Accents of Love feat. Pianist and Singer-Songwriter, Vivian Fang Liu

WEBVTT
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Purple is born from red and blue. Water and sun
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grow the bamboo. Black and white make a great
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look. Cotton would make the paper of your textbook.
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Music is made of measures, minors, and earth
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of colors. Dance on the canvas, try to see the
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truth. Welcome back to the PianoPod, everyone.
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This season, we are exploring creativity and
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connection, highlighting artists who are reimagining
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what musical purpose can look like in today's
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world. Our guest for this episode, Vivian Fang
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Liu, brings a remarkable blend of artistry, scholarship,
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and creative vision. She is a classically trained
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pianist, a singer -songwriter working across
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multiple genres, an educator, and a researcher
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whose work on music education and culture has
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been presented. internationally. What makes Vivian's
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voice particularly compelling is how these different
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worlds come together in her creative work. Her
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acclaimed children's album, Accents of Love,
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invites young listeners to celebrate who they
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are, their languages, cultures, and identities
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through music that is imaginative, thoughtful,
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and artistically rich. Alongside this project,
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Vivian has also created Shape of Crowns, another
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children's album centered on belonging. confidence,
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and cultural pride. Her songwriting speaks not
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only to children growing up in multicultural
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environments, but also to the adults guiding
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them. Born in Ganyan, China, and arriving in
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the United States alone at the age of 15, Vivian
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understands firsthand what it means to grow up
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between cultures. That experience, together with
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her research on Chinese and Chinese -American
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music education, shapes her artistic mission,
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using music as a bridge for storytelling, identity,
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and empowerment. Her work moves across classical
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performance, pop, songwriting, jazz influences,
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and children's music, creating a musical language
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wide enough to hold the complexity of real human
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stories. Before we begin, I want to thank our
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listeners for your continued support of The Pianapod.
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Your engagement, sharing episodes, leaving reviews,
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and following our conversations help sustain
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this community of artists, educators, and thinkers
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exploring what classical music can become. Here
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is Season 6, Episode 13 of The Pianapod with
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pianist, singer -songwriter, educator, and researcher
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Vivian Pang Nu. Please enjoy the show. You are
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listening to The Piano Pod, where we talk to
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the brightest minds in the industry about how
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they are bringing the piano into the future and
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thriving in a complex, ever -evolving world.
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Vivian, welcome to The Piano Pod. Thank you so
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much for being here today. And where are you
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joining us from? Thank you so much for having
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me. I'm from New York right now. I'm in New York
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right now. I'm so sorry. No, it's okay. Great.
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Yes, we are both New Yorkers. Yes, fellow New
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Yorkers. Wonderful. Now, it feels really especially
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fitting to... you know welcome you on the show
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during our season of creativity and connection
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you really embody the spirit using your imagination
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musicianship and multi -genre artistry to reach
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young audiences in such a modern and thoughtful
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way and of course this conversation was set in
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motion by donna Wang Friedman, a longtime PianoPod
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friend and former guest who recommended you with
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so much enthusiasm. With all that in mind, when
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you look at the full arc of what you do, from
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classical performance to cross -genre songwriting
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to your children's albums, what would you say
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is your overall artistic mission? My mission
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is that use music as a bridge between the cultures.
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between the generations and between the feelings
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and the sounds, yeah, to connect. I think that's
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my mission. And yeah, and also I feel like music
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to me is so special. I started to play piano
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because of my mom. And yeah, because I was just
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like a tomboy and then, you know, always running
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around and not really like obeying. my Asian
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parents. And then my mom was like, oh, you need
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to learn piano. And then she said, because, you
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know, she wants me to calm down, be more, you
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know, graceful. That's what she hoped for. And
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she told me that if you learn music, if you learn
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piano, you will always have a friend that is
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always there for you. When you feel lonely, you
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can play some music. And when you feel happy,
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you can play music. And music will always be
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there for you. You will never be lonely. And
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I didn't understand that. And I was like, okay,
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I'll learn. And then I only started to understand
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that, you know, later on. And I really appreciate
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my mom that gave the gift for me. And I hope
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my mission is also to inspire people with music.
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And I hope music is a home for everyone. Wow,
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that's beautiful. That's a wonderful advice from
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your mom. Now, before we get into your childhood,
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your training and so on, I want to kind of want
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to start with your album, Accents of Love, which
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is the album from 2023, which won Album of the
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Year and then earned Music of the Year with the
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last track, I Is Love. Right? Yeah. And then
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it's a children's album with remarkably high
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production, polished lyrics, rich musical writing,
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and imaginative digital orchestration that still
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carries touches of your classical background
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as well. And I mean, not to mention your vocal
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quality is just so superb. It showcases your
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full range as an artist. pianist, singer, composer,
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and producer. So for listeners discovering your
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work for the first time today, what is Accents
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of Love about? And how did you envision the sonic
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world of this album? This album is my, I feel
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like it's my love letter for my students and
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children and also parents. I want to empower
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them with my music. accents of love originally
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because there's a story, you know, of it. I speak
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with, you know, accent. I am originally from
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China and I speak English with an accent. I know
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it. And I also actually noticed that people treat
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people who speak English with accents differently.
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You know, if you speak with fancy accents like
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French or British accents and people like, wow.
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you must be great you know and that if you speak
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with you know other types of accents that they
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you know they don't think it's fancy and the
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research shows that research shows that people
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think that if you speak with some other accents
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and you are less intelligent and you are less
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capable and i was ashamed ashamed of it like
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you know speak English with accents, and I know
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how people react sometimes, you know, and I was
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like, oh, okay, I wish I, you know, until today,
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I'm still learning English every day. I'm learning
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Spanish, English still every day, but, you know,
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sometimes it's actually hard to, hard to, hard
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to change, but I'm still trying to, but, you
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know, until Later on, I learned my lesson. I
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realized that actually accents are beautiful
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because accents, you know, are cultures, are,
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you know, different histories and also represents
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different people, colors, and also foods. You
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know, there's so many different stories in different
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accents. And I started to be proud of it. I was
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like, okay, this is me and this is unique. And
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I want to, you know, empower other people with
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my lessons. So I wrote all the songs on accents
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of love. And one of the songs is called All Accents
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Are Art. So I think that's my message from this
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album. And it's about... inclusion and diversity
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and difference is our superpower. Absolutely.
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And then I know exactly how you feel because
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I myself was an international student way back
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then and then struggled with that sort of stereotype
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ideas from others. And then somehow European
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accents are accepted, but not my accent. And
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I worked really hard to get rid of, but why do
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I even do that? As long as, you know, people
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can understand you, it's fine, right? So I feel
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like what you're saying, already we're being
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super philosophical here at the beginning of
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the show, but like, I think it's the acceptance.
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You have to accept yourself. Yes. Right? Yes.
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Yeah. It's not the other way around. As long
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as you accept that. hey, my Japanese accent,
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your Chinese accents are cool. Yes. Right? Yes.
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Is that part of the message of this album? Yes.
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I think everybody's so different, so unique.
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And also on this album, I talk about self -love.
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Yeah, just like you just mentioned. Thank you.
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And we have to love ourselves first. And that's
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very important. And as Asians, you know children
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or people we we were like trained differently
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we have to work hard work hard work very very
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hard and our parents actually i mean at least
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my parents or my friends parents they never told
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us um anything about besides work hard go to
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you know, go to college and care about your feelings
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and things. And I actually didn't know how to
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take care of myself, my feelings and everything
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until much later. And I wish I knew earlier.
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So that's why I also wrote, you know, the songs
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and I love and I want to, you know, just share
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the message with children that self -care is
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important. You don't need to learn until like
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much later when you're adults. You actually need
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to know when you're. little. I think that's very
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important. Oh, absolutely. But I'm so happy to
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hear that, you know, we are both Asian Americans,
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you know, Asian people who live in America. And
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so having to have that sort of progressive ideas
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about identity as an Asian woman, oh, I admire
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that. Thank you. Thank you so much. I think we
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all have to be brave. Yeah. And if we love ourselves
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and, you know, we can share the love to other
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people. Yeah. But how come self -love can be
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so difficult, right? Difficult. I'm still learning.
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I'm learning right now. Me too. Me too. But there's
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always the demon inside of my head and then telling
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you the other way around. But, you know, I'm
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trying. Yeah. It's so hard. Yeah, it is really
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hard. Now. um each song has as you mentioned
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you know such uh mentioned a few titles but such
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a catchy title carries its own message but you
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know i the album is geared toward children but
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i actually enjoy listening to to it the album
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yeah yeah from the beginning to the end and i
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was on loop so repeatedly Yeah, because it's
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really well made lyrics, but also I think the
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soundscape that, you know, there's a pop element
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to it and a Chinese traditional music element
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also is included. But at the same time, you as
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a classical pianist, that element is included
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as well. So it's very unique. Anyway, we're going
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to talk more about that. But can you walk us
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through a few of them? You mentioned about the
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eye is love and also all accents are art. But
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also the first one, talk to the fishes with your
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inner voice. Beautiful. One stomp at a time,
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not one step at a time. Yes. In the shape of
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eyes, I can kind of sort of tell what that is
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about. And then all accents are art. Superhero
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even on Mars. Bye -bye pressure. Call us at 520.
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And the last track is I Is Love. Yes. Well, thank
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you so much for doing all the research. I'm so
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happy that you spent time listening to my music.
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I'm really, really grateful. So for the first
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song, The Fishes. So that song, I actually wrote
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it in St. John on the Virgin Islands. That was
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my first time ever. learned how to dive you know
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in the water that's cool yeah and that inspired
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me so much because the water there is so calm
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and it's so beautiful um on the surface it's
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all blue so beautiful but when you dive in the
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water and you see all the different colorful
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you know world is so different above is only
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blue but under is all different things you know,
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all colorful, all different colors and, you know,
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fishes and everything. So, and that inspired
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me so much that what you see is not what you
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see. All you see is blue, but actually there's
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more than that. So that's my, you know, inspiration
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that what you see in a person or what you hear
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from a song and what you see, you know, like.
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of the trees or anything but there's so much
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more besides what you see but then how do you
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how can you know more then you have to spend
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time and you have to really have the heart to
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get to know the flower get to know the person
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get to know the music and really spend time with
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heart to get to know the real truth behind that
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so that's Yeah, that's my inspiration for that
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song. It sounds very complicated for a children's
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song, right? So my friends were like, oh, do
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children get it? And I said, of course. Or maybe
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they will get it later. If they don't get it
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now, they'll get it later. Like all the favors
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that we learned when we were little. I didn't
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understand all of them. Maybe I'm not that smart.
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But then I actually understand some of the moments
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in my life later on. But I'm glad. I was glad
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that I learned that earlier. So I want to plant
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a seed, you know, in children's mind or, you
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know, or those have a child in their, you know,
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inside. So I want them to get to know good stuff
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first. And then maybe, you know, it will be helpful
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for them. So that's the first song. Wonderful.
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And for One Stump at a Time, also inspired by...
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a story that from you know like the chinese history
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book that one step at a time everything on thousands
00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:17.279
of steps that starts with one step um i changed
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.839
to stump um yeah probably you can see my personality
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:27.900
you know you know okay oh maybe it looks so nice
00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.720
and kind yes i am a that kind of person but um
00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:35.059
i you know we also we're powerful too you know
00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:37.839
you feel made up mind and then doing something
00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:43.019
and you know do it do it with your all you have
00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:45.799
your energy no matter i'm a small person you
00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:49.519
know i was like oh my gosh you're you know but
00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:51.640
but then i said no you don't you don't really
00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:55.779
know who i am who we are and we have more than
00:17:55.779 --> 00:18:00.759
you see so the story is about an old grandpa
00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:03.799
you know wanting to move the mountains aside
00:18:04.430 --> 00:18:07.329
And the people laughed at him that, oh, how can
00:18:07.329 --> 00:18:10.450
you do that yourself? Move mountains, you know,
00:18:10.509 --> 00:18:14.009
this huge mountain to another side. That's impossible.
00:18:14.549 --> 00:18:18.109
But the old grandpa started to, you know, move,
00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:22.069
you know, rock, white rock at a time and then
00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:25.569
just keep doing every day. And then by generations
00:18:25.569 --> 00:18:29.890
and, you know, after many, many years, you know,
00:18:29.890 --> 00:18:34.019
after. his grandsons, grandchildren, you know,
00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:36.940
all of them, many, many years, eventually the
00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:39.559
mountains, you know, the mountain was moved to
00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:43.519
another site. So I think that's a really inspiring
00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.660
story that if we really want to do something,
00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:51.299
you know, we do it one stump at a time and it
00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:53.680
just takes time and we know we'll finish it.
