1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,720 Summertime, a Fantale's Quick Branch Switch. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,480 Summertime, a Fantale's Quick Branch Switch. 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:41,760 Sheri Grant. 4 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,640 Welcome back to another episode of the PianoPod. Here, tradition meets innovation. We bridge the 5 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:51,920 timeless beauty of the piano with the dynamic pulse of today's world. I am your host, Yukimi 6 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:58,160 Sang. By the way, the introduction you just heard was a haiku crafted by Sheri Grant, 7 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:05,440 a multifaceted artist hailing from Taiwan and now making waves in New Zealand as a concert pianist, 8 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:11,600 cellist, poet, and festival organizer who is our esteemed guest for today's episode. 9 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:19,680 Sheri will take us to the magical world of poetry with a special focus on the art of haiku. She'll 10 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:25,760 also share her insights into the intricate relationship between poetry and classical music, 11 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:32,160 offering a unique perspective on how these two forms of art converse with each other. 12 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:39,360 Later in the show, we'll be joined by a very special guest, Zoe Grant, Sheri's daughter, who 13 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:45,680 at the tender age of 10 is already showing remarkable talent as an artist. So stay tuned 14 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:53,760 for an episode filled with insight, inspiration, and incredible talent. So before we invite them, 15 00:01:53,760 --> 00:02:03,200 let me read short bios of our today's guests. As artistic director of four festivals since 2019, 16 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:10,400 Sheri has been actively performing both in New Zealand and overseas as a pianist, although she 17 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:16,800 was trained primarily as a cellist. Many composers have written music for Sheri to premiere since 18 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:24,480 2019. She is also the mother of four children who often perform in concerts with her. Sheri has 19 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:31,680 published poetry books, edited haiku and rengai journals, hosted online poetry gatherings, and 20 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:38,080 judged several haiku competitions. And with her youngest daughter, Zoe Grant, Sheri have appeared 21 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:45,920 in numerous interviews in five countries since 2021 with a goal of building the next golden age 22 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:51,360 where they will touch and inspire at least a billion people around the world with their 23 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:59,120 creativity. Sheri is currently planning the 2024 Vio Latino concert tour in South America, 24 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:06,960 Scrabbing 2025 festival, as well as Hill and Carr festival in 2026. Her events are generally 25 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:13,600 multidisciplinary where several art forms are combined. So here we are today to delve into 26 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:20,720 Sheri's fascinating journey as a pianist, cellist, and poet, exploring how her multifaceted career 27 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:28,160 has interwoven, fostering collaboration, and yielding exquisite creations. Before we dive in, 28 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:34,480 a warm welcome to new listeners and big thank you to our faithful TPP fans. Don't forget to rate and 29 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:42,080 review the show on your favorite podcast platform. I am thrilled to welcome Ms. Sheri Grant to start 30 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:52,320 our conversation. Please enjoy the show. You are listening to the Piano Pod where we talk to the 31 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,680 brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century. 32 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:06,880 So here we are with Taiwan born New Zealand concert pianist, cellist, poet, and festival organizer 33 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:13,840 Sheri Grant. Welcome Sheri. Thanks for being here today. Thanks for reminding me. We met through 34 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:21,200 Facebook, I think. And then I think you saw one of the posts I made about my previous guests. Was it 35 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:28,880 about Alison and Carlos Fransetti? I don't remember my previous guests. Yes. Do you know them or no? 36 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:36,560 Not so well. I just saw it just by chance. And then that's how we started our conversation. 37 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:43,920 And as we had the conversation, you told me you are also a poet. And I was like, so inspired 38 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:51,200 and impressed. Sheri, you are a touring musician and your musical career started as a cellist. 39 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:58,240 Then your love of music expanded to piano. And from what I read, you have always had a love for 40 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:04,960 languages, particularly in English. And you've picked up passion for poetry in recent years. 41 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:10,800 And passion is actually an understatement. You became a poet. I mean, not only did 42 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:18,400 you start writing poetry, but you know, how many poems did you publish? 43 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:27,600 I don't know how many published, but over 70 journals and anthologies in a very short time. 44 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:33,360 I've been writing for a bit over three years, maybe a fortune for now. And it's like, yeah, 45 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:40,960 I've written over 4000 poems. Oh, my goodness. Wow. That's quite impressive. So how in the world 46 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:46,960 did you decide to become a poet? I've always enjoyed reading poetry, but I didn't even know 47 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,400 I had this. It's almost like discovering one's superpower. But it's actually ever since after 48 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:59,840 the first lockdown. So I think COVID was bad, but not all bad. It's actually getting people to 49 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:05,040 actually calm down and actually maybe discover some extra things that they didn't know they could do 50 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:11,040 before. But you're already doing extra things like, you know, being a cellist and pianist. And 51 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:19,040 you also have four children, right? Yeah, four kids. Oh, wow. That's a lot. And then I hear your 52 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:25,280 children are also very musical and artistic. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, they play a different woodwind 53 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:31,360 instrument, even though I was actually dreaming of a string quartet, which fell through and they 54 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:39,200 turned into a woodwind quartet. Oh, wow. That's so, so cool. Do you ever play music with them? 55 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:44,400 Yeah. And we do a lot of online concerts. And sometimes I just say, yeah, come and play, 56 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:50,000 perform with me. Actually, there's one coming up in a few days at my house. We're going to do that 57 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:58,320 one hybrid fashion. So a composer friend of mine is coming visiting from China, but he's actually 58 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:05,120 a New Zealander and another clarinet player friend and we're joining force and playing just, 59 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:13,040 pretty much just works by this composer. His name is Rose Carey. Wonderful. Sounds like music is 60 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:19,200 really very much a big part of not only your life, but also your family's life. And music playing is 61 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:27,040 casually there. You know, it's not like a big effort. Or maybe, I don't know, you as a mom, 62 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:34,000 you have to sort of tell them how to play. It's the hard part. These days, I just like, 63 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,040 yeah, as long as you're prepared for your lessons, then we're all good. I'm actually, 64 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,560 I used to get them to do competitions a lot when they were younger. But now it's just like, yep, 65 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:50,000 yeah, you already know. And I actually went through the string instruments and piano as well, 66 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,480 but they all settled on the different woodwind instruments. So I'm not going to push them to 67 00:07:54,480 --> 00:08:00,000 try and learn too many instruments. But they're playing their instruments. That's awesome. 