Speak For Change With Thomas Sage Pedersen
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Speak For Change With Thomas Sage Pedersen
Ep.148 Uncovering Cultural Roots: The Musical Journey of Composer Vivian Fung
https://vivianfung.ca/
What if discovering your cultural roots could transform your life's work? Join us for an unforgettable episode of Speak for Change as we sit down with Vivian Fung, a world-renowned, award-winning composer whose incredible journey from Canada to the global stage is steeped in her rich Chinese heritage.
Vivian shares her early start at age four with the piano, influenced by her "tiger mom" and a pivotal piano teacher who recognized her extraordinary talent, ultimately becoming a lifelong friend.
One of the most touching moments in this episode is Vivian's recounting of her 2023 piece "Parade," illustrating the profound impact that supportive mentors and creativity have had on her career.
Vivian also opens up about her 20-year odyssey of self-discovery through music, marked by her deep connection with non-Western compositions, particularly Gamelan music. Her transformative experience creating an award-winning violin concerto, created in collaboration with her former student, Kristen Lee. This profound chapter underscores how personal relationships and cultural exploration have significantly shaped her artistic expression, reflecting the complexities of her identity as a second-generation immigrant in Canada.
But that's not all; we delve into Vivian's spiritual connection to her creative process and the disciplined nature of her daily rituals. Learn about how the act of composing serves as her sanctuary, a place for reflection and connection to something greater.
Vivian also touches on how becoming a parent has shifted her perspective, influencing her compositions and broader humanistic goals. From the emotional story behind her piece "Parade" to her diverse musical influences, including Metallica and Cambodian hard rock, this episode offers a heartfelt exploration of the challenges and triumphs in Vivian Fung's remarkable musical journey.
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Hi, I'm your host, thomas Sage Pedersen, and welcome to Speak for Change podcast, where we explore positive and lasting change in all areas of life. Our next guest is world-renowned, award-winning composer, vivian Fung. Vivian, welcome to Speak for Change.
Speaker 2:I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's an honor. I mean, just okay, we're just going to start off. You're an amazing composer and it's super inspiring your work. I saw a string quartet and just a snippet of is it Parade? Yes, that is at an open rehearsal and I admit like just listening to Parade just a small portion it like walked me through an emotional experience I was having in that moment. So I like really thank you for that. It doesn't happen all the time and so something about that piece is like pretty special. So I hope I don't know if it's out in the world yet but it was just premiered in 2023.
Speaker 2:So it was a very recent piece and this is the West coast premiere. So let's get it out there. Let's get it out there.
Speaker 1:So just to kind of get some background, how did you get into composition? It's not a path that everyone takes, so I'm curious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so let me backtrack a little bit. So I am, let's see, I was born and raised in Canada, um, of Chinese heritage, um, and you know I'm an only child, um, and my parents are not musicians but um. I started very early um, because I had a tiger mom. Wait, wait, explain, explain, tiger mom she well, well, let me to be fair. I mean, I think um, I think you know a lot of um the mentality in not only my family but a lot of immigrant first generation immigrant families is that you know they've sacrificed so much that they want to just invest in their children so that they have a better future than they did, you know.
Speaker 2:So it's that kind of you know, do good for your children. And so very early on, I was, you know, instilled with the idea that music should be a part of our lives, Classical music should be a part of our lives. And so I started playing the piano when I was four.
Speaker 2:I started with the Yamaha program, which is like the piano equivalent of Suzuki. Yeah, oh, you know, I was born and raised in Edmonton, which is a city that was well, is now a very metropolitan, very diverse city, but at the time when I was growing up it was, you know, it was a small city with not so diverse, and you know the winters are rough there and there's nothing to do, you know, unless you're into winter sports which?
Speaker 2:I wasn't. There's nothing to do, you know, unless you're into winter sports, which I wasn't, um, but you know, um, you know, when you're small, uh, and I have a son now who's nine, so I, I completely get it. You, you don't like to practice, right? So no one, no one likes to practice. You know, maybe maybe those special Wunderkinds like to practice, but you know, maybe maybe those special wunderkinds like to practice, but you know, no one likes to practice. So my mom is, is is very much, very invested in my education and saw to it that I needed to practice. But you know, being a child, a kid, I would just, you know, not want to do it, and so, to sort of work around that, that I would start improvising on the piano yeah, I love that yeah so so it's like, yeah, I'm practicing, mom, and and so it's like you know, I would just kind of daydream and you know, come up with these fanciful stories.