00:18:53.779 --> 00:18:56.279
Or we challenge, you know, also kind of like
00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:01.289
insert a message that if we want to, you know
00:19:01.289 --> 00:19:05.329
change people's stereotype and we do it little
00:19:05.329 --> 00:19:08.150
by little you know just by whatever power we
00:19:08.150 --> 00:19:11.509
have and eventually hopefully you know everything
00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:17.710
will be good yeah beautiful but i love the concept
00:19:17.710 --> 00:19:22.589
of stomp and there's a one step at a time you
00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:25.609
hear it a lot and it becomes becoming a you know
00:19:25.609 --> 00:19:29.900
cliche almost but the stomp has sort of like
00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:35.200
an intention to it. Yes. Yeah. And also faith.
00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:40.359
Yes. Yeah. And bravery. One stump at a time,
00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.799
you know. One stump at a time. So I was singing
00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.680
with my students. I told them, you know, stump.
00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:51.640
And yes. And they're like, oh, okay, I'll do
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:53.819
it. But, you know, sometimes they don't understand.
00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:58.319
But, you know, and later on, I just, I always.
00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:00.779
feel like you know we don't expect people to
00:20:00.779 --> 00:20:03.319
get it right away you know just like one stomach
00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:05.799
time it takes time it's okay we have to be patient
00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:10.380
yeah beautiful yeah and tell me about shape of
00:20:10.380 --> 00:20:17.640
eyes yeah shape of eyes um like during the covid
00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:22.740
time there was a really famous celebrity um yes
00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:27.220
on instagram and then she did something really
00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:32.079
not nice yeah so there's a picture of her that
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.500
kind of like you know doing like change her shape
00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:39.099
like that and you know so and I was like oh my
00:20:39.099 --> 00:20:42.319
gosh that's crazy this she's so famous and a
00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:47.079
lot of my students actually love her And she,
00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.960
of course, she said she was just making a joke
00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:53.180
about imitating the Buddha and all that. And
00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:56.799
it was a controversial story on the news. And,
00:20:56.859 --> 00:20:59.279
you know, I couldn't believe it. Even, you know,
00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.220
until today, now it's already 2025, people do
00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:07.099
that. Especially they're famous. And, you know,
00:21:07.180 --> 00:21:12.099
it's really setting a bad example to our society.
00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:16.039
I want to write a song, but I don't want to put
00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:20.420
any hatred in the song, you know, because love
00:21:20.420 --> 00:21:25.319
is not about correcting, you know, it's not about
00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:28.839
revenge. It's not about anything that is so negative.
00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:32.240
We need to, I feel like I need to write something
00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.720
beautiful about it, about the different shapes
00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.289
of creatures, you know. Like when you go to a
00:21:41.289 --> 00:21:43.390
garden, you think it's beautiful because there
00:21:43.390 --> 00:21:46.750
are so many different colors of flowers, different
00:21:46.750 --> 00:21:51.730
types of flowers, all the colorful flowers or
00:21:51.730 --> 00:21:55.950
different shapes of flowers and make the garden
00:21:55.950 --> 00:22:00.190
beautiful. And, you know, we all look different.
00:22:00.269 --> 00:22:02.950
Some people are taller, some people are smaller,
00:22:03.230 --> 00:22:05.910
some people... have for example have a big face
00:22:05.910 --> 00:22:08.650
and have smaller face which is beautiful and
00:22:08.650 --> 00:22:11.789
some people are figures you know just different
00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:16.329
shapes of people are so beautiful and different
00:22:16.329 --> 00:22:20.609
you know colors different ages different heights
00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:25.230
different sizes um of things and really make
00:22:25.230 --> 00:22:29.089
the world beautiful so that's the song about
00:22:29.089 --> 00:22:34.799
so i kind of and i'm also from Miao is an ethnic
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:38.319
group in China that, you know, wear all different
00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.779
like costumes and big crowns and all that. I'll
00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:46.519
show the picture. So I used some of the elements
00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:50.819
of my Miao music, Miao style music into the song.
00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:53.000
So it's kind of like beginning. It's kind of
00:22:53.000 --> 00:23:05.789
like, you know. Something like that. Wow, you're
00:23:05.789 --> 00:23:08.930
incredible. Sorry, I just got out of the Bible.
00:23:09.109 --> 00:23:12.329
There's no more of that. And also kind of want
00:23:12.329 --> 00:23:16.450
to insert my, you know, hometown elements, you
00:23:16.450 --> 00:23:19.690
know, like the beautiful things that I really
00:23:19.690 --> 00:23:23.809
love to the song and, you know, to have a message
00:23:23.809 --> 00:23:26.509
that look at this. The music's different. It's
00:23:26.509 --> 00:23:29.779
also beautiful. You know, maybe you don't like
00:23:29.779 --> 00:23:32.500
us because you don't know us enough. OK, let
00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:39.359
me show you the beautiful parts of us. And also,
00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:42.140
you know, let you know that we are actually here
00:23:42.140 --> 00:23:48.359
to help and then to just to be ourselves and
00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:52.799
then to just be another, you know, friend. You
00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.869
know, we're not here to do anything. bad sometimes
00:23:55.869 --> 00:23:59.410
i feel like all the negative comments about you
00:23:59.410 --> 00:24:02.150
know discrimination and everything maybe i'm
00:24:02.150 --> 00:24:04.970
thinking from the positive perspective that maybe
00:24:04.970 --> 00:24:07.430
because they don't know us enough because they
00:24:07.430 --> 00:24:10.990
only know you know everything you know about
00:24:10.990 --> 00:24:16.490
us from media sometimes media is not portraying
00:24:16.490 --> 00:24:20.029
us different well either and you know asian we
00:24:20.029 --> 00:24:24.609
asian people are the most diverse Group of people.
00:24:24.750 --> 00:24:28.589
Yes. Yeah. You know, language wise, even the
00:24:28.589 --> 00:24:33.210
skin colors. To squeeze into everything. Right.
00:24:33.269 --> 00:24:38.849
Yes. So it's so funny. I mean, I almost, you
00:24:38.849 --> 00:24:40.829
know, at this point of my life, because I've
00:24:40.829 --> 00:24:45.490
lived in the West. You know, the culture for
00:24:45.490 --> 00:24:49.230
decades. So I almost laugh at them. And I feel
00:24:49.230 --> 00:24:53.500
so sorry. Yeah. Or, you know, it's there. the
00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:56.859
limitation and then that really prevent prevents
00:24:56.859 --> 00:25:01.980
them from learning yeah right i think if we are
00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:04.960
here to acknowledge the differences between each
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:07.799
other and they're gonna be more love you know
00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.839
why not have more love you know i know right
00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:14.359
what's the core themes or messages were you hoping
00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:17.819
to impart to children and families maybe you
00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:20.779
already mentioned but you know positivity and
00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:23.940
self -image and so on but My core message is
00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:33.779
still love and hope and also belonging. I think
00:25:33.779 --> 00:25:37.819
that's also another message that I want to not
00:25:37.819 --> 00:25:42.920
share, but also explore with my audiences together.
00:25:43.740 --> 00:25:47.579
Wow, that's a big word, belonging. So one of
00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:53.400
the songs is called Call Us at 520. 520, yeah,
00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:59.799
actually means I love you. So, yeah. So in China,
00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:06.759
5, 2, 0, these three letters, you know, the pronunciation
00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:12.359
of the three letters is very close to I love
00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:17.160
you in Chinese. So we use the numbers. You know,
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:22.500
in China, we don't really say I love you. I don't
00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:27.279
know if in Japan or it's hard for us even though
00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:29.720
yeah you know like we don't say I love you to
00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:32.240
our parents parents don't say that to us either
00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:38.700
and so we use numbers and we don't say 5 -2 -0
00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:41.400
in front of your face but you know we write it
00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:47.559
so every year on May 20th it's kind of like a
00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:50.920
secondary valentine days in china now so they
00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:53.160
kind of make it like you know a thing now so
00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:57.019
if you know you love someone you text 520 that's
00:26:57.019 --> 00:27:00.119
all that means i love you and also you know if
00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:02.960
you get a red envelope on wechat and it's five
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.519
dollars and twenty cents and that means i love
00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:10.519
you yeah so the song was inspired by the number
00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:15.279
you know 520 i love you um it's a song about
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.339
a group of detectives they're young detectives
00:27:18.339 --> 00:27:22.819
so yeah and they are they're you know they're
00:27:22.819 --> 00:27:25.380
answering phone calls and the phone code the
00:27:25.380 --> 00:27:27.859
phone number is 520 if you have any troubles
00:27:27.859 --> 00:27:31.259
call 520 and we're gonna be there to help you
00:27:31.259 --> 00:27:34.180
if you have your missing hat missing homework
00:27:34.180 --> 00:27:38.589
missing anything or if you need help Or if there's
00:27:38.589 --> 00:27:42.430
your balloon fly away, call us at 520. So that's
00:27:42.430 --> 00:27:46.410
the song about. And I think I kind of embedded
00:27:46.410 --> 00:27:49.569
all the message with all the fun stories and
00:27:49.569 --> 00:27:52.869
into my songs. Yeah, my message sounds a little
00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:57.230
big and children's music, but I made it fun.
00:27:57.390 --> 00:28:02.130
So people probably will get it. But, you know,
00:28:02.170 --> 00:28:05.410
it's amazing. As I said to you, these are written
00:28:05.410 --> 00:28:09.200
for children, I didn't feel like I'm listening
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:13.519
to kids songs like, you know, my baby nephew
00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:16.400
would listen to, you know what I mean? So I totally
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:19.779
enjoyed. So how did you approach writing for
00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:22.420
children without oversimplifying the musical
00:28:22.420 --> 00:28:27.059
language? I think I believe children deserve
00:28:27.059 --> 00:28:31.640
artistry, you know, so because they also can
00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:35.400
feel the depth. They can feel the feeling, the
00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:39.420
music. everything. Sometimes I just feel like
00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:42.420
we need to believe them and they can do it because
00:28:42.420 --> 00:28:44.920
I've been teaching for a very long time. Most
00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:48.319
of them are young children and many of them,
00:28:48.339 --> 00:28:50.740
you know, they're like four or five or six years
00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:53.140
old. They're already playing very challenging
00:28:53.140 --> 00:28:56.319
pieces and perform at Carnival Hall, Royal Albert
00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:01.759
Hall, you know, like everywhere. And I learned
00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:05.079
one thing that we treat them as children, as
00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:09.930
people who are beneath us and you know they will
00:29:09.930 --> 00:29:13.890
not learn i treat my students as you know equals
00:29:13.890 --> 00:29:17.329
i believe them you know for example one of the
00:29:17.329 --> 00:29:19.710
pieces i played for my students a piano piece
00:29:19.710 --> 00:29:23.410
and then she was like wow i can never play like
00:29:23.410 --> 00:29:27.430
that i said you can so after a few months and
00:29:27.430 --> 00:29:31.269
she did and then you know and it's not just like
00:29:31.269 --> 00:29:34.130
for her it happened to everyone i feel like if
00:29:34.130 --> 00:29:38.190
i believe in them and you know guide them with
00:29:38.190 --> 00:29:42.130
the right direction you know or tailored direction
00:29:42.130 --> 00:29:44.930
for them and then also they believe in themselves
00:29:44.930 --> 00:29:48.769
and they put the effort into it and they will
00:29:48.769 --> 00:29:51.990
be able to do it and for my songs yeah people
00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:54.329
always ask me oh is it too hard too difficult
00:29:54.329 --> 00:29:58.309
for children to understand and i test it with
00:29:58.309 --> 00:30:02.529
my students I think they understand and it takes
00:30:02.529 --> 00:30:05.109
a little time. But also children, you know, they
00:30:05.109 --> 00:30:07.470
have different age groups. They have like toddlers,
00:30:07.670 --> 00:30:12.809
pre -K and, you know, like first grade to like
00:30:12.809 --> 00:30:17.529
seven, like six to nine, 10 to 12, 14 to the
00:30:17.529 --> 00:30:19.710
different like, you know, age groups. I think
00:30:19.710 --> 00:30:22.829
my music may be. probably doesn't fit for the
00:30:22.829 --> 00:30:24.950
toddlers because not maybe too hard for them
00:30:24.950 --> 00:30:28.890
but maybe pre -k from pre -k to like elementary
00:30:28.890 --> 00:30:32.150
you know or even middle schools i think you'll
00:30:32.150 --> 00:30:37.410
be good you know for them and yeah so i think
00:30:37.410 --> 00:30:42.309
i don't want to sacrifice artistry just to you
00:30:42.309 --> 00:30:46.509
know write easier songs for them but how do they
00:30:46.509 --> 00:30:49.509
learn about good stuff until later too late they
00:30:49.509 --> 00:30:52.180
need to know the good stuff when they're little
00:30:52.180 --> 00:30:54.900
so they know they have standards they know what's
00:30:54.900 --> 00:30:59.480
good that's how I you know I don't know if it's
00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:03.059
right but amazing you're right absolutely yeah
00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:10.019
yeah but um what made you decide to I because
00:31:10.019 --> 00:31:14.519
this is not the only album geared towards children
00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:18.980
you have another one uh the title is shape of
00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:24.259
crowns so what made you decide to write songs
00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:29.059
for children also during covid i think covid
00:31:29.059 --> 00:31:32.319
changed a lot of us yeah yeah yeah yeah so because
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:37.380
uh during covid um you know there are like really
00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:43.799
bad things happened you know um just that one
00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:47.119
of my little students you know during covid i
00:31:47.549 --> 00:31:50.589
Right before that, a little bit. Not like before
00:31:50.589 --> 00:31:52.750
shutdown and everything. Something happened.
