Summertime, a Fantale's Quick Branch Switch.
Sheri Grant.
Welcome back to another episode of the PianoPod. Here, tradition meets innovation. We bridge the
timeless beauty of the piano with the dynamic pulse of today's world. I am your host, Yukimi
Sang. By the way, the introduction you just heard was a haiku crafted by Sheri Grant,
a multifaceted artist hailing from Taiwan and now making waves in New Zealand as a concert pianist,
cellist, poet, and festival organizer who is our esteemed guest for today's episode.
Sheri will take us to the magical world of poetry with a special focus on the art of haiku. She'll
also share her insights into the intricate relationship between poetry and classical music,
offering a unique perspective on how these two forms of art converse with each other.
Later in the show, we'll be joined by a very special guest, Zoe Grant, Sheri's daughter, who
at the tender age of 10 is already showing remarkable talent as an artist. So stay tuned
for an episode filled with insight, inspiration, and incredible talent. So before we invite them,
let me read short bios of our today's guests. As artistic director of four festivals since 2019,
Sheri has been actively performing both in New Zealand and overseas as a pianist, although she
was trained primarily as a cellist. Many composers have written music for Sheri to premiere since
2019. She is also the mother of four children who often perform in concerts with her. Sheri has
published poetry books, edited haiku and rengai journals, hosted online poetry gatherings, and
judged several haiku competitions. And with her youngest daughter, Zoe Grant, Sheri have appeared
in numerous interviews in five countries since 2021 with a goal of building the next golden age
where they will touch and inspire at least a billion people around the world with their
creativity. Sheri is currently planning the 2024 Vio Latino concert tour in South America,
Scrabbing 2025 festival, as well as Hill and Carr festival in 2026. Her events are generally
multidisciplinary where several art forms are combined. So here we are today to delve into
Sheri's fascinating journey as a pianist, cellist, and poet, exploring how her multifaceted career
has interwoven, fostering collaboration, and yielding exquisite creations. Before we dive in,
a warm welcome to new listeners and big thank you to our faithful TPP fans. Don't forget to rate and
review the show on your favorite podcast platform. I am thrilled to welcome Ms. Sheri Grant to start
our conversation. Please enjoy the show. You are listening to the Piano Pod where we talk to the
brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
So here we are with Taiwan born New Zealand concert pianist, cellist, poet, and festival organizer
Sheri Grant. Welcome Sheri. Thanks for being here today. Thanks for reminding me. We met through
Facebook, I think. And then I think you saw one of the posts I made about my previous guests. Was it
about Alison and Carlos Fransetti? I don't remember my previous guests. Yes. Do you know them or no?
Not so well. I just saw it just by chance. And then that's how we started our conversation.
And as we had the conversation, you told me you are also a poet. And I was like, so inspired
and impressed. Sheri, you are a touring musician and your musical career started as a cellist.
Then your love of music expanded to piano. And from what I read, you have always had a love for
languages, particularly in English. And you've picked up passion for poetry in recent years.
And passion is actually an understatement. You became a poet. I mean, not only did
you start writing poetry, but you know, how many poems did you publish?
I don't know how many published, but over 70 journals and anthologies in a very short time.
I've been writing for a bit over three years, maybe a fortune for now. And it's like, yeah,
I've written over 4000 poems. Oh, my goodness. Wow. That's quite impressive. So how in the world
did you decide to become a poet? I've always enjoyed reading poetry, but I didn't even know
I had this. It's almost like discovering one's superpower. But it's actually ever since after
the first lockdown. So I think COVID was bad, but not all bad. It's actually getting people to
actually calm down and actually maybe discover some extra things that they didn't know they could do
before. But you're already doing extra things like, you know, being a cellist and pianist. And
you also have four children, right? Yeah, four kids. Oh, wow. That's a lot. And then I hear your
children are also very musical and artistic. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, they play a different woodwind
instrument, even though I was actually dreaming of a string quartet, which fell through and they
turned into a woodwind quartet. Oh, wow. That's so, so cool. Do you ever play music with them?