Speaker 2:um, on the piano and and my, it got to the point where I was like seven or eight and I switched to a private piano teacher and it just so happened that the private piano teacher is also a composer.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:So she kind of saw what I was doing, she saw through what I was doing and instead of saying, oh, you should stop doing that, you should practice the nose. She was like, oh, you know, let's, let's, uh, make a project out of it. I'll teach you about notation? Yeah and so I still have those early compositions.
Speaker 2:I actually have, yes, so I just went through my parents basement and I have like all these crates of my early compositions, and you know my first um original, like full composition, where I was, like you know, before the days of computers. I would have like ink and paper, and so I would write things out and my first piece was called crickets, and you know. And then I compiled a whole set of piano pieces and they were called Insect Songs, and every song had a storyline to it and it was my outlet and it became something that.
Speaker 1:Isn't there a string quartet you wrote, or something.
Speaker 2:Insects and Machines.
Speaker 1:Is that related? No, it's not related but it is, excuse me, it's interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting that you made that connection. Yeah, it's not related, but it is it's interesting. Yeah, it's interesting that you made that connection.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it was just, I didn't really think about it, Not that you say that.
Speaker 1:Sorry, my brain's weird like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you know, I still have those compositions and it became something that was you know. You know, practice was something that I did and my mom could, like you know, inject her flavor into it, but composition she knew nothing about, you know. And so it became this, this world that I inhabited and escape, and um, so it blossomed from there.
Speaker 1:Man, I love that. It just really talks to a lot of different things, like the power of teachers, right oh?
Speaker 2:absolutely and actually this piano teacher is now still one of my best friends.
Speaker 1:That's amazing yeah.
Speaker 2:So her name is Halva and if you release this podcast, I'll send this podcast to her. She's been the angel in my life.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing. I think it really does take a good teacher to be able to see the potential in a student and actually morph that instead of putting their own kind of agenda Right. You know, I mean slippery slope, right, right. But you know, I think that is such a beautiful story of just. You know, I work with educators every day and I was an educator. I guess I technically still am, but it's just. You know, the teacher-student relationship is so important and so I'm glad that's what kind of nourished your compositional process in the beginning. Yeah, so like now you are from. You know, I saw you talk at an event and you are a full-time composer, right, you do this fortime composer, right? You, you do this for a living.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Right, and I and I. It wasn't a path that I originally sought after. I mean, you know, I did the traditional route of getting a doctorate and then, I taught for a good 10, you know, almost 10 years in academia, but that wore on me a lot and I'm very fortunate I have a family that's very supportive and I'm able to do it for a whole host of reasons, but there was a time when there was that fork in the road.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I chose this path.
Speaker 1:What was that time?
Speaker 2:Well, it was a time where I was teaching so much that I wasn't composing. Oh right and and it was. I was really miserable and I was really depressed because I thought you know, don't get me wrong, I love teaching and. I love working with students and engaging with the next generation, and I, I would love to return to teaching, but it's just at that point in my life I was like you know, late twenties, early thirties. It was just I didn't see myself being the teacher that fulfilled a slot.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And that was what academia provided me at that time. Right came at a time that that I was very fortunate that, you know. Um, it came at a time when, when I was, my career was starting to blossom and you know, I got a Juno award you know, and that's like the, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, and and it just it, it, it, just it, kind of it.
Speaker 2:All these indicators were just that. Okay, let's, let's take a step back and see, you know, from from that perspective, what, what I want to do, and you know, and, and the paycheck was nice, but it wasn't really that much of a paycheck and for me to sacrifice what I really loved for that paycheck was not really worth it to me, um, and so I I decided just to save that money and also, you know, my husband was very supportive.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we just said, let's do it. And so, you know, I started on that path.
Speaker 1:Man. So it was a time when you were composing, but it was. Your academic life started to get kind of in the way of the compositional.