00:31:53.809 --> 00:31:58.589
So there was a little girl. And then she told
00:31:58.589 --> 00:32:01.470
me a story. She said, Miss Vivian, my friends,
00:32:01.609 --> 00:32:03.849
they don't want to hang out with me. And she
00:32:03.849 --> 00:32:09.289
feels so sad. And I was like, why? Because she's
00:32:09.289 --> 00:32:12.630
a good student, good person, good girl. And she
00:32:12.630 --> 00:32:17.869
said, oh, they call me Chinese virus. I was like,
00:32:18.029 --> 00:32:20.470
oh, you know, they're young kids. They probably
00:32:20.470 --> 00:32:24.730
heard it somewhere, you know, or I felt so bad
00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:27.809
about it. And then after that shutdown, everything,
00:32:28.009 --> 00:32:32.150
all the anti -Asian crimes happened, you know,
00:32:32.150 --> 00:32:36.950
to the elderly and to everybody, you know, during
00:32:36.950 --> 00:32:40.990
that time. It was just so crazy. Sometimes between
00:32:40.990 --> 00:32:44.309
my friends and I, we were talking about, can
00:32:44.309 --> 00:32:48.410
we still walk on the street without worrying
00:32:48.410 --> 00:32:52.009
about our safety anymore? Should we wear wigs?
00:32:52.150 --> 00:32:54.650
Because they said they can still identify you
00:32:54.650 --> 00:33:00.589
with your mask because your eyes, your hair color,
00:33:00.869 --> 00:33:05.109
everything. That was just so ridiculous. And
00:33:05.109 --> 00:33:12.089
I felt so bad. As a teacher, as a musician, and
00:33:12.089 --> 00:33:16.109
I'm not a millionaire, billionaire, or anybody
00:33:16.109 --> 00:33:19.470
who has money or power to change everything,
00:33:19.670 --> 00:33:23.210
but I feel like I'm a musician. My power is my
00:33:23.210 --> 00:33:27.130
music. I want to do something about it. You know,
00:33:27.150 --> 00:33:30.089
just like one stump at a time. Maybe it's not
00:33:30.089 --> 00:33:32.730
going to be big, but I need to do something about
00:33:32.730 --> 00:33:37.009
it. So I started to write my... first children's
00:33:37.009 --> 00:33:41.029
album, Shape of Crowns. And so, yeah, that album,
00:33:41.190 --> 00:33:46.190
I want to, you know, share the messages with
00:33:46.190 --> 00:33:50.309
my students or other children who, you know,
00:33:50.309 --> 00:33:52.750
face the problems. I want them to be leaving
00:33:52.750 --> 00:33:57.750
themselves to be proud of their heritage and
00:33:57.750 --> 00:34:00.470
be proud of who they are. That's how we started
00:34:00.470 --> 00:34:39.820
for that album. You don't I love all the songs
00:34:39.820 --> 00:34:42.679
in there, but I love the second track, Belong,
00:34:42.860 --> 00:34:45.360
which highlights Asian -American contributions.
00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:48.820
And, you know, also you're blending Beethoven's
00:34:48.820 --> 00:34:53.900
Sonata Pathétique and hip -hop all by her. Incredible.
00:34:54.099 --> 00:34:57.900
Wow. This is your idea, right? Yeah, that's my
00:34:57.900 --> 00:35:03.099
idea. I love the song, too. Thank you so much.
00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:08.340
Yeah, and I'm a classical musician, so, you know.
00:35:08.590 --> 00:35:11.550
And I know my students, they love hip -hop. They
00:35:11.550 --> 00:35:15.530
always listen to rap songs. They think it's cool.
00:35:16.469 --> 00:35:20.690
So I'm open -minded. I'm like, okay, let's use
00:35:20.690 --> 00:35:23.530
something that you like and also that I think
00:35:23.530 --> 00:35:26.989
is valuable. Combine them, and then maybe you'll
00:35:26.989 --> 00:35:31.659
be accessible for children to listen to it. It
00:35:31.659 --> 00:35:34.699
is one of the songs that is very, you know, beloved
00:35:34.699 --> 00:35:37.260
by the young children. Like, oh, this is so cool.
00:35:37.340 --> 00:35:40.099
I want to sing it. And even without understanding
00:35:40.099 --> 00:35:43.739
it. So I'm not sure if you actually watched the
00:35:43.739 --> 00:35:47.019
music video. I can share with you later. I did
00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:51.099
it with my students and there was a story behind
00:35:51.099 --> 00:35:54.280
it, too. And of course, for Asian children, it's
00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:57.679
very hard for them to rap. So when they first
00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:02.579
rap, it sounded really funny, practiced and make
00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:04.420
them look very cool. And they feel like they're
00:36:04.420 --> 00:36:09.159
cool. So in the song, we talk about all the amazing
00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:14.519
things, cultures and foods in Asia. And also
00:36:14.519 --> 00:36:17.739
all the contributions that Asian -Americans,
00:36:17.980 --> 00:36:20.400
not just Chinese, but Asian -Americans that have
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:26.300
done for this world in medical technology. art,
00:36:26.300 --> 00:36:30.840
everything. We have done so much. Do you know
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:37.239
that there's a Korean surgeon that invented the
00:36:37.239 --> 00:36:41.039
medicine? for cancer patients so they can feel
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:46.039
less hurting. And we have IM Pei designed so
00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:48.840
many amazing architectures. We have Verowal.
00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:52.260
We have so many, so many people, Asian Americans
00:36:52.260 --> 00:36:58.920
have contributed their talent, time, lives, including
00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:03.179
the first generation, first generations came
00:37:03.179 --> 00:37:07.829
here to build the railroad. and everything. So
00:37:07.829 --> 00:37:10.809
I want the children to see that, see where actually
00:37:10.809 --> 00:37:17.329
we have so many rich stories and we have done
00:37:17.329 --> 00:37:20.610
good to the world. Be proud of yourself. Be proud
00:37:20.610 --> 00:37:23.769
of your skin color. Be proud of who you are.
00:37:24.210 --> 00:37:29.030
But when we shot this music video, the parents
00:37:29.030 --> 00:37:31.429
were like, oh, Miss Vivian, we don't want to
00:37:31.429 --> 00:37:38.309
wear the Asian. And I said, why? And the mom
00:37:38.309 --> 00:37:45.710
said, oh, you know, we don't want our children's
00:37:45.710 --> 00:37:49.929
classmates feel that, you know, we're different.
00:37:50.030 --> 00:37:54.610
So they might laugh at my children. But then
00:37:54.610 --> 00:37:59.030
I was like, but you have to be proud of yourself
00:37:59.030 --> 00:38:03.099
first and nobody can actually. look down to you
00:38:03.099 --> 00:38:06.920
if you don't really know who you are. So I need
00:38:06.920 --> 00:38:08.920
to actually, I can't, I couldn't believe it.
00:38:08.980 --> 00:38:12.179
The parents are first generation immigrants.
00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:17.300
I thought they understand the rules. And, but
00:38:17.300 --> 00:38:20.199
then they, I also understand their worries that,
00:38:20.199 --> 00:38:23.300
you know, if they are, you know, because young
00:38:23.300 --> 00:38:27.360
children's mind, sometimes they just don't know
00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:30.659
enough. They are just worried that their children
00:38:30.659 --> 00:38:35.059
will be bullied because of this. And even the
00:38:35.059 --> 00:38:39.699
children, they didn't understand the lyrics at
00:38:39.699 --> 00:38:44.699
the very beginning. But they started to understand
00:38:44.699 --> 00:38:49.019
later after I brought them to perform everywhere.
00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:53.599
After COVID and many people heard those songs,
00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:58.119
the New York Senator, John Liu, heard it. and
00:38:58.119 --> 00:39:01.980
invited us to perform in Albany. And he said,
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:04.880
this is what we need. And then he told me that,
00:39:04.920 --> 00:39:07.119
Vivian, you're not just writing a song, you're
00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:10.000
writing history. And we need other people, more
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.960
people to hear about this. So he is advocating
00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:19.539
for a bill called AAPI Bill. So that bill is
00:39:19.539 --> 00:39:26.139
about putting more Asian American history contributions,
00:39:26.280 --> 00:39:29.989
everything. in the history textbook in public
00:39:29.989 --> 00:39:34.969
schools in New York. And there was a voting that
00:39:34.969 --> 00:39:39.510
day in Albany. So he invited us to perform right
00:39:39.510 --> 00:39:42.809
before they vote for the bill. And there were
00:39:42.809 --> 00:39:46.570
15 senators there that day, watched us perform.
00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:49.519
And the children were rapping and talking about
00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:52.400
Asian American contributions. And all the senators
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:55.039
there, they're a club, you know, applaud. And
00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:57.019
then like, wow, you guys are the best rapper
00:39:57.019 --> 00:40:01.179
in the building. And then that day, the bill
00:40:01.179 --> 00:40:05.099
passed Senate. But there's still like more, more
00:40:05.099 --> 00:40:08.699
steps to go to pass the bill. And, you know,
00:40:08.699 --> 00:40:12.739
before I wrote the song or when I wrote this,
00:40:12.760 --> 00:40:16.320
I never thought. actually music really can make
00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:21.300
an impact. So that day, my students and me and
00:40:21.300 --> 00:40:24.380
plus the senators just brought us and then, you
00:40:24.380 --> 00:40:27.599
know, to every room in that building, legislative
00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:30.800
building, to tell us about the story of each
00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:33.980
building and painting and about the sessions,
00:40:34.119 --> 00:40:37.840
how, you know, two parties are working together
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:41.880
or not and everything. That's a great lesson.
00:40:42.539 --> 00:40:46.039
And all the children, they were like, oh, wow,
00:40:46.340 --> 00:40:52.639
we actually, we are important. And so, and after
00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:55.039
that, and, you know, the Queensborough president
00:40:55.039 --> 00:40:59.500
and the mayor's office and many, you know, we
00:40:59.500 --> 00:41:02.940
actually were invited to perform that song almost
00:41:02.940 --> 00:41:05.820
everywhere. And of course, the Queens District
00:41:05.820 --> 00:41:11.170
Attorney, you know, so our office. They invited
00:41:11.170 --> 00:41:16.170
us to perform at their celebration events. And
00:41:16.170 --> 00:41:18.769
I was like, wow, music can really make an impact.
00:41:19.389 --> 00:41:22.929
It's not just for people to enjoy. Yes, to enjoy
00:41:22.929 --> 00:41:26.889
music is for joy, right? But also we can make
00:41:26.889 --> 00:41:29.929
an impact through our music. I never thought
00:41:29.929 --> 00:41:34.469
about it, but I actually, you know. Experienced
00:41:34.469 --> 00:41:37.349
and witnessed. Yeah, witnessed it. And I feel
00:41:37.349 --> 00:41:41.309
very grateful and proud. Yeah. Oh, you should
00:41:41.309 --> 00:41:44.230
be. You should be proud. Wow. And I am proud
00:41:44.230 --> 00:41:48.690
of you. And as a fellow Asian American, that's
00:41:48.690 --> 00:41:52.869
so cool. That's so cool. But at the same time,
00:41:52.969 --> 00:41:56.570
message is strong. Yes. But also the production
00:41:56.570 --> 00:42:00.769
value is high. You know, that's one of the reasons
00:42:00.769 --> 00:42:05.289
that probably there was. the power to move people
00:42:05.289 --> 00:42:08.190
to do something right through your music. That's
00:42:08.190 --> 00:42:14.050
incredible. Wow. Bravo to you. So, you know,
00:42:14.070 --> 00:42:19.210
even like in the, I, I know in the song belong,
00:42:19.369 --> 00:42:23.309
you named a few Asian American innovators like
00:42:23.309 --> 00:42:27.590
Eric Yuan, who is the creator of Zoom, right?