Yeah. And we do a lot of online concerts. And sometimes I just say, yeah, come and play,
perform with me. Actually, there's one coming up in a few days at my house. We're going to do that
one hybrid fashion. So a composer friend of mine is coming visiting from China, but he's actually
a New Zealander and another clarinet player friend and we're joining force and playing just,
pretty much just works by this composer. His name is Rose Carey. Wonderful. Sounds like music is
really very much a big part of not only your life, but also your family's life. And music playing is
casually there. You know, it's not like a big effort. Or maybe, I don't know, you as a mom,
you have to sort of tell them how to play. It's the hard part. These days, I just like,
yeah, as long as you're prepared for your lessons, then we're all good. I'm actually,
I used to get them to do competitions a lot when they were younger. But now it's just like, yep,
yeah, you already know. And I actually went through the string instruments and piano as well,
but they all settled on the different woodwind instruments. So I'm not going to push them to
try and learn too many instruments. But they're playing their instruments. That's awesome.
So before getting deeper into our conversation on your career, your new career as a poet,
in order for our listeners to understand your multifaceted career, I think our conversation
should start with your musical journey. So can you share it, how it all began? What connects these
diverse aspects of your career, like together? Yeah, so that's with my training when I was young.
So my parents sent me to these like a special school and all the way through to end of high
school. And then I actually, we just moved to New Zealand. And I was thinking, oh, no more music.
So in Taiwan, you had to do a lot of academic work. And on top of that music as well. And that's
like, yeah, it's a lot of pressure. But I moved to New Zealand, I thought, well, what can I do?
Back to music, I went so and I actually because we had to choose just one instrument, I used to
play two instruments, but not, yeah, not very well, I think, at the time. But yeah, I chose
cello because that well, you can join the orchestra and there's seem to be more opportunities for
chamber music. And it's just a little bit less lonely. Right. Oh, as a piano, I get it totally.
But are you like from a musical family? Like because you are creating a musical family with
yours children? Well, not all actually, my parents, they don't know how to play music. But
however, my dad, even though he couldn't actually play music himself, he was able to train like one
of the best, I think, marching bands, they always like wonder competitions in Taiwan. So I think
he's just like, he's got a musical year, even though he didn't have to train himself. And because
of that influence, I think I've been very comfortable as a pianist, as the accompanist,
as the accompanist, or they call it like a piano, what collaborative pianist these days,
when was the time you realize, oh, I want to pursue piano, are you both active cellist and
pianist? cello is taking a bit more of a backseat because you have to spend time to practice like
every day. And a fact that I really don't like traveling around, especially overseas with the cello,
it's just too much hassle. Yeah. And actually, my cello had a little bit of we accidents coming back
from the UK once when yeah, when I was younger, and fingerboard just fell off because it was too dry.
After that, I just said no more. I'm going to become a pianist. So I don't have to travel with
the cello anymore. Or I actually got to borrow the cello sometimes when I was actually to solo
concerts in America a few years ago, two years ago, I was able to borrow some really nice cellos.
And I didn't want to return them at the end, but I had to. One of them was made in the 1700s.
The reason because you were able to shift to piano was because you had also training
in piano as almost like a secondary instrument as a child.
That was a requirement, but I was never very good at it because I think I was just so tense. It's
hard. Hard to actually, yeah, I can play fast, but not very well, I think.
So when was it like you decided to put more effort and focus on piano?
Actually, I started playing again at the start of 2019. As soon as the youngest kid turned five
and started school, I said, Oh, I'm free. I started doing all the planning, all these festivals and
concert tours. I did a tour in Wellington and Auckland, just around New Zealand with the
principal of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the principal violist, Robert Eshworth.
But before that, I played in the whole festival and invited my friend from the United States,
from New York City, principal violist from the Met to perform with me. That was my first time
coming back on stage. I performed with somebody, like a big shot. I was not.
Is that the 100 Years Journey concert tour in 2019?
Yeah, that was the second event. The first event was the War and Peace festival.
So that was actually my very first festival. That was the only in-person festival as well.
I actually put together an art exhibition and I shifted to like three places. I even did one
in Wellington. There was arts and also poetry. I invited a lot of friends from Auckland, the poets.
You're already thinking to do sort of multidisciplinary collaboration, I guess,
not just the music, but inviting. In my first festival, I also had a really,
really diverse program. There was one concert that was now totally just jazz.
And there was one that's just for singers and one that was just string and just with wind.
And one of them was Chinese traditional instruments. And I performed in one of the
pieces as well. All sorts of Chinese traditional instruments. It's really amazing finding all
these locally.