Speaker 2:Well, it was just my position was it didn't allow for the growth that was needed for me to really grow as a creative person. You know I just fiddled a slot and it was not. You know, I probably needed to move on to a different sort of position for me to be really happy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that makes complete sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, really happy, yeah, and um, that makes complete sense, yeah, and then so, so that was, that was the start for me, that was my fork, that you know. I decided just to take that leap of faith and it was hard because and for everybody I think, when you're starting out it's that it's very hard because it's like that leap of faith of, you know, not having a steady income and you know, and then, and, but then things slowly started to work itself out yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Did you in that, in that process, did opportunities come? When you did the leap of faith, did it, was it like so kind of like I.
Speaker 2:It's not that I just took that leap of faith but there were like indicators that for me that you know, I had certain key people that were very supportive, performers that were becoming more supportive of my work and you know that that juno really helped me like get my name out there and it's like a big deal yeah and and then.
Speaker 1:So I was like, okay, let's, let's just try this out and, like you know, your your late 20s, 30s is like, uh, early 30s is like a transition time, right.
Speaker 1:usually it's like a reflection of this kind of turbulent 20s, right, or whatever, and so it makes complete sense that that's kind of where the fork in the road came you know, and as a composer now, like what you know I've done, I've read a lot about you and I want to hear from you like what really, I guess, motivates you in your work. You know, I know it's a, it's a question that you must get a lot, but you know, I just want to hear this because I think, you know, just hearing your work it feels personal, I can feel the authenticity behind it and I don't feel that in a lot of work. And so I'm curious, like what really motivates you and like what is your process? And a weird technical question what program do you use?
Speaker 2:I'm a Sibelius person, you know. I've heard really good things about Dorico, but I just don't have time to go along that, down that rabbit hole of learning a new thing. But you know, you know my, my process has evolved over time. You know, I've started this journey in my early thirties and you know, now I'm in, I'm uh, you know, 20 years later it's, it's kind of become part of me you know, and um, a few things.
Speaker 2:I think, um, uh, of late, uh, let's, let's break it down a little bit. So, trying to family for me is very important. So, and that has a lot of different tentacles, so, because I was born and raised in Canada, it's just this very multi-layered discovery of what identity means to me. Me, because I'm a second generation immigrant family, you know, um, and so my roots are. Where are my roots? You know, uh?
Speaker 2:it's a very complicated question and I feel like, um, it is not really a one answer and it's so like multi-pronged answer and I think for a lot of my generation and and and younger. I think this is a very relevant question.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Um, and so my journey started actually by, you know, trying to find out. Okay, I had all this Western training and, um, I still didn't feel like that was mine.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:After all that and that was part of the sort of transition time for me, like late 20s, early 30s Okay, I have this doctrine. Now what? Yeah?
Speaker 1:right.
Speaker 2:And that journey of trying to discover who I was.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And my voice, I'm still, I'm still, it still is evolving.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But for me that journey has been a very important one and one that I document in my music, and sometimes it comes. The identity question comes in the forefront and sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But that is a sort of like an underthread of what I'm trying to do. And one of the things that really was a catalyst for me was the discovery of Gamelan. And so, you know, when I was at this juncture you know I had this Western notation, but it's still I felt like it wasn't complete to me. Because it was not, I didn't identify with that sort of Germanic, you know, style of composition or that French style of composition. It wasn't complete to me, and so I started to listen to a lot of non-Western composition. And then I joined a gamelan in New York. At first it was a Javanese gamelan and then became a transition to a Balinese gamelan, to the point where I went to Bali three times.
Speaker 1:Oh really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And then the last time it was a trip that where the gamelan that I joined at the New York Consulate we were invited to participate in the Ballet Arts Festival as sort of the battle of the bands, but it's battle of the gamelans.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, we were like the first mixed gender gamelan group that was competing against a local group, and so it was like thrilling, because we were also composing for the amelon yeah we were doing all these things and was just very inspiring and as as as a result of that trip came the violin concerto which went on to win the junior award oh wow, oh.
Speaker 1:So it was like it's like a whole yeah so all these indicators, right? Yeah, it's like almost you're getting rewarded for doing this exploration within your identity, right, you know?
Speaker 2:and the added layer is that, and this is where everything came together for me, was that the violin concerto? Like that, I composed this. The four is, uh, one of my former students who was in my class and she. Her name is Kristen Lee. She's actually coming to Philippe Quinn's concert on Sunday oh really, yeah, um she, she was, she's a fabulous violinist. She's, she's, you know um. She's doing wonderful stuff now, but she was my student back in the day and at the end of the semester.