00:42:27.769 --> 00:42:31.090
You know, Eric created Zoom. Zoom is the tool
00:42:31.090 --> 00:42:35.000
that connected everyone. Yeah. So that's really
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.900
just amazing. I'm so proud. Every language has
00:42:39.900 --> 00:42:44.920
a word for love. Love in Chinese is I. I is love.
00:43:08.549 --> 00:43:13.869
I'm truly awe of your artistry. It's originality
00:43:13.869 --> 00:43:20.269
and groundbreaking. And as a young Asian woman
00:43:20.269 --> 00:43:23.250
creating boldly in the United States, creating
00:43:23.250 --> 00:43:27.010
your own path, you are breaking stereotypes by
00:43:27.010 --> 00:43:30.320
simply being who you are. and a powerhouse musician
00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:33.559
with a real creative force. So tell us about
00:43:33.559 --> 00:43:36.599
your upbringing, how music was introduced, because
00:43:36.599 --> 00:43:39.699
you also sing. So what your musical training
00:43:39.699 --> 00:43:42.639
was like in those crucial early years and where
00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:45.619
does this singing come from? You have such an
00:43:45.619 --> 00:43:49.099
incredible voice. Thank you. My parents, my parents,
00:43:49.139 --> 00:43:53.699
they love singing. I used to have a karaoke machine.
00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:00.780
They sing all the time, my dad, my mom, you know,
00:44:00.780 --> 00:44:05.360
and all the traditional songs. And so I just,
00:44:05.420 --> 00:44:08.739
when I was little, I just sang along with them
00:44:08.739 --> 00:44:11.500
and without even understanding the words or anything.
00:44:11.619 --> 00:44:14.519
I just love singing because I see, you know,
00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:16.719
the joy that they have when they sing. I was
00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:21.639
like, I want to do this. So I always sing. So
00:44:21.639 --> 00:44:25.000
my dad, you know, sometimes they carry me on
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:27.039
their shoulders and all that, walking on the
00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:30.900
streets. I also, I was like, I was not a shy
00:44:30.900 --> 00:44:34.400
kid when I was first born. Before, you know,
00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:36.880
I got, you know, go to school and then learn
00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:39.059
how to behave and all that. I was just not shy.
00:44:39.159 --> 00:44:43.400
I just sing, you know, loudly on the streets
00:44:43.400 --> 00:44:46.099
while my dad carried me on the shoulder. My dad
00:44:46.099 --> 00:44:49.539
was like, oh. Fang, that's my Chinese name. Can
00:44:49.539 --> 00:44:54.440
you turn down a little bit? Because he's shy
00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:58.059
and he felt like, you know, but I was like, oh,
00:44:58.199 --> 00:45:00.460
I don't care. I'll keep singing because I love
00:45:00.460 --> 00:45:04.420
singing because the joy that I have when I sing.
00:45:04.539 --> 00:45:08.079
And then, you know, as you know, my mom wants
00:45:08.079 --> 00:45:12.639
to change me. And with piano and all that. So
00:45:12.639 --> 00:45:16.809
I started to play. uh piano and i started to
00:45:16.809 --> 00:45:20.030
take lessons and i didn't like to practice that
00:45:20.030 --> 00:45:29.170
much so but um i still you know did it but not
00:45:29.170 --> 00:45:33.550
so much for my first uh a few years but my mom
00:45:33.550 --> 00:45:37.250
didn't give up so i'm glad that she didn't give
00:45:37.250 --> 00:45:41.909
up on me so um until when i was 12 i took i went
00:45:41.909 --> 00:45:45.829
to the uh to audition one of the conservatories
00:45:45.829 --> 00:45:49.909
in Wuhan and middle school. It's kind of a great
00:45:49.909 --> 00:45:52.650
college here. But that's like you have to go
00:45:52.650 --> 00:45:54.869
to the school every day for music and all other
00:45:54.869 --> 00:45:57.769
subjects. So it's kind of serious. So I have
00:45:57.769 --> 00:46:00.929
to move to another city. So I got into the school.
00:46:00.989 --> 00:46:06.150
It's a very prestigious program because they
00:46:06.150 --> 00:46:10.969
only took at that time 20 pianists from the country.
00:46:12.780 --> 00:46:16.739
lucky to get into that program and then so I
00:46:16.739 --> 00:46:19.719
moved to another city for my you know starting
00:46:19.719 --> 00:46:24.260
my professional training when I was 12 and it
00:46:24.260 --> 00:46:27.440
was very hard for me because I'm from a small
00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:31.059
city Guiyang in China and Wuhan is a big city
00:46:31.059 --> 00:46:34.559
and now everybody knows about Wuhan now and people
00:46:34.559 --> 00:46:38.099
there they're very smart and many of them are
00:46:38.099 --> 00:46:42.130
from other big cities Beijing Shanghai and It
00:46:42.130 --> 00:46:45.929
was hard for me to live in another city without
00:46:45.929 --> 00:46:50.789
my parents. And it's just always hard. But I
00:46:50.789 --> 00:46:53.590
practice very hard. I practice like eight hours
00:46:53.590 --> 00:46:58.389
a day before the election. So everything's about
00:46:58.389 --> 00:47:07.090
practice. I eat, breathe, and practice. And I
00:47:07.090 --> 00:47:09.889
work very hard. I got the scholarship there.
00:47:10.909 --> 00:47:14.929
The only scholarship, they give like 5 ,000 RMB
00:47:14.929 --> 00:47:18.730
a semester and they only give one to one student
00:47:18.730 --> 00:47:22.789
every semester. And I'm the only student to get
00:47:22.789 --> 00:47:25.570
that scholarship every semester for three years
00:47:25.570 --> 00:47:28.809
until I moved to America. So I worked very hard
00:47:28.809 --> 00:47:35.329
and people call me, you know, super woman. You
00:47:35.329 --> 00:47:39.210
are. But I also very, I was very stressed, you
00:47:39.210 --> 00:47:42.170
know. Because, you know, from that experience,
00:47:42.309 --> 00:47:45.769
I learned that I don't want to be the best. Why?
00:47:45.869 --> 00:47:47.949
You know, because my parents always teach me
00:47:47.949 --> 00:47:51.550
that, oh, try your best and do everything your
00:47:51.550 --> 00:47:54.789
best, which I did. But I felt so much pressure
00:47:54.789 --> 00:47:57.369
because it's so hard to maintain the trust because
00:47:57.369 --> 00:48:00.650
you have to give so much extra and your friends
00:48:00.650 --> 00:48:04.050
don't like you because maybe some of them are
00:48:04.050 --> 00:48:07.289
jealous, you know, or you just don't have time
00:48:07.289 --> 00:48:08.949
to hang out with them to build the relationship.
00:48:09.710 --> 00:48:13.670
And, you know, I was not that happy. You know,
00:48:13.730 --> 00:48:16.510
I got, you know, all the scholarships at that
00:48:16.510 --> 00:48:22.869
time. And so I moved to America and I met my
00:48:22.869 --> 00:48:27.510
really great teacher, a few teachers, and they're
00:48:27.510 --> 00:48:30.809
very nice. Did you come to New York first? Yeah,
00:48:30.889 --> 00:48:35.530
I went to North Carolina first. And then the
00:48:35.530 --> 00:48:38.030
teacher then recommended me to go to New York.
00:48:39.559 --> 00:48:44.300
It's a long story, should I keep it short? Because
00:48:44.300 --> 00:48:47.639
I came here by myself, and it's an adventure
00:48:47.639 --> 00:48:51.940
for me. I know I want to go to a good school,
00:48:52.199 --> 00:48:58.239
but then I need to figure out how to go to high
00:48:58.239 --> 00:49:02.679
school and everything. So I was very lucky. I
00:49:02.679 --> 00:49:08.019
found a landlord. It's a Hong Kong family, and
00:49:08.019 --> 00:49:11.019
they took me in and then be the guardian for
00:49:11.019 --> 00:49:16.119
me. And so I taught their son, little son, which
00:49:16.119 --> 00:49:18.260
is actually a few years younger than me, and
00:49:18.260 --> 00:49:22.639
that piano every day. And they saw the improvement
00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:26.820
of the son. And then he was my very first student.
00:49:27.139 --> 00:49:30.920
And then after that, they introduced their classmates,
00:49:31.239 --> 00:49:34.119
you know, for me. So I started to make money
00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:38.440
when I was 15. as a piano teacher and I didn't
00:49:38.440 --> 00:49:40.699
have time to hang out with my friends and all
00:49:40.699 --> 00:49:44.940
that and I felt a little sad sometimes because
00:49:44.940 --> 00:49:48.599
I didn't have time to experience real campus
00:49:48.599 --> 00:49:53.099
life you know like you know teenager life I was
00:49:53.099 --> 00:49:57.860
working and studying and because my mom was sick
00:49:57.860 --> 00:49:59.699
at that time and everything and then you know
00:49:59.699 --> 00:50:02.349
I have to make start to make some, you know,
00:50:02.369 --> 00:50:05.250
make living and carry the burden a little bit.
00:50:05.409 --> 00:50:11.289
So, but then now I think it's a very valuable
00:50:11.289 --> 00:50:14.269
experience for me. It's treasure because, you
00:50:14.269 --> 00:50:16.769
know, I started when I was 15. I have so many
00:50:16.769 --> 00:50:20.909
years of teaching experience. Yeah. So maybe
00:50:20.909 --> 00:50:23.349
that also makes me a good teacher because I have
00:50:23.349 --> 00:50:27.110
so many years of experience. Alrighty. Yeah.
00:50:27.610 --> 00:50:31.039
And I just feel very grateful that. the parents,
00:50:31.119 --> 00:50:33.639
you know, believed in me. Even I was just a few
00:50:33.639 --> 00:50:36.960
years older than their kids and they were so
00:50:36.960 --> 00:50:40.719
nice, so kind. They always gave me, you know,
00:50:40.719 --> 00:50:44.119
snacks or food. You know, when I went to their
00:50:44.119 --> 00:50:48.739
home to teach and I still remember, it's very
00:50:48.739 --> 00:50:50.920
vivid, the memory that I was waiting for the
00:50:50.920 --> 00:50:55.639
bus to go to another student's house and it was
00:50:55.639 --> 00:50:59.650
snowing very hard and it's at night. And I was
00:50:59.650 --> 00:51:03.070
just a high school student. And I feel like,
00:51:03.090 --> 00:51:07.309
oh, this is so beautiful. You know, the sky is
00:51:07.309 --> 00:51:10.929
so clean. But, you know, I'm a little sad that
00:51:10.929 --> 00:51:14.809
it's Christmas time. I'm not with my parents,
00:51:14.889 --> 00:51:18.610
but I'm actually helping my family also, you
00:51:18.610 --> 00:51:21.070
know, to make money. So I feel proud of myself.
00:51:21.769 --> 00:51:25.889
And sometimes I wanted to cry. But then I told
00:51:25.889 --> 00:51:27.789
myself that it's okay. It's going to be okay.
00:51:28.889 --> 00:51:33.590
that's I always you know very hopeful no matter
00:51:33.590 --> 00:51:39.369
what so wow you're a self -made woman yeah what
00:51:39.369 --> 00:51:42.949
a that's a classic American immigrant story don't
00:51:42.949 --> 00:51:48.570
you think yeah and thank you it is so cool that's
00:51:48.570 --> 00:51:51.650
cool because you have two incredible albums and
00:51:51.650 --> 00:51:54.389
one should you should have won Grammy thank you
00:51:54.389 --> 00:51:58.190
by the way yeah I'm telling you and I heard that
00:51:58.190 --> 00:52:02.139
not From someone too. So I swear you should have
00:52:02.139 --> 00:52:05.599
one, but you know, to do, to be able to get there
00:52:05.599 --> 00:52:08.940
with your own determination. And that's just
00:52:08.940 --> 00:52:11.960
so incredible. But now you're using your power
00:52:11.960 --> 00:52:16.199
and the ability to spread the positive message
00:52:16.199 --> 00:52:20.300
to young people because you are a teacher. You
00:52:20.300 --> 00:52:22.840
have been a teacher for a long time, right? Yes,
00:52:22.840 --> 00:52:25.940
thank you. Yeah, I just, when I look back, everything
00:52:25.940 --> 00:52:29.739
is my treasure. I just feel so lucky that I have
00:52:29.739 --> 00:52:34.500
met so many amazing people, kind people who helped
00:52:34.500 --> 00:52:37.380
me, you know, along the way. I couldn't make
00:52:37.380 --> 00:52:40.320
it without any of them. You know, everybody,
00:52:40.619 --> 00:52:44.380
like all people I know, I don't know who supported
00:52:44.380 --> 00:52:47.840
me, my students, my parents, the students' parents,
00:52:48.059 --> 00:52:52.460
my teachers, my friends. They all helped me so
00:52:52.460 --> 00:52:56.420
much because they all know maybe I was alone
00:52:56.420 --> 00:52:59.079
here and then they all tried to help me. I feel
00:52:59.079 --> 00:53:02.980
like the world is beautiful because people are
00:53:02.980 --> 00:53:05.679
so nice. And some people, they always say that
00:53:05.679 --> 00:53:08.539
New York is the worst place and people are so
00:53:08.539 --> 00:53:11.960
bad. But I never felt that. No, I just feel people
00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:16.460
here actually are nice. I feel the same way.
