Life as a Musician: A Very Human Music

The number of things that one has to do to make music tends to distract from what it’s really all about.

We start off as students, and many of us get into this about whether we’re first clarinet or second clarinet, and whether we’ve some level of music exams that too many young people equate to actual musicianship. Then we’re at a stage when hey, this music thing could be serious, and there’s this massive planning about travelling to get high level lessons, or thinking about investing in an instrument and how much it’s going to cost and what we can afford. And suddenly you find out there’s a bow or a mouthpiece that you never knew you needed and you can’t imagine living another day without it. And then you enter university studying music, or dive straight in to the working world and you try to squeeze 25 hours out of a day which stubbornly wants to stick to 24, struggling in personal practice in that push to be all you can be while teaching or working part time to to make sure you have enough to get something to eat. You start thinking about new applications, auditions, competitions. As you get more into the industry, you realize that if you want to be involved in certain projects you’ve got to take a role in actually organizing it, and then you get into scheduling of rehearsals and booking a hall and licensing and sponsorship. And then it’s networking, meeting the right people, worrying about whether you said the right things at the right time, and self-examining which part of each of us is most useful in fitting in to this giant jigsaw puzzle.

Investments. Practice rooms. Arrangements. Scheduling. Organizing. Networking. Public relations. All these things which make up being part of making music, and all necessary in moving ahead in the world. It’s a real world, and these are all elements of that reality.

But the best parts of making music are the things that don’t really get mentioned when we think about a career path. For many it’s the parents that start us all off on some instrument because they think it’s going to good for you not so much as a future job but in developing who we are – and for some, when that money for lessons doesn’t come easy. It’s about the teacher who knows better than to argue with you wanting that exam certificate but tries to make sure that in process you get more inspired about the music itself than the piece of paper. The friend who knocks on the door of your practice room and reminds you to take a break before your arms fall off or your lungs explode. The fellow musicians who welcome you back when you return after your studies elsewhere – or welcome you in a new role as a colleague and partner. And musicians who introduce you to others and help you to find a place in their world. Sometimes because some time, somewhere, somebody did the same for them. Sometimes because some time, somewhere, somebody didn’t do the same for them, and that’s the opportunity to make the world a little bit better than the way they found it.

For every one of these very special people, there are probably a dozen backstabbing others, or more often those who are just more in it for themselves than anything else. But then, that’s exactly why we call them special.

People. At the end of the mad race for success, that’s what music is really all about.

It's All About Communication

It really is, when it comes down to it. Music is a clear extension of it... there's some quote from some musician that if he could express what music intends to express through words alone, he'd have stuck to words. But since words aren't enough - he's a musician.

These days there seems to be a new ad blitz on milk products that repeat the well-worn assertion that you should drink a particular product so your kids will grow up, "big and strong". I think it's time for a new paradigm, use the fear factor and all - say, drink this dammit, or your kids will be weak and stupid!

Someone pointed out to me recently that our road signs are too polite, especially when asking us to slow down. Singapore, apparently, gets to the point: "SLOW DOWN NOW!"

Whatever people imply from road signs, I do hope that they don't take too much from our government websites. I got the following under Soalan Lazim (Frequently Asked Questions) under the Immigration Department's website:

Q : Saya telah bergaduh dengan isteri saya dan beliau telah mengambil tindakan mengoyak PMA saya. Apakah tindakan yang perlu saya ambil untuk menggantikan pasport tersebut?

(Translation: I have fought with my wife, and she has taken the action of ripping up my Malaysian International Passport. What action should I take to replace my passport?)

Sheesh!

Keeping it Moving

You know those scenes in movies where the writer just can't get it right, crumples up a sheet of paper and tosses it into the trash can, where you see about a dozen other failed attempts? Well, I've been having that with this blog posting and I have to tell you, it's a shade less artistic when you click 'select-all' and press 'delete'. Some things get lost in the technology I guess.