68 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:05,600 So before getting deeper into our conversation on your career, your new career as a poet, 69 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:11,120 in order for our listeners to understand your multifaceted career, I think our conversation 70 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:17,920 should start with your musical journey. So can you share it, how it all began? What connects these 71 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:24,320 diverse aspects of your career, like together? Yeah, so that's with my training when I was young. 72 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:31,040 So my parents sent me to these like a special school and all the way through to end of high 73 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:37,760 school. And then I actually, we just moved to New Zealand. And I was thinking, oh, no more music. 74 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:45,440 So in Taiwan, you had to do a lot of academic work. And on top of that music as well. And that's 75 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:51,120 like, yeah, it's a lot of pressure. But I moved to New Zealand, I thought, well, what can I do? 76 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:58,880 Back to music, I went so and I actually because we had to choose just one instrument, I used to 77 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:05,680 play two instruments, but not, yeah, not very well, I think, at the time. But yeah, I chose 78 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:11,440 cello because that well, you can join the orchestra and there's seem to be more opportunities for 79 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:18,800 chamber music. And it's just a little bit less lonely. Right. Oh, as a piano, I get it totally. 80 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:24,800 But are you like from a musical family? Like because you are creating a musical family with 81 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,680 yours children? Well, not all actually, my parents, they don't know how to play music. But 82 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:36,240 however, my dad, even though he couldn't actually play music himself, he was able to train like one 83 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:43,040 of the best, I think, marching bands, they always like wonder competitions in Taiwan. So I think 84 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:48,320 he's just like, he's got a musical year, even though he didn't have to train himself. And because 85 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:54,080 of that influence, I think I've been very comfortable as a pianist, as the accompanist, 86 00:09:54,080 --> 00:10:00,960 as the accompanist, or they call it like a piano, what collaborative pianist these days, 87 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:10,320 when was the time you realize, oh, I want to pursue piano, are you both active cellist and 88 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:17,200 pianist? cello is taking a bit more of a backseat because you have to spend time to practice like 89 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:24,320 every day. And a fact that I really don't like traveling around, especially overseas with the cello, 90 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:31,440 it's just too much hassle. Yeah. And actually, my cello had a little bit of we accidents coming back 91 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:38,720 from the UK once when yeah, when I was younger, and fingerboard just fell off because it was too dry. 92 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:45,680 After that, I just said no more. I'm going to become a pianist. So I don't have to travel with 93 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:52,160 the cello anymore. Or I actually got to borrow the cello sometimes when I was actually to solo 94 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:59,920 concerts in America a few years ago, two years ago, I was able to borrow some really nice cellos. 95 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:06,960 And I didn't want to return them at the end, but I had to. One of them was made in the 1700s. 96 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:14,800 The reason because you were able to shift to piano was because you had also training 97 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,160 in piano as almost like a secondary instrument as a child. 98 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:24,080 That was a requirement, but I was never very good at it because I think I was just so tense. It's 99 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,800 hard. Hard to actually, yeah, I can play fast, but not very well, I think. 100 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:35,120 So when was it like you decided to put more effort and focus on piano? 101 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:44,880 Actually, I started playing again at the start of 2019. As soon as the youngest kid turned five 102 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:51,600 and started school, I said, Oh, I'm free. I started doing all the planning, all these festivals and 103 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:58,800 concert tours. I did a tour in Wellington and Auckland, just around New Zealand with the 104 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:07,920 principal of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the principal violist, Robert Eshworth. 105 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:15,760 But before that, I played in the whole festival and invited my friend from the United States, 106 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:23,680 from New York City, principal violist from the Met to perform with me. That was my first time 107 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:29,040 coming back on stage. I performed with somebody, like a big shot. I was not. 108 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:35,440 Is that the 100 Years Journey concert tour in 2019? 109 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:41,600 Yeah, that was the second event. The first event was the War and Peace festival. 110 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:47,680 So that was actually my very first festival. That was the only in-person festival as well. 111 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:53,360 I actually put together an art exhibition and I shifted to like three places. I even did one 112 00:12:53,360 --> 00:13:02,560 in Wellington. There was arts and also poetry. I invited a lot of friends from Auckland, the poets. 113 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:10,880 You're already thinking to do sort of multidisciplinary collaboration, I guess, 114 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:17,840 not just the music, but inviting. In my first festival, I also had a really, 115 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:22,000 really diverse program. There was one concert that was now totally just jazz. 116 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,800 And there was one that's just for singers and one that was just string and just with wind. 117 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:33,040 And one of them was Chinese traditional instruments. And I performed in one of the 118 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:38,480 pieces as well. All sorts of Chinese traditional instruments. It's really amazing finding all 119 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:39,520 these locally. 120 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:47,920 Then also, you've done so many different projects, but one caught my eye was Child of the Sun, 121 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:54,880 a celebration of Catherine Mansfield in song, world premiere of works of New Zealand. 122 00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:00,960 So I know you have such a love for Catherine Mansfield, who also played a musical instrument, 123 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,760 but she was a writer. She was a poet, right? 124 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:08,160 Oh, not just poetry. I think she was more renowned for her short stories. 125 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:16,480 Oh, I see. Okay. Now we're going to dig deeper into her story, but tell us about this concert, 126 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:16,880 I guess. 127 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:23,840 Okay. That was the world premiere of new works. Actually, I ended up receiving 19 songs for 128 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:31,280 metal soprano and piano from 12 New Zealand composers. And that the whole project actually 129 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:37,600 took only about three months, about three months from the finish of, you know, like the 130 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:44,560 conception of the idea to the world premiere in Indonesian. So it's pretty amazing. I worked with 131 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:52,480 a really fine metal soprano. I think she's originally from America, maybe, Tessa Romano. 132 00:14:53,040 --> 00:15:00,720 And then the School of Music at the Otago University in Indonesian, they helped a lot 133 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:07,280 with the concert, promoting it. And we had a lot of interview and publicity around there 134 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,280 in Indonesian. I really liked the city. 135 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:15,280 I think you were showcasing the composers from your country, New Zealand, no? 136 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:15,520 Yeah. 137 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,000 Yeah. So can you introduce us to New Zealand composers? 138 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,800 There are so many, but they are pretty much unknown to the world. I think it's a real shame. 139 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:32,480 That's why I play concerts around, especially taking my, also my idea last year was 2023. 140 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:40,560 I designed a program called Catch-23. So instead of Catch-22, you had Catherine Mansfield in this 141 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:47,840 Catch-23 position. She was, yeah, she, well, actually her life was a little bit of a mess, 142 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,560 I think, her personal life, but her works was, yeah, amazing. 