00:53:17.719 --> 00:53:19.960
They're just sometimes being too honest. Yeah.
00:53:21.949 --> 00:53:27.050
Yeah, but once you create your own pathway and
00:53:27.050 --> 00:53:30.909
also create your community, New York is the best
00:53:30.909 --> 00:53:33.449
place, don't you think? Yes, I totally feel that.
00:53:33.489 --> 00:53:38.650
People are so, I feel like they're real. Yeah,
00:53:38.750 --> 00:53:40.210
they're real. They don't like you, they like
00:53:40.210 --> 00:53:43.869
you, you know, they just say it or don't care,
00:53:43.949 --> 00:53:46.809
they walk away. But, you know. It's efficient.
00:53:48.030 --> 00:53:51.869
It is, yeah. But I'm just curious, did you have
00:53:51.869 --> 00:53:56.909
any vocal training along the way? Actually, I
00:53:56.909 --> 00:53:59.550
took a few lessons, but I never have degrees
00:53:59.550 --> 00:54:04.489
in voice. So I think I got it from my father's
00:54:04.489 --> 00:54:07.949
side, maybe. I just love singing, you know. And
00:54:07.949 --> 00:54:10.409
I don't think I'm a great, great singer, but
00:54:10.409 --> 00:54:14.449
I love singing. Wonderful. Now, I want to go
00:54:14.449 --> 00:54:18.730
back to the theme of identity, belonging, and
00:54:18.730 --> 00:54:22.409
so on. So themes of those identity, belonging,
00:54:22.530 --> 00:54:25.889
and then resilience appear throughout your music.
00:54:26.309 --> 00:54:29.849
And how did your childhood and moving to the
00:54:29.849 --> 00:54:33.389
United States at 15 shape the way those themes
00:54:33.389 --> 00:54:37.250
show up in your work? I think it's in my blood,
00:54:37.489 --> 00:54:45.820
my journey, my experience. I feel like, I don't
00:54:45.820 --> 00:54:49.820
know, I just always feel positive. I told myself
00:54:49.820 --> 00:54:53.699
to be positive no matter what. Maybe I learned
00:54:53.699 --> 00:54:57.760
it from my mom. My mom is also a very, very strong
00:54:57.760 --> 00:55:02.440
person, no matter how much she suffered. I probably
00:55:02.440 --> 00:55:05.059
watched it when I was little, how she deal with
00:55:05.059 --> 00:55:07.699
things. She never gave up anything, no matter
00:55:07.699 --> 00:55:12.639
how hard. how life how you know life like kind
00:55:12.639 --> 00:55:15.440
of like joking with her and all that i just feel
00:55:15.440 --> 00:55:20.239
like okay if you just keep going if there's a
00:55:20.239 --> 00:55:25.179
light there so i think that spirit is in my blood
00:55:25.179 --> 00:55:30.159
and then um when i you know write songs it just
00:55:30.159 --> 00:55:33.440
shows you know and also when i teach my students
00:55:33.440 --> 00:55:37.489
i also tell them to never give up. Even when
00:55:37.489 --> 00:55:40.130
I teach them sight reading, the first thing,
00:55:40.269 --> 00:55:42.010
you know, sight reading, children, they don't
00:55:42.010 --> 00:55:45.190
like it. Many people don't like it. The first
00:55:45.190 --> 00:55:48.469
message I told them is that don't give up. Sight
00:55:48.469 --> 00:55:52.610
reading is about just finishing. You can make
00:55:52.610 --> 00:55:55.269
mistakes, it's fine. But as long as you don't
00:55:55.269 --> 00:55:59.630
give up, then, you know, and then it's going
00:55:59.630 --> 00:56:02.369
to be good. So that's the first message when
00:56:02.369 --> 00:56:06.079
I teach sight reading for my students. And I
00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:10.059
think my experience, my journey just told me
00:56:10.059 --> 00:56:13.500
that if you don't give up, it's not going to
00:56:13.500 --> 00:56:17.360
be too bad. Yeah. And what's the meaning of life?
00:56:18.980 --> 00:56:21.260
You know, I've been thinking about that for a
00:56:21.260 --> 00:56:26.280
very long time. And, you know, everybody's answers
00:56:26.280 --> 00:56:31.519
are different. Sometimes I feel like it's about
00:56:31.519 --> 00:56:34.260
helping people. It's about, you know, realizing
00:56:34.260 --> 00:56:37.320
your goals. And now, I don't know, just at this
00:56:37.320 --> 00:56:42.239
phase, I was thinking about life is about just
00:56:42.239 --> 00:56:46.960
living. Just live. You know, if you just keep
00:56:46.960 --> 00:56:54.340
living and maybe things won't be too bad. Maybe
00:56:54.340 --> 00:56:58.610
things are bad now. But when you look at... you
00:56:58.610 --> 00:57:01.789
know, look at it back in one year or two years,
00:57:02.010 --> 00:57:05.769
you will never think it's a big deal. Or maybe
00:57:05.769 --> 00:57:07.449
it's a big deal, but then you already passed
00:57:07.449 --> 00:57:09.929
that. You won't be too bad. You know, there's
00:57:09.929 --> 00:57:14.409
just always, if you just live and then be yourself,
00:57:14.590 --> 00:57:19.030
do good things. And that's enough. That's how
00:57:19.030 --> 00:57:24.730
I feel. And then also don't be afraid of challenge
00:57:24.730 --> 00:57:28.869
yourself. And also challenge the things that
00:57:28.869 --> 00:57:35.469
you don't believe or believe. Like one of my
00:57:35.469 --> 00:57:37.730
songs is called Bruce Lee Doesn't Like Math.
00:57:38.969 --> 00:57:41.769
Yes, yes, yes. So, you know, I just want to challenge
00:57:41.769 --> 00:57:44.010
the stereotypes. Like Asians are all good at
00:57:44.010 --> 00:57:47.989
math, right? And I'm not good at math. So, yeah.
00:57:48.630 --> 00:57:52.590
And Bruce Lee actually found out that he's not
00:57:52.590 --> 00:57:55.920
good at math either. And he loves poetry. And
00:57:55.920 --> 00:57:58.800
he's not just a martial artist, but he's a good,
00:57:58.900 --> 00:58:03.019
you know, writer. He actually wrote a lot of
00:58:03.019 --> 00:58:06.820
poems about everything, you know, love and everything.
00:58:07.039 --> 00:58:10.300
And he has a tender heart. And even he is so
00:58:10.300 --> 00:58:13.380
strong, you know. So in that song, I talk about
00:58:13.380 --> 00:58:15.760
even Bruce Lee doesn't like math. And then, you
00:58:15.760 --> 00:58:18.639
know, he loves poetry. And then you can be anything
00:58:18.639 --> 00:58:22.519
you want to be. So that's it. I just put everything
00:58:22.519 --> 00:58:26.239
that I learned to my songs and I want to share
00:58:26.239 --> 00:58:30.960
it with my students and also my friends. I think
00:58:30.960 --> 00:58:34.079
just like you said, adults can listen to it too.
00:58:59.280 --> 00:59:02.079
Now, so I want to talk a little bit about the
00:59:02.079 --> 00:59:06.480
soundscape that you create. You know, in the
00:59:06.480 --> 00:59:09.260
background, I hear sometimes traditional Chinese
00:59:09.260 --> 00:59:11.980
instruments, or maybe that's digital. I don't
00:59:11.980 --> 00:59:15.059
know. And then sometimes I hear, you know, your
00:59:15.059 --> 00:59:17.139
piano playing in the background. I'm not talking
00:59:17.139 --> 00:59:20.400
about your vocal part. And then sometimes I hear
00:59:20.400 --> 00:59:25.260
more pop, like as if I'm watching an anime, you
00:59:25.260 --> 00:59:29.610
know, animation. Right. So. Where do all these
00:59:29.610 --> 00:59:33.449
palettes come from? I mean, are these all your
00:59:33.449 --> 00:59:37.769
ideas? Or you work with a sound engineer? They're
00:59:37.769 --> 00:59:40.989
most of my ideas. I also have some engineers
00:59:40.989 --> 00:59:44.269
to realize my ideas. So I could talk to them
00:59:44.269 --> 00:59:48.329
about my vision and about the sounds, about the
00:59:48.329 --> 00:59:51.900
music that I want to... But where does that come
00:59:51.900 --> 00:59:54.940
from? I'm just trying to connect the dots. Because,
00:59:54.940 --> 00:59:57.739
you know, we all have similar classical -trained
00:59:57.739 --> 01:00:02.139
piano background. But where do you go from there
01:00:02.139 --> 01:00:05.980
to where you are right now? You know what I mean?
01:00:06.179 --> 01:00:09.059
You know, I'm a classical pianist. I love to
01:00:09.059 --> 01:00:12.619
listen to so many other kinds of music. And I'm
01:00:12.619 --> 01:00:16.360
just so curious about everything. I love pop,
01:00:16.579 --> 01:00:22.269
rock, R &B, hip -hop, metal. Just, you know,
01:00:22.309 --> 01:00:26.510
just many different kinds. And also, I know this
01:00:26.510 --> 01:00:30.090
album is going to be about, you know, promoting
01:00:30.090 --> 01:00:33.349
the good parts of my culture and everything.
01:00:33.469 --> 01:00:36.630
I want to insert the beautiful elements. For
01:00:36.630 --> 01:00:39.309
example, in All Accents of Art, there's guzheng,
01:00:39.429 --> 01:00:43.090
you know, the blocking instruments. And I played
01:00:43.090 --> 01:00:46.210
it. I took, I went to a guzheng teacher in New
01:00:46.210 --> 01:00:48.849
York. I've even bought guzheng here. I can show
01:00:48.849 --> 01:00:53.619
you later. I took the lessons. I was learning
01:00:53.619 --> 01:00:56.519
that part because I don't need the whole thing.
01:00:56.980 --> 01:01:01.840
It's very fun. For that, I actually learned how
01:01:01.840 --> 01:01:06.199
to play guzheng. I want to put that element into...
01:01:06.199 --> 01:01:08.079
I also have a music video I can show you later
01:01:08.079 --> 01:01:14.239
to my music. The classical parts, for example,
01:01:14.239 --> 01:01:18.739
in Coase F520, there's a... a concerto -like
01:01:18.739 --> 01:01:24.079
message in the bridge. And so I created that
01:01:24.079 --> 01:01:28.079
concerto part myself. And, you know, because
01:01:28.079 --> 01:01:31.480
I also want to teach them musical, you know,
01:01:31.480 --> 01:01:34.360
knowledge through songs. And not many children
01:01:34.360 --> 01:01:36.940
know about concerto. Even adults, they don't
01:01:36.940 --> 01:01:41.039
know what's concerto. So, you know, and I, you
01:01:41.039 --> 01:01:43.559
know, concerto is about a solo instrument or
01:01:43.559 --> 01:01:47.280
voice with orchestra. So I kind of put that idea
01:01:47.280 --> 01:01:52.400
into the bridge. And then I played it. I recorded
01:01:52.400 --> 01:01:56.000
it. And I told my producer also didn't understand
01:01:56.000 --> 01:01:59.519
what's concerto. Maybe he was not in classical.