Speaker 2:I would play my music and and talk about you know what was inspired by? And she was so just interested in it and so we kept in touch. And when she knew that I was traveling to Bali, we met. She had already graduated, but we met and I heard her play and was completely just so amazed by her playing, and so we kind of brainstormed about a project together and this violin concerto came about. But then here is the special thing she paid her own plane ticket to come with me to bali so yeah, I mean she's invested yeah and she, she was there.
Speaker 2:She wasn't there for the entire time, but she was there for like a week or 10 days or something like that yeah and so she really got what I experienced firsthand, you know. And then when I came back to write the concerto, it was all inspired by that trip and I didn't really have to. It was like a meeting of the minds. You know that I really understood. She really understood what kind of thing I was going for.
Speaker 1:That's such a special thing the collaboration with the musician and the composer you know, what I mean.
Speaker 1:I think that is. I mean that speaks to something that I think needs to be I don't know more present. Yeah, like just kind of like. Like you guys built a relationship and through that relationship she was able to like really feel, like not just know, but feel what you were, what you were doing, and so when she was, when you're composing and playing I bet there was a lot of collaborative things there and you know and so she could actually embody the emotions behind it, right? Yeah, I think that's brilliant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so she and I have collaborated on a number of things, and yeah actually the piece that philip is going to perform on sunday yeah was actually commissioned. Commissioned, uh, through one of our um patron, our friends yeah, it was written for kristin and she's coming, so you'll get to meet her. Yeah, and we're actually also going to be doing a project together involving violin and percussion quartet, so percussion orchestra. So we're hoping that will be another phase in our lives as well.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 2:So it's like a lifelong collaboration that we have because we are on different coasts now.
Speaker 1:I live in.
Speaker 2:Berkeley area and she lives in New York. But every time we meet it's like you know it's it's a very special thing and you know I I've had like I've been really, really lucky, I've had these kinds of relationships with you know different performers along the way, and it's really propelled my inspiration my process and why I want to write, and then going back to your question about what inspires you.
Speaker 2:So I don't see music as something in and of itself, but I see it through the lens of being a humanist you know, like, trying to express what it is to be human, and what that means to me is that idea of self-discovery and what it means to identify as whatever you know, and that identity question has been, you know, I've been trying to answer that for a long time, and one of the ways that the doors open for me is through traveling, so to Bali, and now I've been going to Cambodia.
Speaker 2:I'm writing an opera now because the year I was born, in 1975 in Canada, my extended family was in Cambodia, so we're Chinese, overseas Chinese in Cambodia, and they fled because the Khmer Rouge were coming in and it was a mass genocide, and so they all managed to escape, um, and and. So this opera is going to be about that idea of the, the, my family, surviving this and and and, and, then ending up in paris and canada. So, so all these things you know, and and this, uh, it's the discovery of me, but it's also finding the layers of, of my family history of and also and this is what is so beautiful is that I have a son who's nine.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's also the idea of leaving a legacy.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I love the connection between, like your family and your and your person in the personal development piece, like the identity piece. Because I, you know, cause my everyone's music school, my music school that I founded, it was all based on creating positive and lasting change in people's lives with music education. So we're like extreme, we're just a weird school. You know, we, we, we value rapport over if, like technical ability, sometimes, like we, we care about the relationship and connecting with our students. Right, and partially because, like, I had a background, a little job in like kind of the psychology world, and when I got into teaching it was because of reject students, like some other teachers were like I can't handle these students, and I was like, oh, we'll see what I can do.
Speaker 1:Right, and I realized pretty quickly that since I I don't know I've seen like a lot of crazy music and experimental music and all this stuff and I and I create creative, pretty weird stuff. And so I look at these students and I'm like, yeah, you're just creating, like hitting the piano, and I'm like, yeah, that works, but we'll, like we start to like see the potential behind them and we've had students who, like, my first lesson was them hitting a piano and now they're like playing Bach. You know what I mean and it's so beautiful to see. But it's also beautiful to see how music has affected their everyday life, you know, have have given them different skills that they can apply in different ways, and I'm wondering how composition it clearly has, like, helped you understand your identity. How has it helped you in your everyday life, like in your how you approach situations, and having this kind of more I don't know, for lack of a better word liberation of your identity? How does that affect your world and your decisions?