Then also, you've done so many different projects, but one caught my eye was Child of the Sun,
a celebration of Catherine Mansfield in song, world premiere of works of New Zealand.
So I know you have such a love for Catherine Mansfield, who also played a musical instrument,
but she was a writer. She was a poet, right?
Oh, not just poetry. I think she was more renowned for her short stories.
Oh, I see. Okay. Now we're going to dig deeper into her story, but tell us about this concert,
I guess.
Okay. That was the world premiere of new works. Actually, I ended up receiving 19 songs for
metal soprano and piano from 12 New Zealand composers. And that the whole project actually
took only about three months, about three months from the finish of, you know, like the
conception of the idea to the world premiere in Indonesian. So it's pretty amazing. I worked with
a really fine metal soprano. I think she's originally from America, maybe, Tessa Romano.
And then the School of Music at the Otago University in Indonesian, they helped a lot
with the concert, promoting it. And we had a lot of interview and publicity around there
in Indonesian. I really liked the city.
I think you were showcasing the composers from your country, New Zealand, no?
Yeah.
Yeah. So can you introduce us to New Zealand composers?
There are so many, but they are pretty much unknown to the world. I think it's a real shame.
That's why I play concerts around, especially taking my, also my idea last year was 2023.
I designed a program called Catch-23. So instead of Catch-22, you had Catherine Mansfield in this
Catch-23 position. She was, yeah, she, well, actually her life was a little bit of a mess,
I think, her personal life, but her works was, yeah, amazing.
So it was Catherine Mansfield themed. So you took her poetry or poems and then put music to
the, all the composers put music to it. So what it is?
Yeah, that was for Charles the Son, but for Catch-23 is really just showcasing composers
from Catherine Mansfield's time and also contemporary New Zealand composers.
So I chose 23 pieces and then I had multimedia presentation of New Zealand artworks
and paired with my own published Shofu poetry, mostly haiku, and along with the music. So each
piece I can just use my remote to change the slate. And everybody really, really enjoyed that.
They thought it was really quite interesting seeing that instead of just dozing off in.
You've been doing this really creative way of engaging audience, right? So like, it's not just
this traditional way of performing, playing music and displaying this beautiful composition, but also
you're using art, visual art and presentation and plus a, you know, reading poetry to more engage
with your listeners, audience. I think that's how we inspire one another.
Just like, yeah, it's not just, they're all the same in principle. All the arts are the same.
Then just tell us a little bit more about the fest, because since you are a festival organizer,
so I'm curious about, you mentioned about war and peace arts and music festival 2019 and
you really have this love for viola. So it was like a collaboration with violists,
as you mentioned. Tell us why you love viola so much. You're a cellist, you're a pianist,
but you have this love for viola. Why is that?
When I was little, I always wanted to be a violinist because I thought, well, the repertoire I love
so much and there is such a huge repertoire to choose from. And then I only got to pick the
cello because I was too slow. And then carrying the cello is a major thing, right? It's really
quite difficult for a little kid. But later on, it was actually after my eldest child started
playing the viola and then I discovered how amazing the viola actually is. It's like combining the
violin and the cello and actually, but they only have like the mid range.
Let's talk about other festivals. Like you had Hindemith and Copeland International Music Festival
2021. That sounds interesting. And also you did the Scrabbing 150 in 2022. And you're also a
board member of Scrabbing Society of America, which I became a member of. I'm very proud.
I'm so glad you joined us.
Yes, I did. Anyway, so let's start with the Hindemith and Copeland International Music
Festival. What was it all about? Obviously it was about Hindemith and Copeland, but...
Actually, not just about them. It was more about their pupils. So I was showcasing. Actually,
I did that whole festival online and not a lot of people joined in, but that's okay because that was
my first tent of doing an online festival. And that was actually during an Auckland lockdown.
So I couldn't go anywhere. So I had to do the whole thing online. And yeah, just like...
So I had to do a lot of research and then finding out who the pupils were. I actually did a few
interviews as well. And I invited Festival Patron, a very famous composer, also the pupil of both
of the composers, Mr. Samuel Edler to be the Festival Patron. And he accepted that and did
an interview with me. I think it was the second time I ever interviewed anyone. That was with
Mr. Edler. And I'm actually going to try and do another festival for him later on.