01:01:59.760 --> 01:02:02.159
So he didn't know. I said, you have to do this
01:02:02.159 --> 01:02:07.300
as concerto. And then you have to build the strings
01:02:07.300 --> 01:02:12.260
around it. And I played the piano part. My students,
01:02:12.320 --> 01:02:13.900
after they listen to it, they ask, oh, what is
01:02:13.900 --> 01:02:15.880
this? I said, oh, that's concerto. See, that's
01:02:15.880 --> 01:02:18.500
a way to teach them, too. They learn it without
01:02:18.500 --> 01:02:22.500
even knowing that we're teaching them. And so
01:02:22.500 --> 01:02:29.000
I actually have very detailed ideas in my mind
01:02:29.000 --> 01:02:32.900
before I produce it. And I want to make sure
01:02:32.900 --> 01:02:36.179
the elements I put in my songs align with my
01:02:36.179 --> 01:02:42.219
vision. Yeah, but... Also, the ability to write
01:02:42.219 --> 01:02:47.639
songs, you know? Yeah. Wow. And that's also something
01:02:47.639 --> 01:02:51.480
that you just explore that by yourself on your
01:02:51.480 --> 01:02:56.260
own? Yes. Like when I first came here, it was
01:02:56.260 --> 01:03:01.920
very lonely. I didn't know anyone. And, you know,
01:03:01.980 --> 01:03:05.500
I like to take pictures. I still have my camera
01:03:05.500 --> 01:03:09.300
and then, you know, to record my life. And also
01:03:09.300 --> 01:03:13.059
I started to write my first songs during that
01:03:13.059 --> 01:03:16.739
period, because for me, it's kind of a way to,
01:03:16.780 --> 01:03:19.119
it's kind of like a journal. You just write down
01:03:19.119 --> 01:03:23.159
things, just, you know, but also I feel like
01:03:23.159 --> 01:03:26.519
it was therapeutic for me to express myself.
01:03:26.760 --> 01:03:31.639
It was healing. So I write down, you know, everything
01:03:31.639 --> 01:03:36.340
I felt, maybe my stories or also. other stories
01:03:36.340 --> 01:03:41.260
my very first song i wrote it for my cat yeah
01:03:41.260 --> 01:03:47.260
and my very first pop song i wrote it um the
01:03:47.260 --> 01:03:51.119
name was everything's gonna be fine i wrote it
01:03:51.119 --> 01:03:56.800
for myself so maybe i just i feel like maybe
01:03:56.800 --> 01:04:01.739
if you just write it from your heart and it's
01:04:01.739 --> 01:04:05.179
gonna be it's not gonna be bad That's how I feel.
01:04:05.420 --> 01:04:08.760
And plus, maybe I listen to a lot of different
01:04:08.760 --> 01:04:13.619
kinds of music. Did you have any teenage years,
01:04:13.699 --> 01:04:17.119
so that's back in China, experience in maybe
01:04:17.119 --> 01:04:22.159
pop songs, like singing in front of the people
01:04:22.159 --> 01:04:26.739
with pop songs or anything? I never. I was singing
01:04:26.739 --> 01:04:30.760
in a children's choir when I was in China, but
01:04:30.760 --> 01:04:36.380
I never actually performed. or anything. You
01:04:36.380 --> 01:04:39.699
were strictly classical piano training. Wow.
01:04:40.280 --> 01:04:42.840
That's incredible. Like, because I thought you
01:04:42.840 --> 01:04:45.079
had some sort of background like that, you know?
01:04:45.099 --> 01:04:48.420
No. From my parents, they loved seeing Chinese
01:04:48.420 --> 01:04:51.719
pop songs. So, but those are old classics, like,
01:04:51.739 --> 01:04:55.980
you know, Teresa Teng, if you know her. So, yeah,
01:04:56.059 --> 01:04:58.539
just that. And I just listened, I listened to
01:04:58.539 --> 01:05:02.300
a lot of Disney music and pop songs when I was
01:05:02.300 --> 01:05:06.809
little. You know, even like visual things like,
01:05:06.889 --> 01:05:11.050
you know, for example, your album cover or even
01:05:11.050 --> 01:05:15.110
the videos that I saw. Yeah, they're great. Thank
01:05:15.110 --> 01:05:19.150
you so much. Yeah, I'm sure your ideas are put
01:05:19.150 --> 01:05:22.489
into those designs, no? I designed my very first
01:05:22.489 --> 01:05:26.210
album's cover. Different shapes. Did you see
01:05:26.210 --> 01:05:29.150
different colors, shapes? But it's kind of pink
01:05:29.150 --> 01:05:33.780
related, I think. And also... the um on the cover
01:05:33.780 --> 01:05:40.059
there was a two stripes of large so it's larger
01:05:40.059 --> 01:05:44.260
it's a it's kind of like tie -dye pattern famous
01:05:44.260 --> 01:05:47.219
from my hometown so i can't believe there and
01:05:47.219 --> 01:05:48.780
then in the middle there are different shapes
01:05:48.780 --> 01:05:52.960
of animals and you know just that that's my idea
01:05:52.960 --> 01:05:56.679
and then i drew i drew it with my crayons and
01:05:56.679 --> 01:05:58.699
then i sent it to a designer so i just make it
01:05:58.699 --> 01:06:03.119
you know like nice so it's fascinating to hear
01:06:03.119 --> 01:06:06.440
all these people's stories where we learn the
01:06:06.440 --> 01:06:09.599
same piano literature, basically. Yes. From Beethoven
01:06:09.599 --> 01:06:12.960
Pathétique to Chopin Waltz to everything. Then
01:06:12.960 --> 01:06:17.360
everybody has their own path. It's just so incredible.
01:06:17.579 --> 01:06:20.940
Thank you. Thanks for being interested. No, and
01:06:20.940 --> 01:06:25.079
thank you for sharing. So now, is it okay if
01:06:25.079 --> 01:06:28.659
we are going to go more toward music education?
01:06:29.610 --> 01:06:33.389
Yeah. And you are deeply involved in, I mean,
01:06:33.389 --> 01:06:37.190
now I understand. And I was like, where does
01:06:37.190 --> 01:06:39.510
this, you know, connection come from? Like being
01:06:39.510 --> 01:06:42.449
such an incredible recording artist and then,
01:06:42.449 --> 01:06:46.969
you know, and also you write scholarly writing
01:06:46.969 --> 01:06:52.269
or paper and. publish it about music education.
01:06:52.489 --> 01:06:55.309
I just couldn't really connect before I spoke
01:06:55.309 --> 01:06:59.329
to you. But now I see it because you started
01:06:59.329 --> 01:07:03.489
teaching when you moved here at such a young
01:07:03.489 --> 01:07:10.969
age. But does that passion of music education
01:07:10.969 --> 01:07:15.409
come from those formative years as a young artist?
01:07:15.889 --> 01:07:19.130
No, it's later. I didn't know about research
01:07:19.130 --> 01:07:23.730
before. So I started piano performance at NYU
01:07:23.730 --> 01:07:29.289
with Professor Edwards. Oh, me too! Really? Oh
01:07:29.289 --> 01:07:33.710
my gosh! I love him so much. I love him so much.
01:07:33.829 --> 01:07:39.230
You know, he actually supported me singing pop
01:07:39.230 --> 01:07:43.360
and jazz and rock besides classical music. He
01:07:43.360 --> 01:07:46.639
was the very first one. Really? A teacher told
01:07:46.639 --> 01:07:49.300
me that folk is not classical. Everything else
01:07:49.300 --> 01:07:53.179
is garbage. That was my first teacher that told
01:07:53.179 --> 01:07:55.800
me that I was wasting time doing everything else.
01:07:56.480 --> 01:08:00.300
But then when I studied with Professor Halim,
01:08:00.440 --> 01:08:04.400
he's just so talented, so nice, so kind. And
01:08:04.400 --> 01:08:07.280
I told him that, hey, Professor Halim, I have
01:08:07.280 --> 01:08:09.900
a jazz band. I mean, this competition, could
01:08:09.900 --> 01:08:14.320
you please vote for me? And he was like, yes,
01:08:14.739 --> 01:08:17.180
I'll definitely vote for you. And then he actually
01:08:17.180 --> 01:08:20.560
voted for me with his two sons and his wife.
01:08:21.180 --> 01:08:24.840
Oh, so sweet. Yeah, he told me one thing. He
01:08:24.840 --> 01:08:28.680
said, no matter what you do, you love jazz, you
01:08:28.680 --> 01:08:31.359
love pop songs, I know you love rock. Everything
01:08:31.359 --> 01:08:34.720
you do, you will always come back to your classical
01:08:34.720 --> 01:08:38.520
playing. He said, you will be a better. artist
01:08:38.520 --> 01:08:41.979
do everything that you love and that really just
01:08:41.979 --> 01:08:46.539
free freed me i just love him so much yeah yeah
01:08:46.539 --> 01:08:50.579
same he's so awesome wow and continue on please
01:08:50.579 --> 01:08:55.100
yeah so and after that i went to columbia for
01:08:55.100 --> 01:08:58.840
music education and because i love teaching and
01:08:58.840 --> 01:09:03.119
i think you know i i love when uh one -on -one
01:09:03.119 --> 01:09:05.960
teaching i have enough experience and did pretty
01:09:05.960 --> 01:09:08.800
well and I just want to improve my classical
01:09:08.800 --> 01:09:12.659
class classroom teaching classroom teaching that
01:09:12.659 --> 01:09:15.720
how to teach a group of students or you know
01:09:15.720 --> 01:09:17.960
all that I would just I want to improve my teaching
01:09:17.960 --> 01:09:20.840
I only applied one school and that's that's Teachers
01:09:20.840 --> 01:09:22.880
College at Columbia and that's the only school
01:09:22.880 --> 01:09:25.859
I want to go to at that time so I got in and
01:09:25.859 --> 01:09:30.479
then um but it was very hard for me because I
01:09:30.479 --> 01:09:35.039
never needed to read so many papers and write
01:09:35.039 --> 01:09:40.399
so many papers, you know, like in my life, never.
01:09:40.579 --> 01:09:44.000
And it was very hard, you know, because language
01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:47.720
problem and, you know, we never really write
01:09:47.720 --> 01:09:50.560
papers. Right, right, as musicians. I didn't
01:09:50.560 --> 01:09:53.210
even read, understand all the... very difficult
01:09:53.210 --> 01:09:55.890
concepts and everything. And it was very hard,
01:09:55.909 --> 01:09:57.890
very challenging in the beginning. I started
01:09:57.890 --> 01:10:01.689
to love it. I started to love research. I was
01:10:01.689 --> 01:10:04.729
like, oh, wow, this is very helpful. You can
01:10:04.729 --> 01:10:09.430
actually, you know, try to identify problems
01:10:09.430 --> 01:10:12.869
and then maybe you can find solution for problems
01:10:12.869 --> 01:10:16.390
by doing research or understand the problems
01:10:16.390 --> 01:10:20.810
better if you don't find an answer. So start
01:10:20.810 --> 01:10:25.340
from. yeah there and I started to love researching
01:10:25.340 --> 01:10:28.140
you know if I need to if I don't need to work
01:10:28.140 --> 01:10:30.859
so much I love keep researching and then you
01:10:30.859 --> 01:10:34.279
know do all the stuff so start from there and
01:10:34.279 --> 01:10:38.800
I started to learn about critical thinking you
01:10:38.800 --> 01:10:41.920
know only during that time about oh you don't
01:10:41.920 --> 01:10:44.500
need to believe everything right okay wow there's
01:10:44.500 --> 01:10:50.039
problems and how do we find solutions so All
01:10:50.039 --> 01:10:54.359
of that inspired me so much. And I look at my
01:10:54.359 --> 01:10:59.119
own teaching and I see problems, I see conflicts.
01:10:59.500 --> 01:11:03.960
So most of my students are second generation
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:07.600
and the parents are first generation immigrants.
01:11:07.760 --> 01:11:11.539
They have totally different, you know, education
01:11:11.539 --> 01:11:16.380
and they experience different, you know, cultures
01:11:16.380 --> 01:11:22.739
and many things. They're so different. But there
01:11:22.739 --> 01:11:25.579
are families. And then you see the conflicts
01:11:25.579 --> 01:11:31.260
in the education too. What the parents want them
01:11:31.260 --> 01:11:34.380
to do? What do the students do? What do the teachers
01:11:34.380 --> 01:11:39.720
do? And I want to find the problem. And I also
01:11:39.720 --> 01:11:41.859
want to find the solution how to support this
01:11:41.859 --> 01:11:47.079
kind of dynamic. So I started to survey more
01:11:47.079 --> 01:11:49.939
than 100. Can you, sorry, can you explore for
01:11:49.939 --> 01:11:53.399
my audience about the conflict a little bit?
01:11:53.479 --> 01:11:58.279
Right. For example, first generation, like immigrants,
01:11:58.680 --> 01:12:03.439
right, parents, and what they learned are from
01:12:03.439 --> 01:12:08.119
their parents or grandparents. And the education
01:12:08.119 --> 01:12:12.939
and, you know, for example, because I don't want
01:12:12.939 --> 01:12:16.539
to make it too big, just for example, in China,
01:12:17.449 --> 01:12:22.970
And we learned about group values, not self -centered.
01:12:23.770 --> 01:12:27.630
You sacrifice for other people. That's a concept
01:12:27.630 --> 01:12:30.649
we learned about, you know, being a good person.
01:12:31.630 --> 01:12:36.289
And here, it's a little more about yourself.