143 00:15:53,200 --> 00:16:01,920 So it was Catherine Mansfield themed. So you took her poetry or poems and then put music to 144 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,800 the, all the composers put music to it. So what it is? 145 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:10,480 Yeah, that was for Charles the Son, but for Catch-23 is really just showcasing composers 146 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,960 from Catherine Mansfield's time and also contemporary New Zealand composers. 147 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:22,400 So I chose 23 pieces and then I had multimedia presentation of New Zealand artworks 148 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:31,360 and paired with my own published Shofu poetry, mostly haiku, and along with the music. So each 149 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:38,080 piece I can just use my remote to change the slate. And everybody really, really enjoyed that. 150 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:44,480 They thought it was really quite interesting seeing that instead of just dozing off in. 151 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:53,120 You've been doing this really creative way of engaging audience, right? So like, it's not just 152 00:16:53,120 --> 00:17:00,480 this traditional way of performing, playing music and displaying this beautiful composition, but also 153 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:10,720 you're using art, visual art and presentation and plus a, you know, reading poetry to more engage 154 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:16,400 with your listeners, audience. I think that's how we inspire one another. 155 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:22,320 Just like, yeah, it's not just, they're all the same in principle. All the arts are the same. 156 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:28,640 Then just tell us a little bit more about the fest, because since you are a festival organizer, 157 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:35,280 so I'm curious about, you mentioned about war and peace arts and music festival 2019 and 158 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,800 you really have this love for viola. So it was like a collaboration with violists, 159 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,960 as you mentioned. Tell us why you love viola so much. You're a cellist, you're a pianist, 160 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,320 but you have this love for viola. Why is that? 161 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:56,080 When I was little, I always wanted to be a violinist because I thought, well, the repertoire I love 162 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:02,160 so much and there is such a huge repertoire to choose from. And then I only got to pick the 163 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:12,480 cello because I was too slow. And then carrying the cello is a major thing, right? It's really 164 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:19,600 quite difficult for a little kid. But later on, it was actually after my eldest child started 165 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:26,400 playing the viola and then I discovered how amazing the viola actually is. It's like combining the 166 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:32,240 violin and the cello and actually, but they only have like the mid range. 167 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:39,200 Let's talk about other festivals. Like you had Hindemith and Copeland International Music Festival 168 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:47,520 2021. That sounds interesting. And also you did the Scrabbing 150 in 2022. And you're also a 169 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:53,200 board member of Scrabbing Society of America, which I became a member of. I'm very proud. 170 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,680 I'm so glad you joined us. 171 00:18:55,680 --> 00:19:01,200 Yes, I did. Anyway, so let's start with the Hindemith and Copeland International Music 172 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,880 Festival. What was it all about? Obviously it was about Hindemith and Copeland, but... 173 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:11,120 Actually, not just about them. It was more about their pupils. So I was showcasing. Actually, 174 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:16,480 I did that whole festival online and not a lot of people joined in, but that's okay because that was 175 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:22,400 my first tent of doing an online festival. And that was actually during an Auckland lockdown. 176 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:29,920 So I couldn't go anywhere. So I had to do the whole thing online. And yeah, just like... 177 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:35,200 So I had to do a lot of research and then finding out who the pupils were. I actually did a few 178 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:46,160 interviews as well. And I invited Festival Patron, a very famous composer, also the pupil of both 179 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:55,440 of the composers, Mr. Samuel Edler to be the Festival Patron. And he accepted that and did 180 00:19:55,440 --> 00:20:00,480 an interview with me. I think it was the second time I ever interviewed anyone. That was with 181 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:07,440 Mr. Edler. And I'm actually going to try and do another festival for him later on. 182 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:14,160 Great. And then Scrabbing 150. Tell us what this festival is about. Obviously about Scrabbing. 183 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:24,080 That was actually Scrabbing's 150th birthday. So that was two years ago in 2022. And then I 184 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:30,080 thought, wow, that's very important. He's my favourite composer ever. And I just really wanted 185 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:36,400 to celebrate him. And actually, I wanted to be able to learn all his pieces. And actually, 186 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:43,200 just before the festival, I curated, I played 40 Scrabbing pieces online in a concert. And that 187 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:48,320 was the best attended concert I've ever had. Probably because my host was quite famous. And 188 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:57,200 I had 15.4k people actually listening online. My goodness. You said your husband is famous? 189 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:03,920 No, no, no, the host. Oh, your host. Oh, I see. They're not concepts. And I think maybe on the 190 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:11,360 metaverse, or maybe she's doing something to do with that. So I think there are a lot of people, 191 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:19,760 Kim. And yeah, became curious. And I'm just happy to be pushing Scrabbing music out to anybody in 192 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:24,560 the world. You don't have to be a musician to be able to appreciate his music. It's just like 193 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:30,400 really magical. I listen to his music all the time, every day. I can kind of understand because 194 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:39,600 you're a poet and his compositions are known for poetic. So I'm sure you have so much really 195 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:45,920 relate to his music. No? Yeah, yeah, I have actually found that a lot of people that I 196 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:52,000 tried to showcase, they end up being all my favorite composers or people that are like musicians 197 00:21:52,000 --> 00:22:00,080 and poets, or philosophers. So it's all connected somehow. So once again, your love for Katherine 198 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:06,160 Mansfield went into this festival, International Katherine Mansfield. That was last year. That was 199 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:14,480 her centenary. So she died 100 years ago. Yeah, I see. Okay, so let's discuss who this woman was. 200 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:20,400 Who was Katherine Mansfield? She was originally from New Zealand, actually. That's also part of 201 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:26,880 the reason I wanted to celebrate her. Because some people I've spoke to didn't realize she was even 202 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:33,120 a New Zealander. But of course, I think earlier on, people were kids here, school kids, they were 203 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:41,920 required to read her works. Maybe not so much, not so much like that these days. But yeah, her short 204 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:49,040 stories are extraordinary. But what I love even more are her actually her like letters and journals. 205 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:55,360 And I've actually written a book I can quickly show you here called Bean Katherine. So my first 206 00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:02,400 book, I dedicated 100 poems to her. And this is half of the 50 poems in here I wrote in 50 days. 207 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:09,920 That's the compilation of poems, right? About Katherine Mansfield. Yeah. Oh, wow. So it's just 208 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:15,920 mostly actually inspired by her. Well, it's not just poetry, some of them by her poetry and some 209 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:23,360 of them, most of a lot of them actually by her letters. She was so sincere, I think. And quite, 210 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:30,800 yeah, she's got a sense of humor. And she's very observant of everything. And but she had a very 211 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:39,840 short life. She died at 34. Who was this woman to you? What's the strong connection? And not only 212 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:47,280 she was a writer, but also she played a musical instrument. I think I really identify with her 213 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:52,800 because she was like, raised racing one country and she really wanted to go out to another country. 