
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,080
know is that you become so intimate with your whole family.
688
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:55,800
Because everybody, you can see everybody in the background.
689
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:56,800
Yes.
690
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:57,800
Yes.
691
00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:04,640
So we got to know her godfather, who is this wonderfully committed man who made sure she
692
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:11,920
came to lessons on time and even sometimes would buy her a dress if she needed it for
693
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:13,560
a concert or whatever.
694
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:17,520
So Zoom, we actually became closer with the pandemic and we've been able to work with
695
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:18,840
Anya even more.
696
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:23,440
So this weekend, Anya is going to be auditioning for Arts High.
697
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:24,440
Oh my goodness.
698
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,440
You're like my own child is auditioning.
699
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:29,440
I bet.
700
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:30,440
Yeah.
701
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:31,440
So excited.
702
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:32,440
So excited.
703
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:36,400
And we're so proud, really.
704
00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:42,840
She's one of our first students and she's really the first ones that have started with
705
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:45,800
us that are now getting into the high school age, right?
706
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:50,200
So for us to be able to see her this far, we're very, very thankful.
707
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:52,400
Everything that has happened along the journey.
708
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:57,600
Look what happens with the seed that your mother planted in you and then despite of
709
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:04,880
her fortunate death, but keep growing and how many lives you're changing.
710
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,880
And also they are changing your life as well.
711
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:09,480
Oh, this is wonderful.
712
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:10,480
Amazing.
713
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:14,680
So what's your vision for the future of keys to success?
714
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:21,040
So one of the things that I dream of is that right now we are so unique.
715
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,200
That's absolutely no competition for our services.
716
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:29,480
That's why we don't need to advertise because the kids just keep coming in, right?
717
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:34,800
I hope that by year 15, the stiff competition, because there's going to be lots of organizations
718
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:39,680
going out there to where the students are living to serve them there, right?
719
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:44,880
Not just with piano lessons, but with art lessons, dance lessons, any, all the art forms,
720
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:45,880
right?
721
00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:51,520
So my dream is that there will be a lot of organizations that are doing what we're doing.
722
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:54,960
I know you have the event coming up April 2nd.
723
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:58,880
That's a Baroque orchestra of New Jersey is collaborating with you.
724
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,480
So can you tell us a little bit?
725
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:04,600
The Baroque Orchestra is led by Robert Butts.
726
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:12,120
Really a great community orchestra and also a little crazy because they're not afraid
727
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:13,880
of taking chances.
728
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:19,040
So and that for that, I'm grateful because this was actually, I think back in 2019 when
729
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:24,000
we first played on stage with the Baroque Orchestra, you know, kids were 80 bitty back
730
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,000
then.
731
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:30,840
And but Maestro Butts took a chance and said, yeah, let's perform together, you know?
732
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:36,320
So I love collaborating with the Baroque Orchestra because it lets the students know that an
733
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:40,760
audience who is willing to listen to a professional orchestra is willing to listen to them.
734
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:43,160
That our students are worth listening to.
735
00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:49,760
It's going to be August 2nd, Sunday at the St. Elizabeth College.
736
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:51,360
Is it August or April?
737
00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:52,360
Oh, April.
738
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:53,360
No, it's okay.
739
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:54,360
No, no, no.
740
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:55,360
Great.
741
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:56,360
Are you performing anytime soon?
742
00:47:56,360 --> 00:48:01,240
Well, my next planned performance is going to be in November.
743
00:48:01,240 --> 00:48:02,240
So long performance.
744
00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:06,880
I'll do something in November in the Medicine Arts area.
745
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:08,960
They have something for Thanksgiving every year.
746
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:10,600
Are you live streaming the concert?
747
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:11,800
I'm sure that can be done.
748
00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:12,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
749
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:16,400
That way, our audience can watch your live performance.
750
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:17,920
So before we go, two things.
751
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:23,360
So one is any advice for young musicians who are currently in college or starting out their
752
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:25,200
career in music?