01:12:36.729 --> 01:12:39.069
You know, it's not self -centered, but you have
01:12:39.069 --> 01:12:40.850
to care about yourself, which is right. You know,
01:12:40.869 --> 01:12:44.369
there's good and bad duality. But, you know,
01:12:44.369 --> 01:12:49.359
the values are so different. The values are different
01:12:49.359 --> 01:12:51.000
and they're going to have so many conflicts.
01:12:51.100 --> 01:12:54.079
For example, it shows in piano learning too.
01:12:54.800 --> 01:12:59.500
The parents, you know, they sacrifice a lot,
01:12:59.520 --> 01:13:02.479
really. You know, first -generation parents,
01:13:02.899 --> 01:13:08.420
they work so hard and they sacrifice their own
01:13:08.420 --> 01:13:12.500
personal lives and they spend time, energy, money
01:13:12.500 --> 01:13:15.630
to their children. only because they want to
01:13:15.630 --> 01:13:18.289
provide a good education, good life for the children.
01:13:19.109 --> 01:13:21.970
At the same time, it also gives a lot of pressure
01:13:21.970 --> 01:13:25.069
to the children. They tell the children that,
01:13:25.170 --> 01:13:30.409
oh, you have to be good, do well, do well in
01:13:30.409 --> 01:13:35.010
school and get a good job so you can have a good
01:13:35.010 --> 01:13:38.850
life. And if you don't obey, you are a bad kid
01:13:38.850 --> 01:13:42.050
because I sacrificed so much for you already.
01:13:42.390 --> 01:13:45.260
And then... The children here, they learn different
01:13:45.260 --> 01:13:48.859
concepts that I don't live for anybody else.
01:13:48.920 --> 01:13:52.500
I live for myself and I don't need to sacrifice
01:13:52.500 --> 01:13:57.159
myself to, you know, to help another person.
01:13:57.239 --> 01:14:00.140
I need to be good at myself first. This core
01:14:00.140 --> 01:14:04.420
value are so different, you know, and why do
01:14:04.420 --> 01:14:07.039
I learn music? Because my parents want to, you
01:14:07.039 --> 01:14:09.880
know, force me to learn. Many of them say that
01:14:09.880 --> 01:14:12.539
because also sometimes lazy don't want to practice.
01:14:13.339 --> 01:14:17.840
But the parents were like, oh, and that's one
01:14:17.840 --> 01:14:19.779
thing. And the other thing is very interesting
01:14:19.779 --> 01:14:23.739
that they want their kids to be successful, right?
01:14:23.840 --> 01:14:27.939
And they also, you know, they're also very kind
01:14:27.939 --> 01:14:30.420
of like superficial that, oh, because learning
01:14:30.420 --> 01:14:33.699
music, playing piano or get awards will be good
01:14:33.699 --> 01:14:38.720
for the college application for them. even themselves
01:14:38.720 --> 01:14:41.840
don't listen to music, or they don't take their
01:14:41.840 --> 01:14:44.199
kids to concerts to listen to music. Only in
01:14:44.199 --> 01:14:47.520
practice. No, the kids take the exams or go to
01:14:47.520 --> 01:14:51.500
the competition. And the kids, that's very interesting.
01:14:51.619 --> 01:14:54.100
That's most of the parents, they say that, right?
01:14:54.159 --> 01:14:58.520
Very, you know, superficial. And then the answers
01:14:58.520 --> 01:15:00.739
from the kids. And then I ask them, why do you
01:15:00.739 --> 01:15:03.939
want to learn music? And some of them say that,
01:15:03.939 --> 01:15:07.100
oh, because my parents asked me to. And also,
01:15:07.630 --> 01:15:09.970
Other answers are that, oh, because I can show
01:15:09.970 --> 01:15:14.670
off in front of my friends. And I think that's
01:15:14.670 --> 01:15:18.390
not a bad reason. It's okay. As least you want
01:15:18.390 --> 01:15:23.510
to play. And there's just one student. I surveyed
01:15:23.510 --> 01:15:26.449
more than 100 students and then parents and also
01:15:26.449 --> 01:15:29.109
teachers. And then just one student said, oh,
01:15:29.229 --> 01:15:32.590
I just feel peaceful when I play music. And then
01:15:32.590 --> 01:15:34.550
she was only in elementary school. She wrote
01:15:34.550 --> 01:15:37.739
the answer. That was very funny. and but you
01:15:37.739 --> 01:15:42.039
know so i feel like the goal the purpose of learning
01:15:42.039 --> 01:15:46.260
music are so different and you know if their
01:15:46.260 --> 01:15:49.300
goals are different you will always have conflict
01:15:49.300 --> 01:15:53.239
and even including the teachers i surveyed the
01:15:53.239 --> 01:15:55.180
teachers teachers have different backgrounds
01:15:55.180 --> 01:15:58.079
they're novice teachers to very experienced julia
01:15:58.079 --> 01:16:03.520
professors and you know so from their parts of
01:16:03.520 --> 01:16:06.149
answers they said Most Asian -American students,
01:16:06.390 --> 01:16:11.989
they work very hard, you know, but, you know,
01:16:11.989 --> 01:16:18.470
also most of the problems are the problems happened
01:16:18.470 --> 01:16:23.189
in practice because we only have like a lesson
01:16:23.189 --> 01:16:28.310
once a week. But, you know, so you practice at
01:16:28.310 --> 01:16:31.890
home for one week and there are many, many things
01:16:31.890 --> 01:16:37.579
happened in that week. And if the students, they
01:16:37.579 --> 01:16:42.380
don't practice with, you know, their mind and
01:16:42.380 --> 01:16:46.319
goals, if the parents don't support the way it's
01:16:46.319 --> 01:16:48.859
supposed to be, and everything will go wrong.
01:16:48.939 --> 01:16:52.840
And which most of the times, it just, it always
01:16:52.840 --> 01:16:56.420
goes wrong. And that's a problem. And they also
01:16:56.420 --> 01:16:59.680
said the problems of the... teachers from the
01:16:59.680 --> 01:17:04.079
teachers perspective between parents and students
01:17:04.079 --> 01:17:08.619
parents they they want to see instant result
01:17:08.619 --> 01:17:13.500
you know the teachers that asian american parents
01:17:13.500 --> 01:17:17.439
they want to see instant results and then but
01:17:17.439 --> 01:17:20.720
it doesn't work like that so that's a big thing
01:17:20.720 --> 01:17:23.180
and then for children you know they have so much
01:17:23.180 --> 01:17:28.000
pressure to be good how can you enjoy music if
01:17:28.000 --> 01:17:32.680
you only work for that instant results and for
01:17:32.680 --> 01:17:36.399
teachers the teachers they some of them are asian
01:17:36.399 --> 01:17:39.319
american teachers some of them from europe europe
01:17:39.319 --> 01:17:42.819
some are from america they're all different backgrounds
01:17:42.819 --> 01:17:46.180
and has also different cultures so that's a big
01:17:46.180 --> 01:17:49.539
problem for them too But they love Asian American
01:17:49.539 --> 01:17:52.640
students because they work hard. But they also
01:17:52.640 --> 01:17:55.840
see the problem that, you know, how can they
01:17:55.840 --> 01:18:00.739
help them to be more creative? And from the teacher's
01:18:00.739 --> 01:18:04.000
part, they also experience problems. Most of
01:18:04.000 --> 01:18:08.279
them are classical pianists. But the children,
01:18:08.380 --> 01:18:12.779
they have different, you know, tastes and everything,
01:18:12.979 --> 01:18:17.399
right? So I actually asked a question about the
01:18:17.399 --> 01:18:20.569
teachers that, do you teach, what do you see,
01:18:20.670 --> 01:18:23.869
you know, the repertoire? Do you teach, you know,
01:18:23.869 --> 01:18:27.409
any other genres besides classical music? And
01:18:27.409 --> 01:18:30.369
the answers I got, they are very honest. Most
01:18:30.369 --> 01:18:33.529
of the teachers said, I want to teach them improvise.
01:18:33.770 --> 01:18:37.289
I want to teach them, you know, other genres
01:18:37.289 --> 01:18:39.989
like jazz, anything, but I don't know how to.
01:18:41.890 --> 01:18:45.130
That's, that's very honest. You know, we're in
01:18:45.130 --> 01:18:48.460
classical, you know, musicians. Improvisation
01:18:48.460 --> 01:18:51.239
is not part of our training. It's actually not
01:18:51.239 --> 01:18:54.979
easy for us. But I feel like if we keep learning,
01:18:55.100 --> 01:18:57.760
we can learn together with the students. That's
01:18:57.760 --> 01:19:01.560
how I see it. But for students, like new students
01:19:01.560 --> 01:19:05.680
nowadays, they've heard so many different kinds
01:19:05.680 --> 01:19:09.159
of music. If you just play one classical piece,
01:19:09.439 --> 01:19:13.050
maybe it's not enough. We can teach other techniques
01:19:13.050 --> 01:19:15.670
from other genres of music, from a pop song too.
01:19:15.850 --> 01:19:21.409
Pop song has so many syncopated patterns. You
01:19:21.409 --> 01:19:23.529
can teach, you know, you actually can teach them
01:19:23.529 --> 01:19:28.029
syncopation from a pop song. That's how I see
01:19:28.029 --> 01:19:31.689
it. So I just, you know, research just fascinated
01:19:31.689 --> 01:19:36.090
me because I see so many, you know, perspectives
01:19:36.090 --> 01:19:41.689
and different, you know. problems and I was like
01:19:41.689 --> 01:19:44.250
oh this is very interesting we just need to know
01:19:44.250 --> 01:19:48.970
each other better to work as a team so amen to
01:19:48.970 --> 01:19:53.229
that amen sister I've been teaching for decades
01:19:53.229 --> 01:19:57.510
too and then I understand this core issues where
01:19:57.510 --> 01:20:02.489
you just all three parties get stuck yeah and
01:20:02.489 --> 01:20:04.970
they're looking at each other it's like what
01:20:04.970 --> 01:20:08.689
is going on, right? And one party says this and
01:20:08.689 --> 01:20:11.109
then another says differently and then another
01:20:11.109 --> 01:20:14.229
says differently. It's a challenging thing and
01:20:14.229 --> 01:20:17.470
you kind of have to come together and meet in
01:20:17.470 --> 01:20:19.989
the middle and say, hey, this is the reality
01:20:19.989 --> 01:20:22.569
of music lessons or this is the reality of life
01:20:22.569 --> 01:20:25.329
and we have to talk it out and what it takes
01:20:25.329 --> 01:20:28.829
to be, what it means to learn music. What is
01:20:28.829 --> 01:20:32.430
music? You know, and I totally understand their
01:20:32.430 --> 01:20:35.569
point of view. We're spending this X amount of
01:20:35.569 --> 01:20:37.850
money for children's education. We need to see
01:20:37.850 --> 01:20:40.149
the results. Totally understand that point of
01:20:40.149 --> 01:20:44.670
view too. Yes. Yeah. But so now what I do is
01:20:44.670 --> 01:20:48.390
that I just strictly told the parents that, you
01:20:48.390 --> 01:20:50.829
know, learning piano not necessarily will help
01:20:50.829 --> 01:20:54.270
the college application. And then the parents
01:20:54.270 --> 01:20:58.869
are like, why do we learn music then? And I just
01:20:58.869 --> 01:21:01.789
ask. The parents, one question that do you want
01:21:01.789 --> 01:21:03.970
your children, you know, in the future after
01:21:03.970 --> 01:21:06.369
the work and then go home and just play games
01:21:06.369 --> 01:21:09.029
and then sitting there doing nothing with nothing
01:21:09.029 --> 01:21:13.329
to do and, you know, like just live a boring
01:21:13.329 --> 01:21:16.689
life. You know, they don't say anything after
01:21:16.689 --> 01:21:19.829
that, you know, because living is not just about
01:21:19.829 --> 01:21:23.750
making money, about having a good job. And it's
01:21:23.750 --> 01:21:27.939
really about enrich your life. you know, spiritually
01:21:27.939 --> 01:21:32.140
too. And music can help that tremendously. I
01:21:32.140 --> 01:21:35.460
think that's very important. Yeah. And I tell
01:21:35.460 --> 01:21:39.619
the parents, you should learn music too. We all
01:21:39.619 --> 01:22:02.250
should. What do you believe the role of the artist
01:22:02.250 --> 01:22:05.649
is in shaping cultural narratives for the next
01:22:05.649 --> 01:22:09.210
generation? I feel like people see artists as
01:22:09.210 --> 01:22:13.090
some people that, you know, outside of regular
01:22:13.090 --> 01:22:15.869
life. Oh, they're just people who have dreams.