Great. And then Scrabbing 150. Tell us what this festival is about. Obviously about Scrabbing.
That was actually Scrabbing's 150th birthday. So that was two years ago in 2022. And then I
thought, wow, that's very important. He's my favourite composer ever. And I just really wanted
to celebrate him. And actually, I wanted to be able to learn all his pieces. And actually,
just before the festival, I curated, I played 40 Scrabbing pieces online in a concert. And that
was the best attended concert I've ever had. Probably because my host was quite famous. And
I had 15.4k people actually listening online. My goodness. You said your husband is famous?
No, no, no, the host. Oh, your host. Oh, I see. They're not concepts. And I think maybe on the
metaverse, or maybe she's doing something to do with that. So I think there are a lot of people,
Kim. And yeah, became curious. And I'm just happy to be pushing Scrabbing music out to anybody in
the world. You don't have to be a musician to be able to appreciate his music. It's just like
really magical. I listen to his music all the time, every day. I can kind of understand because
you're a poet and his compositions are known for poetic. So I'm sure you have so much really
relate to his music. No? Yeah, yeah, I have actually found that a lot of people that I
tried to showcase, they end up being all my favorite composers or people that are like musicians
and poets, or philosophers. So it's all connected somehow. So once again, your love for Katherine
Mansfield went into this festival, International Katherine Mansfield. That was last year. That was
her centenary. So she died 100 years ago. Yeah, I see. Okay, so let's discuss who this woman was.
Who was Katherine Mansfield? She was originally from New Zealand, actually. That's also part of
the reason I wanted to celebrate her. Because some people I've spoke to didn't realize she was even
a New Zealander. But of course, I think earlier on, people were kids here, school kids, they were
required to read her works. Maybe not so much, not so much like that these days. But yeah, her short
stories are extraordinary. But what I love even more are her actually her like letters and journals.
And I've actually written a book I can quickly show you here called Bean Katherine. So my first
book, I dedicated 100 poems to her. And this is half of the 50 poems in here I wrote in 50 days.
That's the compilation of poems, right? About Katherine Mansfield. Yeah. Oh, wow. So it's just
mostly actually inspired by her. Well, it's not just poetry, some of them by her poetry and some
of them, most of a lot of them actually by her letters. She was so sincere, I think. And quite,
yeah, she's got a sense of humor. And she's very observant of everything. And but she had a very
short life. She died at 34. Who was this woman to you? What's the strong connection? And not only
she was a writer, but also she played a musical instrument. I think I really identify with her
because she was like, raised racing one country and she really wanted to go out to another country.
And then she just didn't want to be in New Zealand. She's always like, not much happening and
that here and she really wanted to be in Europe to kind of just study and then maybe her talent
actually shifted to writing later on because I believe that her parents thought she was not very
good. And they didn't want her to be just a second second rate cellist in the end. And I thought,
wow, my parents are so bad at the same. Yeah, I complained at some point. They say, well, why are
you still playing music? You just need you're just a mom. You need to take care of the kids.
But I think I want to show them that I can do this. I can do all these things,
even though I'm a mom as well. I want to read her works. Also, I'm curious to read your book.
What's the title of the book again? Being Catherine? That's being Catherine. I still
I'm yet to put it on Amazon, but it's not quite available overseas just yet. But I will try and
make that happen soon. Oh, yeah, that would be wonderful. I would love to read it. The purpose
of this book is to pick people's interest to actually go and read her works because these
were inspired by her and tells a little bit of her story. It jumps from place to place. Yeah.
You decided to do this big festival. So what what's the inspiration? What inspired to do it?
Oh, because I just feel so important. It's like, yeah, normally you need a whole team
of people and maybe to promote and to do everything. But I'm the person who wants to do everything,
I guess. I made it my mission to actually promote her and actually New Zealand along with it.
So I guess I'm the self appointed cultural ambassador for New Zealand somehow.
I made all the Catch-23 concerts free last year so that people get to listen to New Zealand music.
From your rich background as a classical musician to your recent exploration into poetry,
how do you find the creative process of music and poetry intertwined? And how has this transition,
you know, from being a musician and you're still a musician, but into a poet influenced
your perspective on your musical career? I find a lot of similarity like play music,
especially like chamber music, because I've always been more of a collaborative pianist and
chamber musician until 2022 when I actually played my first solo recital because somebody
suggested that I should play solo. Why should I just be playing chamber music? So that was actually
I started playing solo piano only since 2022. And yeah, why I'm saying that it's very similar is
that I'm really into writing rengué, which is like a short form, a more modern kind of
renkuu, the Japanese renkuu. It's like a series of only the rengué only has six verses of haiku.