214 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:58,160 And then she just didn't want to be in New Zealand. She's always like, not much happening and 215 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:05,680 that here and she really wanted to be in Europe to kind of just study and then maybe her talent 216 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:11,280 actually shifted to writing later on because I believe that her parents thought she was not very 217 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:17,360 good. And they didn't want her to be just a second second rate cellist in the end. And I thought, 218 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:23,440 wow, my parents are so bad at the same. Yeah, I complained at some point. They say, well, why are 219 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,880 you still playing music? You just need you're just a mom. You need to take care of the kids. 220 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:33,280 But I think I want to show them that I can do this. I can do all these things, 221 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:41,040 even though I'm a mom as well. I want to read her works. Also, I'm curious to read your book. 222 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,600 What's the title of the book again? Being Catherine? That's being Catherine. I still 223 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:51,040 I'm yet to put it on Amazon, but it's not quite available overseas just yet. But I will try and 224 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:56,160 make that happen soon. Oh, yeah, that would be wonderful. I would love to read it. The purpose 225 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:01,600 of this book is to pick people's interest to actually go and read her works because these 226 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:06,880 were inspired by her and tells a little bit of her story. It jumps from place to place. Yeah. 227 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:13,280 You decided to do this big festival. So what what's the inspiration? What inspired to do it? 228 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:20,160 Oh, because I just feel so important. It's like, yeah, normally you need a whole team 229 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:27,040 of people and maybe to promote and to do everything. But I'm the person who wants to do everything, 230 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:33,920 I guess. I made it my mission to actually promote her and actually New Zealand along with it. 231 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,720 So I guess I'm the self appointed cultural ambassador for New Zealand somehow. 232 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:47,360 I made all the Catch-23 concerts free last year so that people get to listen to New Zealand music. 233 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:53,760 From your rich background as a classical musician to your recent exploration into poetry, 234 00:25:53,760 --> 00:26:00,480 how do you find the creative process of music and poetry intertwined? And how has this transition, 235 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:06,000 you know, from being a musician and you're still a musician, but into a poet influenced 236 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:13,760 your perspective on your musical career? I find a lot of similarity like play music, 237 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:19,680 especially like chamber music, because I've always been more of a collaborative pianist and 238 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:26,560 chamber musician until 2022 when I actually played my first solo recital because somebody 239 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:32,560 suggested that I should play solo. Why should I just be playing chamber music? So that was actually 240 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:40,560 I started playing solo piano only since 2022. And yeah, why I'm saying that it's very similar is 241 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:46,320 that I'm really into writing rengué, which is like a short form, a more modern kind of 242 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:54,560 renkuu, the Japanese renkuu. It's like a series of only the rengué only has six verses of haiku. 243 00:26:54,560 --> 00:27:00,960 And it's like writing with a group of friends, usually it's two people. So back and forth, 244 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:11,600 back and forth, I actually got invited to give a workshop and a presentation at 2021, I think 2021. 245 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:19,120 Yeah. Sorry, the Haiku Society of America, the president actually found out that I was writing 246 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:28,000 haiku, rengué. That was only maybe one week into my, yeah, after I've written my first rengué, 247 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:34,640 but somehow they just invited me to give a workshop. And I think maybe almost 200 people attended 248 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:43,680 online. So I knew not very much about rengué at the time, but very quickly, I had less than two 249 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:49,200 months, maybe a month and a half, I quickly invited a lot of people, I probably invited 50 people to 250 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:56,640 write rengué with me. And quite often I wrote multiple ones, multiple poems with different people 251 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,760 at the same time. So it was really fun. It's like playing chamber music, right? Going back and forth 252 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,560 really quickly, you have to read your music and you have to express it, you have to match. And yeah, 253 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:13,600 it's so much fun. I highly recommend it. So now that you talked about rengué and everything, 254 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:21,200 so I would love to learn a lot from you today about haiku. Although, you know, I am a Japanese 255 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:28,880 native, I'm Korean, my grandparents are Koreans. And then, you know, I was raised as a Korean, 256 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:36,400 but obviously I was born and raised and educated in Japan. So I learned about haiku and then tanca. 257 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:42,560 And, but honestly, I wasn't really interested at the time. And then I was more obsessed about, 258 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,640 you know, English. So I have to learn from you. So at the beginning of our conversation, 259 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:52,560 you told us briefly how you became a poet in recent years. And but what exactly is the tipping 260 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:58,640 point that you immersed into this art form? Oh, that was straight after the very first lockdown 261 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:05,520 in New Zealand. And we just came out of lockdown. And I guess I had some ideas, but it was not clear. 262 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:10,480 And one day I was just thinking, well, it felt really, I had this urgency, I really, 263 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:16,640 really need to write this down. And I wrote my first ever poem. And it's Yeah, hold on. That's, 264 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:21,440 I think it's called darkness of the night or something. And then after that, and within the 265 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:28,080 next five days, or no, actually, maybe five days, I wrote, I don't know, at least five more poems. 266 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:33,840 And I can't remember the exact number. And I thought, actually, I feel like this is what 267 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:39,520 another way of expressing myself apart from like being a musician. And my English is sort of good 268 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:48,160 enough to do that. So I actually got to know I got to know another haiku poet in New Zealand. She's 269 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:54,960 also she was an editor of a journal. And then I just did like email correspondence with her. And 270 00:29:54,960 --> 00:30:01,680 she sort of just very gently told me about this form and that form. And there's some journalists 271 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:06,480 this competition that you should try out. And then there was really nice. Yeah, her name is 272 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:13,120 Patricia prime. And I really great for us just like a great mentor to me. It's really the 273 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:21,440 mentorship or somebody that you meet who changes your life. My youngest daughter Zoe, she does that 274 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:28,560 with me. So we host a lot of like haiku. Actually, ring a gathering internationally. We do it 275 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:34,480 regularly. This is the third year. And yeah, I think not all maybe we've been doing it since 2021. 