Speaker 2:So I'm going to sound really cheesy, but so I try. You know, because I'm a freelancer, I it's where, um, it's a disciplined approach and um, you know, when I'm not traveling, or, or, or, you know, in residence, or, or whatever, I'm at home, I, you know, I I drop my son off of yeah uh, to, to to the school bus. So I have between maybe 10 and 4 every day to work on my composition and I see that time. This is where the cheesy part is that it's my church.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's. You know, I am a lapsed Catholic. I grew up Catholic, but I'm a lapsed Catholic and I really have come to believe that, through the process of creating, I'm a conduit for something that is greater than me. Yes in the best of times I don't feel like it's just me that's writing.
Speaker 2:I'm like a channel from a higher b right and this is. This is the. That's the like. You know it's cheesy, but but it really is something. I feel like. That's that. That is for me the, the meaning of life, you know and yeah and to have that uh channel is a very spiritual awakening for me right and that's why I continually return to it, is that it just feeds me so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to be able to be in that place and to be able to return to that place every day, um, and it's just a gift right, you know.
Speaker 1:so I think creativity I mean, if you think of, like, spirituality and the idea of God and all these different things. Like he's, they're the ultimate creator, right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And I think the act of creativity is probably the most human thing you can do, right, you know, like when you're creating art or music, it helps you communicate at the same time as reflecting, at the same time as figuring out the nuances and the vulnerabilities within yourself and strengthening empathy, even you know, with with the world around you.
Speaker 2:It's very humbling too, because you know no matter. What is on your resume? You know, you stare at that blank page every day you know, and and it kind of hits you in the face that you're a nobody, you know, and it really is just that. You know just that ritual of doing it. You know day in and day out.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So just life affirming to me you know, no matter what happens in the world and there's a lot of stuff that happens in the world. It's like I can. That's my safe haven.
Speaker 1:Right man, I mean. I think that's beautiful to have that space and to be able to explore that kind of spiritual practice of composing mixed with, you know, because you have a family and so like the kind of combination of being able to go to your church every day, you know, whenever you can I mean, don't get me wrong not every day is going to be like church I mean some. There are some days where it's like I just want to hit.
Speaker 2:You know things I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know what kind of church you go to. But sometimes I feel pretty stressed and just so you know something. You know like it's human right, it's the human experience which is is messy, nuanced, exactly, you know, and all this stuff, and I mean kind of the transition just a little bit. I mean I could talk spirituality for days, um, but you know, when you're in that room, are you somebody who just like improvises first, like kind of like on the piano or something, comes with ideas?
Speaker 2:are you someone who just goes to the paper and just um, well, I think you know I talk about process a lot when I'm teaching as well, and um, uh, so I've come to kind of have a dialogue with myself, you know, and and um, it's come to where I, I, um, I just go through this process of you know what is the project going to be about, the Gestalt of a project, and for me actually having that, whatever that is, you know, that idea, that Gestalt, that overall concept is important.
Speaker 2:So architecture is actually really important to me, to kind of frame what the notes will will sound like and so do you.
Speaker 1:When you say architecture, do you do? Sorry to get into the weeds with you, but like do you mean? Like like structure? Do you mean like ideology first and then kind of how that's going to look like you kind of know, like what the pillars are or parts are?
Speaker 2:yeah, so for example with parade um so what inspired parade was um for me? Um, it was, like you know, it was 2022 and we were just coming out of covid, yeah, and my son was participating in the san francisco chinatown parade, and it was the first time that all of us were seeing so many people and somehow just the idea of just this enormous gathering of people was very overwhelming for me emotionally. It became this sort of reaction that I had and that I had to give voice to, and it became this piece, and so it starts off very slowly and it's actually a quotation from one of Hildegard von Bingen's chants, and then sort of that sort of like, sort of, you know, this emotional buildup, and then it gets into the parade and sort of multi, sort of Iivesian multi yeah rhythmic multi-tempe um idea.
Speaker 2:I like that word, that's a good word um where you know you can, you can kind of see the different um bands that are coming in and out of focus you know, and, and then it kind of becomes this raucous party at the end.