And it's like writing with a group of friends, usually it's two people. So back and forth,
back and forth, I actually got invited to give a workshop and a presentation at 2021, I think 2021.
Yeah. Sorry, the Haiku Society of America, the president actually found out that I was writing
haiku, rengué. That was only maybe one week into my, yeah, after I've written my first rengué,
but somehow they just invited me to give a workshop. And I think maybe almost 200 people attended
online. So I knew not very much about rengué at the time, but very quickly, I had less than two
months, maybe a month and a half, I quickly invited a lot of people, I probably invited 50 people to
write rengué with me. And quite often I wrote multiple ones, multiple poems with different people
at the same time. So it was really fun. It's like playing chamber music, right? Going back and forth
really quickly, you have to read your music and you have to express it, you have to match. And yeah,
it's so much fun. I highly recommend it. So now that you talked about rengué and everything,
so I would love to learn a lot from you today about haiku. Although, you know, I am a Japanese
native, I'm Korean, my grandparents are Koreans. And then, you know, I was raised as a Korean,
but obviously I was born and raised and educated in Japan. So I learned about haiku and then tanca.
And, but honestly, I wasn't really interested at the time. And then I was more obsessed about,
you know, English. So I have to learn from you. So at the beginning of our conversation,
you told us briefly how you became a poet in recent years. And but what exactly is the tipping
point that you immersed into this art form? Oh, that was straight after the very first lockdown
in New Zealand. And we just came out of lockdown. And I guess I had some ideas, but it was not clear.
And one day I was just thinking, well, it felt really, I had this urgency, I really,
really need to write this down. And I wrote my first ever poem. And it's Yeah, hold on. That's,
I think it's called darkness of the night or something. And then after that, and within the
next five days, or no, actually, maybe five days, I wrote, I don't know, at least five more poems.
And I can't remember the exact number. And I thought, actually, I feel like this is what
another way of expressing myself apart from like being a musician. And my English is sort of good
enough to do that. So I actually got to know I got to know another haiku poet in New Zealand. She's
also she was an editor of a journal. And then I just did like email correspondence with her. And
she sort of just very gently told me about this form and that form. And there's some journalists
this competition that you should try out. And then there was really nice. Yeah, her name is
Patricia prime. And I really great for us just like a great mentor to me. It's really the
mentorship or somebody that you meet who changes your life. My youngest daughter Zoe, she does that
with me. So we host a lot of like haiku. Actually, ring a gathering internationally. We do it
regularly. This is the third year. And yeah, I think not all maybe we've been doing it since 2021.
Yeah. You know, I actually started really liking reading poetry. But it happened,
like in my adulthood, and I was on the New York City subway. And then there was like a poetry
like posted on the subway car. And all of a sudden, I just felt this emotions, right? As I was
reading. And it just, I don't know, it's almost like, like, like listening to music. And then,
you know, this hits me, right? And people told me when they came to my kitchen, these three
concerts is that, well, you look at just three lines, but it makes you think so much. And it
makes you think about your own experience and how that just resonates with you. I think that poetry
is really powerful, especially haiku, but haiku is just another form. Right. So speaking of that,
so you you write haiku and then you also write rengai and then other forms too. So, and then you
also created this form nonaku. Yeah, nonaku. Okay. I know haiku, but for those who are still like,
you know, trying to figure out the differences. So what's haiku? Haiku is a traditional Japanese
form of shōfōn poetry. In Japanese, it's actually not written in, I think traditionally it was just
in one line, but then people know where to divide it into sort of three sections. So it's actually
three lines. And the modern haiku, unlike the traditional one, actually works better in Japanese,
but not so well in other languages. It's in five, seven, five syllables for each line, but it doesn't
apply in English, especially like it just feels so long if you try and fill it out. So maybe, maybe
you get more four or four, six, four. It's not really set. So we are these days for modern haiku,
we just say short, long, short is like the standard, but you can also break that. And you actually,
in haiku, you don't even have to be in three lines. I think from one line to four lines,
you can all qualify as haiku. So there's no set like numbers of like syllables.