01:22:17.149 --> 01:22:22.270
But I think we're very important. We're very
01:22:22.270 --> 01:22:27.989
important. I think... you know as an artist myself
01:22:27.989 --> 01:22:34.329
um music is always there for me and i already
01:22:34.329 --> 01:22:38.289
benefit so much from music so i can say it from
01:22:38.289 --> 01:22:43.649
my experience that music is important in people's
01:22:43.649 --> 01:22:49.789
life he saved my life so many times so so many
01:22:49.789 --> 01:22:54.699
times every time i feel down negative want to
01:22:54.699 --> 01:22:59.239
give up many other moments sad you know abandoned
01:22:59.239 --> 01:23:05.100
all all the moments and i started to i told myself
01:23:05.100 --> 01:23:09.600
okay sing a song sing whatever play a piece write
01:23:09.600 --> 01:23:13.560
something collaborate with people and it always
01:23:13.560 --> 01:23:20.180
you know you always lighten up my spirit so i
01:23:20.180 --> 01:23:24.760
think as an artist our role is to promote music
01:23:24.760 --> 01:23:29.180
of course and also to share all the meaningful
01:23:29.180 --> 01:23:33.140
messages in you know through music to people
01:23:33.140 --> 01:23:39.380
to connect and also use music to heal music is
01:23:39.380 --> 01:23:42.760
a therapy it's not just something that for you
01:23:42.760 --> 01:23:46.619
to um enjoy it is that's very important to make
01:23:46.619 --> 01:23:49.680
you happy yes that's also one of the you know
01:23:49.680 --> 01:23:54.229
important aspects of therapy and Music is so
01:23:54.229 --> 01:23:58.609
important in people's life and we just need to
01:23:58.609 --> 01:24:06.550
keep doing it and maybe evolve it and have open
01:24:06.550 --> 01:24:10.109
mind because we never know about artificial intelligence
01:24:10.109 --> 01:24:13.069
you know like AI how are we going to evolve but
01:24:13.069 --> 01:24:16.550
I believe you know just like I always do that
01:24:16.550 --> 01:24:22.960
we can use music to heal people. But we need
01:24:22.960 --> 01:24:27.020
to have an open mind and thrive with the changes,
01:24:27.300 --> 01:24:31.800
not stuck in the past. Beautifully said. Thank
01:24:31.800 --> 01:24:36.439
you. Now it's time for us to promote your work.
01:24:36.560 --> 01:24:39.439
So what are you working on now? And also any
01:24:39.439 --> 01:24:42.640
upcoming projects that you can share with us?
01:24:43.119 --> 01:24:46.960
I just recorded my piano concerto, a new one,
01:24:47.119 --> 01:24:51.520
with a composer from Cincinnati. University,
01:24:51.659 --> 01:24:55.279
Douglas Nguyen's work, Piano Concerto is called
01:24:55.279 --> 01:25:03.460
Storm, with Bortno Philharmonic in Czech a few
01:25:03.460 --> 01:25:07.579
months ago. And that was a very amazing experience.
01:25:08.039 --> 01:25:13.819
And it was conducted by Mikel from London, and
01:25:13.819 --> 01:25:18.119
he's an amazing conductor. So I am very excited
01:25:18.119 --> 01:25:21.949
about this project. I'm also going to record
01:25:21.949 --> 01:25:29.210
in London next month at Abbey Road with London
01:25:29.210 --> 01:25:33.710
Philharmonic as one of the featured artists in
01:25:33.710 --> 01:25:38.010
the new group called String Symphony. I'm very
01:25:38.010 --> 01:25:41.859
excited about that too. um yeah so these two
01:25:41.859 --> 01:25:46.460
are biggest projects so far and i just performed
01:25:46.460 --> 01:25:48.699
at carnegie hall and lincoln center last week
01:25:48.699 --> 01:25:54.680
so that's why i was like so really and wow what
01:25:54.680 --> 01:25:58.819
did you perform uh i performed uh my own compositions
01:25:58.819 --> 01:26:03.119
and i also i collaborated a lot with different
01:26:03.119 --> 01:26:06.039
types of artists these two are classical projects
01:26:06.039 --> 01:26:10.909
but i also collaborated with two rock artists
01:26:10.909 --> 01:26:15.729
with classical music for a, you know, kind of
01:26:15.729 --> 01:26:20.710
fusion music. And I also performed the new arrangement
01:26:20.710 --> 01:26:26.590
from me and the violist, Julia violist, Karen
01:26:26.590 --> 01:26:30.109
Olson for the Christmas song, Carol of the Bells.
01:26:31.920 --> 01:26:36.439
I brought my students to sing some of my originals,
01:26:36.439 --> 01:26:39.859
Love, Peace, Prayer, at Lincoln Center. They
01:26:39.859 --> 01:26:44.460
also performed with the American artist Grant
01:26:44.460 --> 01:26:49.039
Malloy and Eileen Sherman's music. Just a lot
01:26:49.039 --> 01:26:53.560
of things happening. Wow, that's exciting. That's
01:26:53.560 --> 01:26:56.840
so great. Thank you. Well, thank you for showing
01:26:56.840 --> 01:27:01.979
up today, despite all the exciting events. you
01:27:01.979 --> 01:27:04.079
know, coming up for you. I really appreciate
01:27:04.079 --> 01:27:07.100
that. Thank you. Yeah. So where can people follow
01:27:07.100 --> 01:27:12.840
you? On social media? Social media. At Vivian
01:27:12.840 --> 01:27:17.640
Fan Liu. Instagram, right? And then also you
01:27:17.640 --> 01:27:21.699
have a website, VivianFanLiu .com. Yes. Perfect.
01:27:22.600 --> 01:27:26.039
Now, is there anything else you want to say before
01:27:26.039 --> 01:27:32.689
we do that rapid fire questions? I think. No.
01:27:33.090 --> 01:27:36.890
Thank you so much. Of course. And by the way,
01:27:36.949 --> 01:27:40.050
Eduardo's Halim, he was on my show a few years
01:27:40.050 --> 01:27:42.949
ago. So check him out. I think it's season three,
01:27:42.989 --> 01:27:47.189
episode two. So he talks about, you know, of
01:27:47.189 --> 01:27:49.670
course, Horowitz and everything. There's a personal
01:27:49.670 --> 01:27:51.890
anecdote that he shares. It's beautiful. So I
01:27:51.890 --> 01:27:53.430
want you to check it out. Thank you so much.
01:27:53.430 --> 01:27:56.489
Oh, my gosh. This is a beautiful coincidence.
01:27:56.829 --> 01:28:01.239
And wow. See, a great teacher. He's a great teacher.
01:28:01.520 --> 01:28:03.840
Great impact on people's lives. Oh, totally.
01:28:04.659 --> 01:28:07.560
And sometimes I get overwhelmed with his influence.
01:28:07.840 --> 01:28:10.619
It's like, he's so talented. What's the main,
01:28:10.760 --> 01:28:14.119
like, one of the lessons you learned from him?
01:28:14.439 --> 01:28:17.779
Oh, you know, well, as practical as technique.
01:28:18.239 --> 01:28:24.840
Or anything. But also, I think life, like, you
01:28:24.840 --> 01:28:29.100
know, you can have a beautiful life with styles
01:28:29.100 --> 01:28:33.600
and I think that's something that the biggest
01:28:33.600 --> 01:28:37.619
takeaway from him. Yes. He's such an elegant
01:28:37.619 --> 01:28:42.880
person. Yeah. And his wife is also so supportive
01:28:42.880 --> 01:28:48.300
and so sweet. Yeah. But he showed me one thing.
01:28:48.319 --> 01:28:51.760
He asked me one time that, Vivian, you look very
01:28:51.760 --> 01:28:59.199
graceful. You must have a temper. It sounds like
01:28:59.199 --> 01:29:03.180
him. Really? How? You know, because I'm always
01:29:03.180 --> 01:29:07.060
very, you know, nice in the class. And then he
01:29:07.060 --> 01:29:09.420
said, you know, we all have, we're great, you
01:29:09.420 --> 01:29:12.279
know, great artists. They should have that. So
01:29:12.279 --> 01:29:14.880
otherwise you can, you know, how can you express
01:29:14.880 --> 01:29:17.979
yourself in your music? You know, you just need
01:29:17.979 --> 01:29:23.319
to have control. Wow. That's cool. Well, thanks
01:29:23.319 --> 01:29:27.710
for sharing that. So. Now we have one more thing
01:29:27.710 --> 01:29:30.029
to do, the Pianopods rapid fire questions. Now
01:29:30.029 --> 01:29:32.409
we take this segment seriously. You shared your
01:29:32.409 --> 01:29:34.850
stories and expertise today, but these questions,
01:29:34.890 --> 01:29:38.270
next questions, carefully curated by my team,
01:29:38.310 --> 01:29:41.069
which is me, will give our listeners a glimpse
01:29:41.069 --> 01:29:45.409
into who you truly are. So let's do this. Question
01:29:45.409 --> 01:29:48.949
number one, what is your comfort food? Oh, hot
01:29:48.949 --> 01:29:52.710
pot. How do you like your coffee in the morning?
01:29:52.810 --> 01:29:56.029
I don't drink coffee. Oh, so many of them. You
01:29:56.029 --> 01:30:00.750
pianists, don't you? Okay. Cats or dogs? Cats
01:30:00.750 --> 01:30:06.609
and dogs. Sunrise or sunset? Both. Oh my gosh,
01:30:06.609 --> 01:30:09.590
so hard to choose. I love both of them. Summer
01:30:09.590 --> 01:30:14.109
or winter? Summer. Next level. What skill have
01:30:14.109 --> 01:30:16.729
you always wanted to learn but haven't had a
01:30:16.729 --> 01:30:22.739
chance to? Flying a plane. Oh, good one. What
01:30:22.739 --> 01:30:27.939
is your word or words to live by? Love. Favorite
01:30:27.939 --> 01:30:31.699
venue you have performed in or maybe dream venue?
01:30:32.439 --> 01:30:36.300
The Music Fireground in Vienna. I just performed
01:30:36.300 --> 01:30:40.119
in August. The Golden Pond in Vienna. What is
01:30:40.119 --> 01:30:42.819
the most important quality you look for in other
01:30:42.819 --> 01:30:46.960
people? Honesty. Name a composer you wish more
01:30:46.960 --> 01:30:54.600
people knew about. Myself. That's great. All
01:30:54.600 --> 01:30:58.859
right. Then last two. Name one piece in your
01:30:58.859 --> 01:31:06.960
current playlist. The Granados. Poetical. Voices.
01:31:07.020 --> 01:31:11.260
Poetical. Fill in the blank. Music is blank.
01:31:12.119 --> 01:31:17.260
Music is my savior. Oh. Good one. Vivian, thank
01:31:17.260 --> 01:31:20.000
you so much for joining us today and for sharing
01:31:20.000 --> 01:31:22.500
your artistry and your journey and beautiful,
01:31:22.600 --> 01:31:25.300
thoughtful reflections. Your work from classical
01:31:25.300 --> 01:31:27.779
performance to children's music, education and
01:31:27.779 --> 01:31:30.779
research demonstrates how music can shape identity,
01:31:31.079 --> 01:31:34.600
belonging and confidence for the next generation.
01:31:34.659 --> 01:31:38.000
It has been a joy to explore your creative world.
01:31:38.140 --> 01:31:41.439
Thank you so much. Thank you. And to our audience,
01:31:41.479 --> 01:31:44.260
if you'd like to learn more about Vivian and
01:31:44.560 --> 01:31:48.119
To explore her music, visit her website at VivianFangNu
01:31:48.119 --> 01:31:52.260
.com. You can also listen to her albums, Accents
01:31:52.260 --> 01:31:55.659
of Love and Shape of Crowns on all major streaming
01:31:55.659 --> 01:31:58.739
platforms. Follow her on social media to stay
01:31:58.739 --> 01:32:02.039
connected with her latest projects at Vivian
01:32:02.039 --> 01:32:04.619
Fang Nu. Of course, a heartfelt thank you to
01:32:04.619 --> 01:32:06.800
all of you, our dedicated listeners for tuning
01:32:06.800 --> 01:32:08.880
in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please give
01:32:08.880 --> 01:32:11.380
it a thumbs up and subscribe to the PianoPod
01:32:11.380 --> 01:32:14.510
on YouTube. Share and review this. episode on
01:32:14.510 --> 01:32:17.069
your favorite podcast platform and tag us at
01:32:17.069 --> 01:32:20.569
that piano pod for the latest updates guest news
01:32:20.569 --> 01:32:23.430
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01:32:23.430 --> 01:32:26.229
creativity and connection follow the piano pod
01:32:26.229 --> 01:32:29.689
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01:32:29.689 --> 01:32:32.010
the next episode of the piano pod thank you thank
01:32:32.010 --> 01:32:32.770
you so much