Speaker 1:So it's like for me that idea was what drove the piece, and so it's that idea of progression from this chant, this very slow, and these figures that weave in and out and then it builds and builds and builds and builds to this, this, this big ending yeah, you, it sounds like the structure is very logical, like you know, in a way, like it makes sense that you would start from this place and then move into the parade and then kind of a finale of sorts. You know, um, because, like you know, I, I feel like composers have a couple different ways right. They're either, you know, I, I feel like composers have a couple of different ways, right, they're either, you know, I'm a, I'm a writer and a composer.
Speaker 1:So I also, like I read like on writing by Stephen King and all this stuff, and I was very structural writer and then I started doing kind of more of a character-esque based writing where it was kind of like okay, let's just see where you're going to take me, right, and that was way more vulnerable for me, cause I like to know where I'm ending. But it's just, it's just really interesting to hear and thank you for for speaking on that and parade, just like. Let's like move into that kind of that vibe. I think COVID hit everybody very hard in certain ways, right In isolation and all these things and coming out and seeing like a bunch of people, that that's like such a big influence and it seems like community families, like an extreme influence in your composition.
Speaker 2:It's become some yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know and is is that? Has that always been the case in your composing? I mean, I know when you're young you're composing about insects and stuff but like you know, as you kind of matured into your composition. Has it always been like your identity? Have you ever kind of drifted from that path?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean, it means it's. It's something that has evolved over time, and I think, what really put things into focus is having a child. Yeah, that'll do it, you know, because your life is not about you, you, you, you, you. Your life is about someone else, feeding that person and being responsible for that person. But also, you know, for me it's like this this humanist part comes into play, because you're wanting to make that world a better place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And so it becomes a bigger thing.
Speaker 1:I love that. All right, so we're going to transition here to the question question. We have a question round of of questions. I ask all my guests uh, so do you have any quotes that you live by or think of often? Oh my goodness, oh my goodness or sayings or any kind of inspirational things from lemons, you make lemonade I just had that conversation with somebody the other day.
Speaker 1:I thought they were. They were just like. I thought they said like just just making lemonade. I thought that's what they said and I was like that's a really good. I like that, you know. And they were like no, that's not what I said you know, it's like something completely different, but even from there, now it's like it. I feel like I want to just start saying that to people um is what is something you believe that other people think is crazy?
Speaker 2:um, that being a composer is a real job amen to that.
Speaker 1:What new belief or habit has most improved your life?
Speaker 2:Running.
Speaker 1:Oh nice.
Speaker 2:You know being in Santa Cruz has been great. I've been running along the ocean every morning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, on the west side, yeah, yeah, yeah. A musician I'm hosting has been doing runs on the west side and going up in the Redwoods and stuff. It's a place. This place is great for running. Um, who do you think of when you hear the word successful?
Speaker 2:Oh boy, Um, who do I think of so many people? But, um, one of my, uh, this composer I love, Kaya Sarayaho. Um, she was, she just passed away, but, uh, she was a big, she was a, you know, she just composed and she made a great impact with her composition. So I really greatly admire her.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:When you're overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Speaker 2:I take a walk. That's a beautiful answer.
Speaker 1:If you had to gift only one book to someone, what would that book be?
Speaker 2:Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. Letters to.
Speaker 1:Letters to a young poet by Rilke, what advice would you give yourself 10 years ago? Oh boy, um trust in your own instincts okay, what is something people often get wrong about you? Uh that I'm an asian submissive person and what is the worst advice you have ever received?
Speaker 2:um, oh boy, um oh boy. I was 19 and in the middle of a lecture recital and my mentor said well, you're going to have to choose Either you're going to have a successful career as a composer or you're going to have to have a lot of babies.
Speaker 1:What a horrible thing to say, jesus, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:And you have to choose between the two. Oh my gosh, I'm glad I didn't listen to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that's. That's a horrible thing to say. If you could put anything on a billboard, what would it say?
Speaker 2:Oh, Anything on a billboard? Um, hmm, the Cabrillo festival yes.
Speaker 1:Spoken like a true business person. Um, and like what, what influences, like musically, do you have? I mean, I'm just adding this one in because I'm just curious, Like you know, like is there any? Is there any surprising influences?
Speaker 2:I mean, I listened to a lot of different types of music.
Speaker 1:Oh, you got to be more specific.
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't know. I mean my husband. He's not a a musician, but he listens to a lot of metallica and yeah um heavy metal, and that for a time that was yeah yeah and um do you listen to that also?