I think that's the thing that's actually making it really stiff. I see, because in Japanese,
I think it was very strict, has to be five, seven, five. Yeah. And I think that really puts people
off. Now it's just a lot more flexible. I think in Japanese actually works really well for five,
seven, five. But in English, it just feels so long. A lot of modern haiku and you just can't
spend a very long spender one. It's still taught that way around the world. People still say haiku
is five, seven, five. But now it's the journal. We're actually, Zoe and I, we're journal editors.
And we just say, well, we don't mind if you want to send us five, seven, five. We'll still look at
it. They were very accepted too. Wow. Now, also I, there is a variation of haiku, longer version.
It's called tanka that I remember five, seven, five, seven, seven in syllables. In English,
we just do like a short, long, short, long, long. I wrote some tanka that actually got accepted in
journals as well, but less often because that has actually quite different. It's very emotional.
Do you have like a haiku that you can read? Sure. I have a, it's actually just a one line haiku
here. It's actually somewhat music related. It was published at the Cold Moon journal in November,
2021. It's very short. It's called, it's just in one line. A kettle's memory, perfect pitch.
I'll read that again. A kettle's memory, perfect pitch. So the kettle, if you use session one,
it kind of blows a note, but it remembers the same note. You said that's nonaku? Monoku,
monoku, just a stitch. So it's just one line. I really like monoku because unlike in three lines,
everything's kind of clear, but in one line, there are so many possibilities. Like if you divide,
put, group these words together, and then that part are, you just like, if you put like a comma
somewhere else, it becomes a different meaning. So sometimes it's like that. So it's, yeah, haiku
sounds so much potential. At first, when I started reading haiku and trying to write, I was very
descriptive. And I was just thinking, well, what's so, it's only like some, so few words. What can
you say with so few words? And when people be sort of starting to repeat other people's ideas, but
no, the more you dive into it, the more you find. And yeah, and then you can actually tell
that really good haiku, why are they good? They're actually, they can be very emotional,
and it just hits you, right? And not so good haiku that you can also tell.
It's a really difficult art. Okay, now, do you have any example of rengai?
Renge, maybe best read with Zoe.
Okay, so let's invite Zoe. Hi, Zoe. Hi, how are you?
Good.
Great. Thank you so much for being here. I know you had school and then you got out of school early
just for this, and I appreciate you. And Zoe is already a professional poet, and also she is quite
an artist. You drew pictures for the book, The Bat Girl, right? Yeah. And so many other things,
and you also collaborated with your mom already. Oh yeah, that's the book. Yes. So we're going to
talk about that book. But before that, let's do the rengai session. So can you guys read that rengai
poetry? This is possibly the first rengai by me and Zoe that got published, I think. So it was
published at Failed Haiku Issues 71, November 2021. It's called Failed Haiku because it was actually
just taking sendu. Sendu is a different type. Haiku is mostly about the nature, so not so,
but sendu is more humorous and it's about people more. So it's a different focus. So that's why
it's called Failed Haiku because it's not haiku anymore. Okay, so this one is called Encore.
Fashion week. All the rodents out for a catwalk. Little ballerinas. Too much makeup on.
Encore. They shout. He just wants to go home. Speech night. Forgetting what to say next.
Paparazzi. A dog comes sniffing. New movie. I write my doll's script.
So the main thing for people to do in a rengai is you have to link and shift. So you kind of get
inspired by something in the first verse and then first haiku and then the next person needs to take
that and kind of, yeah, write something starting from that, but then going away from it as well.
So it's got so much possibility. Yeah. You never know what's going to happen next.
Yeah, this just blows my mind. But is it, so you were going back and forth between you and then Zoe.
So you both wrote it. The line that you read is written by Sherry and then the line. So it was,
oh wow, is that how it works? Yeah, back and forth. It's a lot of fun, but you can also have,
because it's six verses, you can even write solo rengai by yourself, which is not as much fun,
by the way. But the standard is two people, but you can also have three people writing two
two verses each, but also taking turns. And then you can also have a six people version,
which is just like each person contribute one. So it's, I think it's this highly social thing to do.