I've been back in Malaysia since May of 2008, which makes it fairly long interim before heading to New Zealand in February 2010. There's a certain restlessness that comes from this - a lot of the musical opportunities require a commitment to stay on longer. In this industry there are really no part-time summer jobs, though there are sporadic freelancing possibilities. The MPO auditions every two years. And the local universities... well, shall we say they function in ways complex. Basically, I realized when I turned 30 that I'm in the centuries-old tradition of the wandering musician. The vagabond. The gypsy.

On the positive side though it's given me the opportunity to help fresh some old networks, and build a whole lot of new branches from them. The plan is to get some name recognition, show a bit of what you're capable of, and the next time I'm back for summer holidays have something to do. I've explored with a certain amount of success the art of organizing a one-off event, whether it's a masterclass, workshop, or seminar. The trickier thing is creating a niche where one doesn't quite exist yet. Which makes it somewhat difficult to pitch to people in the market who aren't familiar with it, which isn't that surprising: you can find out a lot easier if someone is a good musician, but it takes a lot more groundwork to establish oneself as a marketable speaker, facilitator, or presenter. To make it even more complex, there's also quite a few differences between being a good musician or a good presenter, and knowing how to market oneself.

But we do what we can. Sometimes you know someone's taking advantage of you but you keep quiet and keep going because it nonetheless doesn't mean you still can't get something positive from the situation. Sometimes you have to push those who find the idea of a fair symbiosis interesting, but have a tough time keeping a momentum going.

And once in a while you have someone selflessly supportive, and you have to make sure you live up to that goodwill. Since my return, on the top of this very, very short list is Brian Tan and all the others at KLPac.

I just wish that that list was somewhat longer, that we had a more inviting atmosphere somehow. We're looking our first real batch of people going into the field with formal training in the viola - myself from the States, Joycelyn in a year from Germany, Chin Ning a little after from Taiwan, and Jebat from Singapore. How many of them would aim for a primary role as an orchestral musician we have to wait and see, but I hope that that does not become the avenue of choice simply because the other choices aren't as stable or worse, unappreciated. I'm clearly biased, but I do hope that when the time comes, the success of music, the success of appreciating the diversity of musicians, and the success of keeping our best of them, will not lean so much on the goodwill of a few, but will really be the spirit of the musical community, particularly the way I've seen done in the Phillippines and to an extent Singapore and Thailand. Because we have to get out of this now somewhat self-fulfilling prophecy that the highest level of Malaysian classical music scene - and ends - with the limits of the MPO. And realizing that if we really, really want to appreciate music, we start with the arena of possibilities. And the celebration of the spectrum as a whole.

A Purple-Toned Celebration: Showcasing the Viola

Concert programme introduction for An Afternoon of Chamber Music, Sunday, September 6, 2PM.

The viola has been called many things, from the “Cinderella” of the orchestra, to the mysteriously “purple-toned” instrument.* Those who have met the unique viola on the playing field have ranged from the world’s best violinists such as Yehudi Menuhin, Nigel Kennedy and Maxim Vangerov, to more unlikely characters like Jimi Hendrix, newly-crowned American Idol Kris Allen and the fictional Fantastic Four character The Thing.

Perhaps the magic of the viola is that just a shade more so than the signature grandeur of the trumpet or the characteristically ever-graceful harp, the viola’s triumph is in its versatility of colours in truly shaping itself to the hands and ideas of its player. Its imperfect dimensions (somewhat squashed as the ideal size for its pitch range being too long for even the best basketball players to handle) on one hand makes the player work even harder for sound colour. But on the other hand it is perhaps why the viola has been attributed as being able to convey the imperfections of humanity more clearly than any other instrument. Further, while the cello still boasts the frequency of vibration closest to the human heart, it is the viola that fits the range of the human voice.