753
00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:30,840
I'm not sure if it's advice, but I would say I just want them to know they hold in their
754
00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:35,800
hands the power to change the world because as we all have said many, many times, music
755
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:39,680
is truly the common language amongst us, right?
756
00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:45,560
And there's opportunity, especially with classical music to make that a reality.
757
00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:52,920
So how we can get involved with Keys to Success is just go to keysnewwork.com.
758
00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:56,320
Find out more information about the organization.
759
00:48:56,320 --> 00:49:00,680
So this has been a really heartwarming and inspirational conversation.
760
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:04,200
Jihoon, and then I enjoyed so much.
761
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:07,720
Now before we go, Jihoon, we have one more thing to do.
762
00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:11,440
It's called the rapid fire questions.
763
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:15,920
So this is part of the show where I get to ask fun questions to each guest.
764
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:21,320
However, as silly as these questions may sound, your answers will reveal who you truly are.
765
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:22,320
So are you ready?
766
00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:23,320
Okay.
767
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:29,680
Yeah, please answer them with the shortest responses as possible and no explanation needed.
768
00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:32,120
Alright, question one.
769
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:33,640
What's your comfort food?
770
00:49:33,640 --> 00:49:36,120
Nasi loma, Malaysian food.
771
00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:37,120
Cats or dogs?
772
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:38,640
Dogs, for sure.
773
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:41,640
So what is your word or words to live by?
774
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:42,920
God is good.
775
00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:46,800
What is the most important quality you look for in other people?
776
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:48,120
Acceptance.
777
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,640
Name three people who inspire you living or dead.
778
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:52,640
My husband, Shane.
779
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:55,640
Oh, I see I'm going to run on numbers.
780
00:49:55,640 --> 00:49:59,680
Wait, my kids.
781
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:04,040
And my aunt, who I just visited in Malaysia.
782
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:06,520
Then name one piece in your current playlist.
783
00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:10,440
What is that Howl's Moving Castle song called?
784
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:12,280
I have no idea.
785
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:16,760
I think it's just called Howl's Moving Castle.
786
00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:17,760
Okay.
787
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:18,760
So last question.
788
00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:20,400
Fill in the blank.
789
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,640
The next one is blank.
790
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:23,640
Delicious.
791
00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:25,800
Thank you so much.
792
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,560
So this concludes this episode of The Pianopolis.
793
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:33,400
Thank you, Jihoon, for joining our show today and sharing your stories and insights and
794
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:34,400
expertise.
795
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:41,920
And you can find more information about Keys to Success through its website at www.keysnewwork.com.
796
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:48,560
And we want to encourage the audience to check out the website and to see how you can get
797
00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:50,760
involved with the organization.
798
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:53,400
And all the links are listed in the description.
799
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:57,080
And thanks to our wonderful audience and fans for tuning in.
800
00:50:57,080 --> 00:51:01,680
If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform
801
00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:02,680
you use.
802
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:07,120
And if you are watching us on YouTube, remember to hit the thumbs up button and subscribe to
803
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:08,120
our channel.
804
00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:11,080
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
805
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:13,040
The links are in the description.
806
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:17,520
If you are interested in being the guest or recommending someone to be on our show as
807
00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:22,920
a guest, or you'd like to sponsor, collaborate with us, shoot us an email at thepianopodnyc.com
808
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:27,320
or send us a DM via social media.
809
00:51:27,320 --> 00:51:30,600
We will see you for the next episode of The Pianopolis.
810
00:51:30,600 --> 00:51:31,600
Thank you, Jihoon.
811
00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:33,100
And bye everyone.
812
00:51:33,100 --> 00:51:34,100
Thank you so much.
813
00:51:34,100 --> 00:51:35,100
Bye.
814
00:51:35,100 --> 00:51:36,100
Bye.
815
00:51:36,100 --> 00:51:37,100
Bye.
816
00:51:37,100 --> 00:51:46,960
Bye.