276 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:42,080 Yeah. You know, I actually started really liking reading poetry. But it happened, 277 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:49,520 like in my adulthood, and I was on the New York City subway. And then there was like a poetry 278 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:55,040 like posted on the subway car. And all of a sudden, I just felt this emotions, right? As I was 279 00:30:55,040 --> 00:31:02,080 reading. And it just, I don't know, it's almost like, like, like listening to music. And then, 280 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:08,800 you know, this hits me, right? And people told me when they came to my kitchen, these three 281 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:13,760 concerts is that, well, you look at just three lines, but it makes you think so much. And it 282 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:20,400 makes you think about your own experience and how that just resonates with you. I think that poetry 283 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:26,640 is really powerful, especially haiku, but haiku is just another form. Right. So speaking of that, 284 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:35,120 so you you write haiku and then you also write rengai and then other forms too. So, and then you 285 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:44,480 also created this form nonaku. Yeah, nonaku. Okay. I know haiku, but for those who are still like, 286 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:52,320 you know, trying to figure out the differences. So what's haiku? Haiku is a traditional Japanese 287 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:59,440 form of shōfōn poetry. In Japanese, it's actually not written in, I think traditionally it was just 288 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:05,920 in one line, but then people know where to divide it into sort of three sections. So it's actually 289 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:11,440 three lines. And the modern haiku, unlike the traditional one, actually works better in Japanese, 290 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:19,120 but not so well in other languages. It's in five, seven, five syllables for each line, but it doesn't 291 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:26,720 apply in English, especially like it just feels so long if you try and fill it out. So maybe, maybe 292 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:35,920 you get more four or four, six, four. It's not really set. So we are these days for modern haiku, 293 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:42,000 we just say short, long, short is like the standard, but you can also break that. And you actually, 294 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:47,200 in haiku, you don't even have to be in three lines. I think from one line to four lines, 295 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:53,920 you can all qualify as haiku. So there's no set like numbers of like syllables. 296 00:32:54,800 --> 00:33:00,880 I think that's the thing that's actually making it really stiff. I see, because in Japanese, 297 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:07,680 I think it was very strict, has to be five, seven, five. Yeah. And I think that really puts people 298 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:13,040 off. Now it's just a lot more flexible. I think in Japanese actually works really well for five, 299 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:19,760 seven, five. But in English, it just feels so long. A lot of modern haiku and you just can't 300 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:25,360 spend a very long spender one. It's still taught that way around the world. People still say haiku 301 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:31,360 is five, seven, five. But now it's the journal. We're actually, Zoe and I, we're journal editors. 302 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:36,320 And we just say, well, we don't mind if you want to send us five, seven, five. We'll still look at 303 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:43,600 it. They were very accepted too. Wow. Now, also I, there is a variation of haiku, longer version. 304 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:50,720 It's called tanka that I remember five, seven, five, seven, seven in syllables. In English, 305 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:57,440 we just do like a short, long, short, long, long. I wrote some tanka that actually got accepted in 306 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:03,280 journals as well, but less often because that has actually quite different. It's very emotional. 307 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:09,600 Do you have like a haiku that you can read? Sure. I have a, it's actually just a one line haiku 308 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:17,280 here. It's actually somewhat music related. It was published at the Cold Moon journal in November, 309 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:23,120 2021. It's very short. It's called, it's just in one line. A kettle's memory, perfect pitch. 310 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:31,040 I'll read that again. A kettle's memory, perfect pitch. So the kettle, if you use session one, 311 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:38,640 it kind of blows a note, but it remembers the same note. You said that's nonaku? Monoku, 312 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:45,680 monoku, just a stitch. So it's just one line. I really like monoku because unlike in three lines, 313 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:53,280 everything's kind of clear, but in one line, there are so many possibilities. Like if you divide, 314 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:59,840 put, group these words together, and then that part are, you just like, if you put like a comma 315 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:07,840 somewhere else, it becomes a different meaning. So sometimes it's like that. So it's, yeah, haiku 316 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:13,120 sounds so much potential. At first, when I started reading haiku and trying to write, I was very 317 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:20,160 descriptive. And I was just thinking, well, what's so, it's only like some, so few words. What can 318 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:25,920 you say with so few words? And when people be sort of starting to repeat other people's ideas, but 319 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:32,960 no, the more you dive into it, the more you find. And yeah, and then you can actually tell 320 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:38,960 that really good haiku, why are they good? They're actually, they can be very emotional, 321 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:44,720 and it just hits you, right? And not so good haiku that you can also tell. 322 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:52,480 It's a really difficult art. Okay, now, do you have any example of rengai? 323 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:56,880 Renge, maybe best read with Zoe. 324 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:02,320 Okay, so let's invite Zoe. Hi, Zoe. Hi, how are you? 325 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:04,000 Good. 326 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:10,160 Great. Thank you so much for being here. I know you had school and then you got out of school early 327 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:18,000 just for this, and I appreciate you. And Zoe is already a professional poet, and also she is quite 328 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:26,160 an artist. You drew pictures for the book, The Bat Girl, right? Yeah. And so many other things, 329 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:31,200 and you also collaborated with your mom already. Oh yeah, that's the book. Yes. So we're going to 330 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:39,040 talk about that book. But before that, let's do the rengai session. So can you guys read that rengai 331 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:48,480 poetry? This is possibly the first rengai by me and Zoe that got published, I think. So it was 332 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:56,320 published at Failed Haiku Issues 71, November 2021. It's called Failed Haiku because it was actually 333 00:36:56,320 --> 00:37:04,720 just taking sendu. Sendu is a different type. Haiku is mostly about the nature, so not so, 334 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:12,000 but sendu is more humorous and it's about people more. So it's a different focus. So that's why 335 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:19,280 it's called Failed Haiku because it's not haiku anymore. Okay, so this one is called Encore. 336 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:29,440 Fashion week. All the rodents out for a catwalk. Little ballerinas. Too much makeup on. 337 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:38,080 Encore. They shout. He just wants to go home. Speech night. Forgetting what to say next. 338 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:45,200 Paparazzi. A dog comes sniffing. New movie. I write my doll's script. 339 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:54,880 So the main thing for people to do in a rengai is you have to link and shift. So you kind of get 340 00:37:54,880 --> 00:38:02,000 inspired by something in the first verse and then first haiku and then the next person needs to take 341 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:09,120 that and kind of, yeah, write something starting from that, but then going away from it as well. 342 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:14,960 So it's got so much possibility. Yeah. You never know what's going to happen next. 343 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:21,920 Yeah, this just blows my mind. But is it, so you were going back and forth between you and then Zoe. 344 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:29,520 So you both wrote it. The line that you read is written by Sherry and then the line. So it was, 345 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:34,320 oh wow, is that how it works? Yeah, back and forth. It's a lot of fun, but you can also have, 346 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:39,760 because it's six verses, you can even write solo rengai by yourself, which is not as much fun, 347 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:45,280 by the way. But the standard is two people, but you can also have three people writing two 348 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:50,560 two verses each, but also taking turns. And then you can also have a six people version, 349 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:56,400 which is just like each person contribute one. So it's, I think it's this highly social thing to do. 350 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:03,280 It's really a lot of fun. And then you can improvise. Oh yeah. Improvise. Wow. It's totally 351 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:10,240 about improvising. I can write very fast. Sometimes I can finish a rengai maybe within 20, 352 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:16,640 30 minutes with friends, just online. We've been doing a lot online and sometimes I do multi rengai. 