This afternoon’s selections showcase the viola in the diversity of its roles, from a viola-only duo and quartet, to partnerships with the cello, violin, and a more traditional role in the string quartet. The centerpiece of the programme, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 is so rarely performed because of its challenging instrumentation focusing on the mid- and lower-range. Here we see the violas shine in a solo light as well as in the ensemble, exploring the full baroque range, celebrating the compositional genius of Bach in fugues and fluid phrases that flow from one viola to the next, and bounce back again.

Andrew Filmer

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* And oddly enough, both of those descriptions came from the same violist: the world-renown Kim Kashkashian.

An Afternoon of Chamber Music - FREE ADMISSION

September 6 at 2PM
ARECA Center of Performing Arts ~ 50, Peel Avenue

Programme:

W.F. Bach: Duo No. 2 ~ Tan Mei Ying and Samuel Khoo, violas

W.A. Mozart: First movement of the duo for violin and viola, arr. viola and cello ~ Joycelyn Tye, viola and Stephanie Tye, cello

A. Corelli: Arrangement of Concerto Grosso No. 8 "Christmas Concerto" for four violas: Lo Mei Yoke, Joycelyn Tye, Wong Chin Ning, Andrew Filmer, violas

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 ~ Wong Chin Ning, Andrew Filmer, Joycelyn Tye, soloists. Ensemble: Lo Mei Yoke, Samuel Khoo, Tan Mei Ying, Stephanie Tye, Chee Hui Hui, conducted by Khoo Teng Jian.

Handel-Halvorsen: Passacaglia ~ Khoo Teng Jian, violin, and Andrew Filmer, viola

A. Piazzolla: Libertango and Por Una Cabeza for string quartet: Khoo Teng Jian and Lo Mei Yoke, violins, Andrew Filmer, viola, Stephanie Tye, cello.

At the End of the Day, A Real Lesson in Bogus Degrees

I must say, sometimes these bits of investigative journalism by the Star turn out interesting results. The recent probe into bogus degrees for example. It's only peripherally interesting for me to know about the people who want to sell them (though it's interesting that Google the website of Isles International University and you get a picture of Big Ben!) - what's more fascinating is the people who buy them and then get shocked when they find out that it's not for real.

And what's their response when the little light bulb goes off (and explodes)? That the convocation ceremony was real! Not a mention whether the education was real, not once. And therein lies the crux of the issue, with people thinking that it's about certification and ceremony, and not whether at the end of the day you have a little more rolling around upstairs. There are plenty of stories about pictures of convocation ceremonies with deputy ministers (who obviously aren't too bright themselves), and money gone down the drain, but no complaints about how this could be when I spent so much time in classrooms, pouring countless hours to produce a academically worthy thesis...

You can pity them, I guess, in the sense that you pity anyone who was taken for a ride. But somehow I don't really have much sympathy for these people who essentially thought that money could allow them to cut the cue - putting their quick-and-easy degrees ahead in interviews with others who actually spent time and energy towards getting theirs. So if some of them are worried about their jobs, well, good. Because chances are if it was that piece of paper which got you the job, someone else probably deserved it more.

The real lesson though is that the letters at the end of ones name are only good as an indicator of the intellectual strength of the person. Whatever degree it is, exists as a yardstick to what one has learned, and how useful one can be with that knowledge.

One particular case in the Star:

"Vernon, who works in the hospitality sector, said that he found out about the university from a booth the institution had set up at a Tesco outlet."

Poor man. I could have told him, you can't get a degree... at Tesco.

Whaddayaknow

First, in the news, an American swimmer has a wardrobe malfunction mid-dive and splits his swimsuit, effectively mooning the arena. What I found particularly interesting is that the Huffington Post's article showed a file picture of the swimmer's face instead of one from the event. Note the Post's explanation, highlighted:


News isn't the only place you learn a couple of things - some of my best teaching is done when I learn something from the process. Sometimes it's a magnification of some of my own technical weaknesses which make it a useful reminder of things to work on. Sometimes it's a newer, better way of teaching something. And today, from a rather interesting student, it was that if you twist a music stand just right, you get the small Decepticon from the second Transformers movie:


That's certainly redefining a musical "point of view".