Speaker 1:yeah, I do, I do listen to that.
Speaker 2:um, and actually there was a cambodian hard rock, uh metal band that I was kind of into for a while. Um, my son and I kind of listened to Rogers and Hammerstein and then he's been getting into like I don't, I don't like this, but video game music, and you know, there's these certain films that he likes, and so that's been getting into my head a little bit.
Speaker 1:That's so funny. You know, I interviewed Yvonne.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And one of his main influences were video game, music and, uh, my chemical romance like pop oh, yeah, yeah, yeah uh and so funny. Do you have anything that's like kind of surprising even to you, that like you'll compose or be influenced by that?
Speaker 2:is surprising. So um christy has been championing this piece a bit um. So I wrote this piece called earworms oh, I've heard.
Speaker 1:I haven't heard it, but I've seen. I'm curious about it so.
Speaker 2:So this the story goes is that you know, I julian my son, um was like two or three at the time, and his his favorite song was the whales on the bus yeah the wheels on the bus go round and round and um, it just was like, oh he, he needed it.
Speaker 2:All the time, you know, in the car, you know boy four going to bed and you know just whenever you know he would want this played. And it got to the point where I had to sit down to compose and all I could hear in my head was the wheels on the bus go round and round yeah and so I just said, okay, let's just use this. And so that became the catalyst for this piece, and it became like all the earworms that were floating in my head.
Speaker 1:I need to hear this piece. Is it anywhere where you can listen to it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:There's a video with Christy conducting.
Speaker 1:It's on YouTube, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's on my website, oh cool.
Speaker 1:Perfect, perfect. It's on YouTube. Yeah, oh man, it's on my website. Oh cool, Perfect Perfect man. That's amazing. That's a funny story. And then what does positive change in yourself and the world look like to you?
Speaker 2:Oh, positive changes. Let's hope we have a good president Come November.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 2:That's positive change for me. Just asking very little.
Speaker 1:Very little. I mean, I feel like we're in better waters than we were. It'll be an interesting election period, for sure, you know, yeah, okay, so here are the two silly questions.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, are you?
Speaker 1:ready, ready. They're not silly already. Um, here we go. What's your astrology sign and do you resonate with it?
Speaker 2:oh, I'm an aquarius uh-huh and yes, I do yeah yes, I'm a very much a night ideas person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know anything else about your astrology charts or anything?
Speaker 2:I don't know my charts. I haven't really been reading up on the horoscope but, it is an air sign that is like a water bearer.
Speaker 1:That's interesting right.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, Very, very interesting. I feel like I am embodying Mother Earth and trying to support the world.
Speaker 1:Right, you're holding water. It represents kind of like the spiritual right and it's like of it. You're like holding it. You're not being of it. Right which I think is really interesting. You know the water bearer. I always think that's very interesting.
Speaker 2:And then if you had a power animal, some kind of animal that inspires you or influence you, what would it be? Well, my Chinese zodiac sign is so it depends on which calendar you use, so like, if I'm in the Chinese lunar calendar, then I'm part rabbit and part tiger. But, I identify with the tiger a bit more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're like I'm a tiger. Yeah, absolutely, I love that. Why would you resonate with a tiger?
Speaker 2:Just the ferocity you have to be with your life in order to become a creative person, or be a creative person in this world yeah, it's the biggest cat.
Speaker 1:It's the biggest cat, all right, so this is your time to tell our audience anything like where can they find you? How can they listen to you? Any kind of selfless promotional stuff, like, whatever you want, words of wisdom yeah, like anything. Yeah, just let me know when you're done yeah, um.
Speaker 2:So please, uh, if you would like to listen to more of my music, then go to my website, which is vivianfungnet or vivianfungca, and I have a couple albums that are just out. One is called Insects and Machines, which is the jazz quartet performing my first four quartets, and there's also another album out that actually um has a number of Cabrillo composers on it. It's a new album, um by the trumpet player, mary Elizabeth Bowden.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:And it's called storyteller and it's, uh, trumpet concerti that she's commissioned. Um, and I'm my, my name is that she's commissioned, and mine is called Trumpet Concerto and Clarice Assad is also on the same album, and it's a good one, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, Vivian, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, this has been Speak for Change Podcast. I'm your host, thomas Sage Pedersen. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful day.