353 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:22,880 It's like I do with a lot of people or the same person, but we write say, well, if somebody gives 354 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:29,040 me six or 10 starting verses, I probably reply to all of them. They're all different. And then 355 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:35,680 we just carry on. And then we end up with like 10 rengai at the end of the exercise. And then we're 356 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:40,320 just, yeah, we just send them off to different journals. And then sometimes the journalists 357 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:45,600 take them. That's really great. And then Zoe and I, we actually started our own rengai 358 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:52,880 journal called Raining Renge. So this is the issue one we started last year. 359 00:39:52,880 --> 00:40:00,160 Wow. What is that? Yeah. A lot of people submitted from around the world and it's just a whole bunch 360 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:07,360 of maybe over 20 rengais. And there was an essay. I wrote an essay as well. Renge has got a history 361 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:15,680 of about 30, 31. I think it's about 31 or nearly 32 years old now. It was made by my friend, 362 00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:24,240 Gary Gay. And we host these sessions twice a year to invite, well, we invite guest speakers to come 363 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:30,640 in and talk about haiku or rengai or anything. Haiku is short form poetry related. And then 364 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:37,200 we write together and we've been getting, because it's certainly about 20 people, 20 to 30 people 365 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:43,520 each session. And we run two sessions each time we do it. We do it twice a year. It's called 366 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:48,640 International Renge Gathering. It's quite popular. We've done five of those. I think the sixth one's 367 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:56,000 coming up this April. I'm looking forward to that. Wow. It's like a totally jam, right? Like an 368 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:03,520 improved jam. Yeah, jamming with people except with words. Jam sessions. And then at the end of it, 369 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:09,840 you have a product. You can send it to journals and all. I just say, just send it to us, to Renge 370 00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:16,080 Renge and we can publish it. Oh my goodness. I don't think I can ever do that. My mind is 371 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:23,440 mind blowing. But Zoe, this is incredible. How do you like doing this? It's very fun. 372 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:29,440 Yeah. And then have you been writing your own poems and everything since you were a little, 373 00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:37,360 little kid? Yeah, since 2020. Since 2020. Wow. That's like four years ago. So yeah. 374 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:45,840 She was six years old. That's when we actually wrote Batgirl. So it was like maybe five or six 375 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:52,400 months work with her. These were actually particularly poems that I wrote with her or 376 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:59,680 inspired by her. Is it okay if she reads one of them? Yes, please. It's raining cats and dogs. 377 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:06,960 It all started with a single dark cloud. This cloud feeling lonely invited friends over for 378 00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:12,960 a party. In their drunken uproar, the clouds started fighting. They began throwing cats and 379 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:20,800 dogs at each other. After hurling thunder and lightning, little Zoe, who never had a pet, 380 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:27,600 came outside with a great big box, collected raindrops filled with cats and dogs. The next 381 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:34,720 day she put up a sign which said, pets for sale with free ginger ale. Many customers queued up. 382 00:42:34,720 --> 00:42:40,960 So the next time when it pours, I wonder what other animals will drop from the sky. 383 00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:49,520 Perhaps goldfish or sheep I get to bring home and keep. So we were kind of exploring the rhyming at 384 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:57,040 the time and she did this great picture for it too. So that was her, Zoe, trying to collect 385 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:04,000 cats and dogs in the raindrops. I don't know if you can see. Wow, beautiful. Thank you so much 386 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:10,800 for reading. Wow. It just comes from your heart, your impression about the storm, the rain. 387 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:18,000 I can almost hear the music. It was actually inspired by a song, right? You had to learn at 388 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:23,440 school. There was kind of on and off. We had a lot of lockdowns, but that was in between lockdowns, 389 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:28,480 I think. And it was also called it's raining cats and dogs. And then we saw, oh, okay, we can use 390 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:33,840 this. And then we write a poem about it, inspired by it. Yeah, it has nothing to do with the song 391 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:40,720 anymore. But we just made our own versions. That's actually all what my poems were about. I take one 392 00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:47,440 thing and turn it into something else. So I see an artwork and then I feel inspired by it. And I write 393 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:55,600 some poem inspired by that. Or even it can be news from the day. But I can really sense that 394 00:43:55,600 --> 00:44:03,120 vibe from you. Like, that's why you have such a multifaceted career. You take one instrument 395 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:10,480 and that inspired to go to the next and so forth. And so, Zoe, are you still writing poetry? 396 00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:19,760 Not so much anymore. But I do still do it. Okay. And then do you still like drawing? I know you 397 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:27,520 drew a lot of drawings in the book, Batgirl and then also maybe other books as well. Yeah. 398 00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:33,920 And then are you still playing? You're playing musical instrument, which one? I'm playing the 399 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:41,840 flute. Wonderful. Zoe's actually been involved with a lot of these festivals with me, maybe since 400 00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:50,880 the Square, I've been here for 50, 2022. She read 250 short form poems, mostly haiku, during the three 401 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:58,720 days. We did a lot of recording. So she was very patient. I had to make all the selections. It was 402 00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:05,360 about sound and music. So I was looking everywhere online and journals and things. And then the 403 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:12,560 hard part was getting all the permissions from poets, all 250 of them. And then Zoe recorded them. 404 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:20,880 Wow, that's great. Hey there, TPP family. The Piano Pod is now into our fourth season, 405 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:27,920 and it's all thanks to you. Since 2020, you've been with my journey with the TPP, exploring this 406 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:33,680 burning question. How do we make classical music resonate with today's audience in fresh and 407 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:40,320 captivating ways? Four years in, and the journey has been nothing short of magical. The Piano Pod isn't 408 00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:47,120 just a podcast, it's a movement, a space where pianists, composers and educators brainstorm, 409 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:53,840 debate and reimagine classical music's place in our fast paced world. We're together on a mission 410 00:45:53,840 --> 00:46:00,640 to ensure classical music doesn't just survive, but thrives in our modern age. But here's the thing, 411 00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:06,960 to keep bringing you these insightful bi-weekly episodes, I need your help. Every bit of support 412 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:13,600 goes into the podcast essentials, from hosting to high quality recording tech, and the countless 413 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:19,440 hours behind the scenes. So do you want to be part of this journey? Click the PayPal link in the show 414 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:27,040 notes or head to the pianopod.com to donate. And as a token of appreciation, I will personally mail 415 00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:34,720 you the Piano Pod's snazzy logo sticker. So hit the subscribe button, spread the word, and let's 416 00:46:34,720 --> 00:46:40,080 continue our mission and journey as classical musicians. Now let's continue with the show. 417 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:47,760 Yeah, let's talk about what's next for you guys. So I've done Screa, I've done Katherine Mansfield, 418 00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:56,480 Hindemith and Copland. Next is back to Screa, but actually this year I was going, I was planning to 419 00:46:56,480 --> 00:47:02,320 have a festival as well, but then I thought, well maybe it's a good time to have a break from 420 00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:11,200 festivals because I'm also planning a concert tour to South America. So in 2022 I toured Canada 421 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:17,760 and America. In 2023 I toured Asia, so that was Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Taiwan I only had 422 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:23,760 one week, I was like 20 years I haven't been back to Taiwan, one week, three concerts in three cities, 423 00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:29,440 so that was a whirlwind. And then this year is going to be South America, maybe three countries. 424 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:38,080 So it's always like after the international viola congress, I go off and do a tour afterwards. So 425 00:47:38,080 --> 00:47:44,880 this time I'm actually collaborating with a violist from the Netherlands, his name is Emelien Stem, 426 00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:52,480 and yeah we're just going to play 10 new works by 10 composers originally from South America, 427 00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:58,960 but all living overseas. So it's got a theme of like diaspora, so it's called viola-tino, 428 00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:09,040 viola-tino, and yeah, but at the same time we're going to try and showcase poetry, very short, 429 00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:18,560 not haiku, but shorter poems by poets from those countries and also artworks. So I'm still 430 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:25,840 organizing that because there's a lot of permissions to get, people don't always reply, so I just send 431 00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:30,960 out so many. Right, and then also you mentioned that you are trying to build a cultural bridge 432 00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:36,880 between Australia and New Zealand. Yeah, that was supposed to be this year's festival because I want 433 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:45,520 to celebrate the New Zealand composer, New Zealand and Australian composer Alfred Hill, and maybe his 434 00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:52,640 155th birthday this year, but it doesn't matter, and also the number doesn't matter so much. I was 435 00:48:52,640 --> 00:48:57,360 just thinking, well it's time for people to recognize this composer because he's not really 436 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:04,160 recognized very much anywhere, but then I thought, well maybe I need a little bit more time because I 437 00:49:04,160 --> 00:49:11,360 want to build that bridge and I've got this project also, it's called Dialogues Down Under, 438 00:49:11,360 --> 00:49:18,000 so I want to try and get, invite New Zealand composers to write for Australian, maybe youth 439 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:23,760 ensembles, and then vice versa, so Australian composers to write for New Zealand ensembles, 440 00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:31,200 and all our choirs, so concert bands or brass bands, you know, it can be any configuration, 441 00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:35,760 but I think that would be really fun to build that bridge and getting, you know, the Sydney 442 00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:42,720 Conservatorium, maybe to work with New Zealand School of Music, that sort of thing, and I also 443 00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:48,880 want to put on like maybe like Alfred Hill International String Quartet Competition, 444 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:54,160 but that requires time and funding, which I'm going to try and find, so I think I need an extra 445 00:49:54,800 --> 00:50:01,120 two years to try and, yeah, secure that, hopefully, and I'm still a team of one, pretty much. 446 00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:08,160 I have some advisors and Festival Petrol, but I think it's about time I start building a team 447 00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:15,680 to try and do different works, because I am the organizer, I'm the performer, I'm also the promoter, 448 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:18,080 all sorts of things, yeah. 449 00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:26,880 So Zoe, what do you think of your mom? Your mom is a power woman, she has such, she's a source of power, no? 450 00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:36,400 Yeah, but next year I'm going to see if I can get back to performing in America, and because I want 451 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:44,240 to celebrate Screabin's 110th, yeah, since he died, I think we should celebrate that, and I would 452 00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:52,800 really, really like to see International Piano Competition for Screabin happening, maybe the 453 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:59,200 first one ever in America next year, if that's possible, I want to try and organize that, and 454 00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:06,400 maybe I see a lot of, maybe new works inspired by Screabin, or a bit of crossover, maybe jazz 455 00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:13,680 people, I actually incorporated a little bit of jazz, there was one lecture about Screabin and jazz, 456 00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:22,080 but if you play Screabin's music in a jazz fashion and vice versa, so yeah, that's a lot of fun, and 457 00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:29,120 maybe get some transcriptions going on, getting other instrumentalists, then pianists to know 458 00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:38,160 Screabin somehow, yeah, that would be my goal, and maybe if I can, I want to find alliances from 459 00:51:38,160 --> 00:51:46,720 around the world, I want to build a Screabin empire, so, well, I think there's a Screabin 460 00:51:46,720 --> 00:51:54,320 Association in the UK, and there's one called Screabin Club in Netherlands, and there's 461 00:51:54,320 --> 00:52:00,320 potentially also one in Croatia, I don't know if it's still active, and the one in America's 462 00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:05,920 actually just revived two years ago, when we did that festival, we revived it at the same time, 463 00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:13,120 it's always been inactive for maybe over 10 years at that time, and I want to build one, especially 464 00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:19,280 for New Zealand, Australia, and Asia, but this time, if I'm going to South America, I might talk 465 00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:26,320 to the pianists there and composers there and see if they want to do something about building a 466 00:52:26,320 --> 00:52:33,040 Screabin society there too. Oh wow, amazing, wonderful, well, you know, when you're, you 467 00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:38,160 come to the United States, just if you're in a New York City area, just let me know. 468 00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:46,320 I really appreciate my friend Joel Petridge, because he was the host for my very first solo 469 00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:53,360 piano concert recital at the Clavier House. Oh yeah, Clavier House. And actually, I'm dedicating 470 00:52:53,360 --> 00:53:01,360 this 2025 Screabin Festival to his memory, I guess, and hopefully, yeah, he'll remember it. 471 00:53:01,360 --> 00:53:10,400 Yeah, he passed away last year. Yeah, I guess, Mr. Project of Scarlatti, the only Scarlatti 472 00:53:10,400 --> 00:53:19,360 555, you can imagine what that's going to be about. So Scarlatti 555 now, because I think it's time 473 00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:28,560 to, yeah, for people to look at his music again, and I want to see if I can find 555 pianists or 474 00:53:28,560 --> 00:53:35,200 harpsichordists to participate in this project. You know, videos from around the world, 475 00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:42,720 and each person doing a different keyboard sonata by Scarlatti, and I'm pairing it with Scraabin 476 00:53:42,720 --> 00:53:50,000 just because the last name starts with the same two letters. Tell me about your 100th 477 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:59,360 day challenge or something. Yep, yep, yep. So recently I was down with COVID, unfortunately, 478 00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:06,160 but the nice thing that came out of it is I started writing a reading place with, well, 479 00:54:06,160 --> 00:54:12,160 with the writing place in mind, maybe at the end of this exercise. So I've said myself, 480 00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:18,960 well, in the next 100 days, I am going to read 100 plays, but you know, plays that are 481 00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:29,280 range from, say, 50 pages to the longest one I've seen, maybe 150 page thereabouts. So I aim to do 482 00:54:29,280 --> 00:54:36,480 one a day. So if I don't, I have to catch up somehow. And I'm actually on target. Today is 483 00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:43,440 day 15, and I'm about to start reading my 15th play, and it's really amazing. I mean, I was 484 00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:50,080 doing poetry before, but I mean, there is a limitation because only very, very short space, 485 00:54:50,080 --> 00:54:56,720 you probably don't have enough space where it's to express everything. But I think in the play, 486 00:54:56,720 --> 00:55:02,160 you can even talk about your hopes, your philosophy, and a lot of things can go in there. 487 00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:07,760 I really appreciate this exercise. And this is not like set by a school or teacher, 488 00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:13,200 let's say by myself, a challenge to myself. I want to see if I can do this and at the end, 489 00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:18,240 maybe write a play and people are looking forward to it. So I share my progress on Facebook every 490 00:55:18,240 --> 00:55:24,080 day. So we're coming toward the end of this conversation. But speaking of philosophy, 491 00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:30,800 you mentioned, so I have like one or two philosophical questions. So one is, in the 492 00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:37,600 era of this dominated by popular music, what are your thoughts on maintaining the relevance of 493 00:55:37,600 --> 00:55:43,920 classical music and ensuring the thriving of the industry? I was thinking a bit of a fusion is 494 00:55:43,920 --> 00:55:51,440 actually not a bad idea and introducing it to a younger crowd. But how to actually make it 495 00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:57,920 interesting is the I think it's the hard part. So maybe getting the young kids to promote them 496 00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:03,440 themselves. So that's why I get my kids to actually perform and maybe it's going to be 497 00:56:03,440 --> 00:56:10,400 a little bit more appealing for the kids to see the kids performing, but not because they are 498 00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:20,080 pushed to perform in the setting of like, say, a competition. This is we're doing it for fun. I 499 00:56:20,080 --> 00:56:26,400 think we have forgotten a lot about like playing music for fun. That's why I really want to be 500 00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:33,280 that's why I really bring us back to the next actually the next golden age, which is about, 501 00:56:33,280 --> 00:56:38,320 you know, there's like a lot of people inspiring one another. They're all different disciplines. 502 00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:44,960 So it could be a poet or musician, then painter or all sorts of philosophers. They're all in the 503 00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:50,320 house or at a cafe and they're all talking and they're just, yeah, getting ideas from 504 00:56:50,320 --> 00:56:55,440 from another person. I think it's really essential. So I'm doing house concerts now. 505 00:56:55,440 --> 00:57:02,800 And with my kids and my friends and I'm hoping that, yeah, when the arts intersect, we're just, 506 00:57:02,800 --> 00:57:05,040 yeah, I think there'll be magic. 507 00:57:06,080 --> 00:57:13,600 All right. And then one more. What is your thought on our duty or gift as classical musicians to 508 00:57:13,600 --> 00:57:14,400 society? 509 00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:23,840 So what do you think? I think just we can use our music to touch them, because at the end of my 510 00:57:23,840 --> 00:57:29,520 at the end of my concerts and even just online ones, I had feedback from my audience saying, 511 00:57:29,520 --> 00:57:37,760 wow, this is like, yeah, I felt so touched or moved by this. Yeah, I enjoyed this better than 512 00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:45,040 like big, you know, famous pianists who felt so distant. So I think we really what we should do 513 00:57:45,040 --> 00:57:53,840 is to bring it ourselves closer. We're not like, like a glorious, you know, famous musician up 514 00:57:53,840 --> 00:58:01,840 there, like not approachable. I think that the thing I like about, say, the haiku circle 515 00:58:01,840 --> 00:58:06,160 and the violists is like, they're all very easygoing and approachable people. 516 00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:11,040 There's no such thing as like, I'm so famous, I'm not going to talk to you. Yeah, yeah. 517 00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:17,680 And I have security all around me. No, nothing like that. I think I like talking about things 518 00:58:17,680 --> 00:58:24,080 in my or about the pieces or about different things. I dedicate things in my concerts. I 519 00:58:24,080 --> 00:58:29,520 always like to include a scrap in at the end of my concerts if I can help it, if I get to choose. 520 00:58:30,320 --> 00:58:36,560 So I like talking to my audience and finding out how they feel and interacting. I think 521 00:58:36,560 --> 00:58:42,240 this is really important. Wonderful. OK, this has been really a great 522 00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:47,040 inspiring conversation, Sherry and Zoe. Thank you so much for being here. So but before I let you 523 00:58:47,040 --> 00:58:52,880 go, we have one more thing to do. It's called the piano part rapid by questions. This is part of the 524 00:58:52,880 --> 00:58:57,920 show where I get to ask fun questions to each guest. Now, here's a little twist. As silly as 525 00:58:57,920 --> 00:59:03,680 these questions may sound, your answers may reveal who you truly are. So are you ready? 526 00:59:03,680 --> 00:59:12,400 Do you want to participate as well? Yes, I will ask you a question. And then I want you to answer 527 00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:17,600 them with shortest responses as possible. Question number one, what is your comfort food? 528 00:59:18,400 --> 00:59:26,400 For me, sushi, chicken noodles, chicken noodles. All right. Maybe this this question is not for 529 00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:34,160 Zoe, but how do you like your coffee? Oh, I don't even drink coffee anymore. I like tea. Earl Grey. 530 00:59:34,160 --> 00:59:36,800 I love Earl Grey. How about you? What do you like to drink? 531 00:59:41,440 --> 00:59:48,800 All right. Number three, cats or dogs? Oh, cats for sure. Cats. Yeah, we've got a cat. Cats. 532 00:59:48,800 --> 00:59:55,440 Great. Number four, summer or winter? Summer. I think summer. All right. Next question. 533 00:59:55,440 --> 01:00:01,520 What skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't had the chance to? Maybe this is not for 534 01:00:01,520 --> 01:00:07,920 Zoe because Zoe is still 10 years old. Yeah, my parents always said, why are you not a composer 535 01:00:07,920 --> 01:00:14,000 yet? I think they assume that being a musician, you must be able to compose. So I am yet to be 536 01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:20,000 a composer. I want to compose an opera, but I want to be able to also write librettos. I'm learning 537 01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:27,040 to write a play now. So that would come, but it would take time. All right. Next one. What is 538 01:00:27,040 --> 01:00:34,720 your word or words to live by, Sherry? I think just being curious all the time. Curious. What is 539 01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:41,600 the most important quality you look for in other people, Sherry? I think it's sincerity and 540 01:00:41,600 --> 01:00:51,200 friendship. I mean, just being able to open yourself up and to two people. Being approachable, 541 01:00:51,200 --> 01:00:59,680 but I think friendship. And I've learned this a lot. At the start of the journey, the poetry 542 01:00:59,680 --> 01:01:06,480 journey, I went and just tried to add everybody on Facebook, whichever name I see on the journal. 543 01:01:06,480 --> 01:01:13,360 That was actually proved to be really fruitful because later on I got friends with them and 544 01:01:13,360 --> 01:01:22,080 they submit to our journals or competitions. It's always actually judged a competition on her own 545 01:01:22,080 --> 01:01:28,880 last year. All right. Now two more questions. So name one piece in your current playlist. 546 01:01:28,880 --> 01:01:38,400 Ooh, it's always scrubbing. I'm planning to learn all the 10 smartas. I haven't because I wasn't 547 01:01:38,400 --> 01:01:46,640 actually like a solo pianist until say two years ago. So that's on my bucket list. So I'm listening 548 01:01:46,640 --> 01:01:52,480 to scrubbing all the time. Okay, great. How about you Zoe? Can you name one piece in your create 549 01:01:52,480 --> 01:02:00,960 list? What do you like to listen to? Taylor Swift. Okay. Let me find Taylor Swift. Which one? Which 550 01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:06,320 song do you like? Blank space. Blank space. Okay. I don't know that one I have to listen to. 551 01:02:07,120 --> 01:02:16,720 So last question, fill in the blank. Music is blank. Music is emotions, but music is everything. 552 01:02:16,720 --> 01:02:28,800 How about you Zoe? Music is cool. Yeah. Music is cool. That's a great answer. So that concludes 553 01:02:28,800 --> 01:02:35,280 the episode. This episode of the piano pop. Thank you Sherry and Zoe for joining my show today and 554 01:02:35,280 --> 01:02:40,560 sharing your stories, beautiful stories and insights and expertise. So for the piano pause 555 01:02:40,560 --> 01:02:48,480 listeners and viewers, please visit artsinfinitypress.com to learn more about Sherry's work and also Zoe's. 556 01:02:49,040 --> 01:02:53,680 Thank you to my wonderful audience and fans for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, 557 01:02:53,680 --> 01:02:59,040 please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform you use. Remember to hit the thumbs up 558 01:02:59,040 --> 01:03:03,920 button and subscribe to my YouTube channel. If you are watching this episode on YouTube, 559 01:03:03,920 --> 01:03:08,800 follow the piano part on social media to get the latest piano news via Facebook, Instagram, 560 01:03:08,800 --> 01:03:13,040 TikTok and LinkedIn. I will see you for the next episode of the piano part. Bye everyone. 561 01:03:13,040 --> 01:03:39,280 And thank you and bye Zoe and Sherry. Thank you so much.