It's really a lot of fun. And then you can improvise. Oh yeah. Improvise. Wow. It's totally
about improvising. I can write very fast. Sometimes I can finish a rengai maybe within 20,
30 minutes with friends, just online. We've been doing a lot online and sometimes I do multi rengai.
It's like I do with a lot of people or the same person, but we write say, well, if somebody gives
me six or 10 starting verses, I probably reply to all of them. They're all different. And then
we just carry on. And then we end up with like 10 rengai at the end of the exercise. And then we're
just, yeah, we just send them off to different journals. And then sometimes the journalists
take them. That's really great. And then Zoe and I, we actually started our own rengai
journal called Raining Renge. So this is the issue one we started last year.
Wow. What is that? Yeah. A lot of people submitted from around the world and it's just a whole bunch
of maybe over 20 rengais. And there was an essay. I wrote an essay as well. Renge has got a history
of about 30, 31. I think it's about 31 or nearly 32 years old now. It was made by my friend,
Gary Gay. And we host these sessions twice a year to invite, well, we invite guest speakers to come
in and talk about haiku or rengai or anything. Haiku is short form poetry related. And then
we write together and we've been getting, because it's certainly about 20 people, 20 to 30 people
each session. And we run two sessions each time we do it. We do it twice a year. It's called
International Renge Gathering. It's quite popular. We've done five of those. I think the sixth one's
coming up this April. I'm looking forward to that. Wow. It's like a totally jam, right? Like an
improved jam. Yeah, jamming with people except with words. Jam sessions. And then at the end of it,
you have a product. You can send it to journals and all. I just say, just send it to us, to Renge
Renge and we can publish it. Oh my goodness. I don't think I can ever do that. My mind is
mind blowing. But Zoe, this is incredible. How do you like doing this? It's very fun.
Yeah. And then have you been writing your own poems and everything since you were a little,
little kid? Yeah, since 2020. Since 2020. Wow. That's like four years ago. So yeah.
She was six years old. That's when we actually wrote Batgirl. So it was like maybe five or six
months work with her. These were actually particularly poems that I wrote with her or
inspired by her. Is it okay if she reads one of them? Yes, please. It's raining cats and dogs.
It all started with a single dark cloud. This cloud feeling lonely invited friends over for
a party. In their drunken uproar, the clouds started fighting. They began throwing cats and
dogs at each other. After hurling thunder and lightning, little Zoe, who never had a pet,
came outside with a great big box, collected raindrops filled with cats and dogs. The next
day she put up a sign which said, pets for sale with free ginger ale. Many customers queued up.
So the next time when it pours, I wonder what other animals will drop from the sky.
Perhaps goldfish or sheep I get to bring home and keep. So we were kind of exploring the rhyming at
the time and she did this great picture for it too. So that was her, Zoe, trying to collect
cats and dogs in the raindrops. I don't know if you can see. Wow, beautiful. Thank you so much
for reading. Wow. It just comes from your heart, your impression about the storm, the rain.
I can almost hear the music. It was actually inspired by a song, right? You had to learn at
school. There was kind of on and off. We had a lot of lockdowns, but that was in between lockdowns,
I think. And it was also called it's raining cats and dogs. And then we saw, oh, okay, we can use
this. And then we write a poem about it, inspired by it. Yeah, it has nothing to do with the song
anymore. But we just made our own versions. That's actually all what my poems were about. I take one
thing and turn it into something else. So I see an artwork and then I feel inspired by it. And I write
some poem inspired by that. Or even it can be news from the day. But I can really sense that
vibe from you. Like, that's why you have such a multifaceted career. You take one instrument
and that inspired to go to the next and so forth. And so, Zoe, are you still writing poetry?
Not so much anymore. But I do still do it. Okay. And then do you still like drawing? I know you
drew a lot of drawings in the book, Batgirl and then also maybe other books as well. Yeah.
And then are you still playing? You're playing musical instrument, which one? I'm playing the
flute. Wonderful. Zoe's actually been involved with a lot of these festivals with me, maybe since
the Square, I've been here for 50, 2022. She read 250 short form poems, mostly haiku, during the three
days. We did a lot of recording. So she was very patient. I had to make all the selections. It was
about sound and music. So I was looking everywhere online and journals and things. And then the
hard part was getting all the permissions from poets, all 250 of them. And then Zoe recorded them.
Wow, that's great. Hey there, TPP family. The Piano Pod is now into our fourth season,
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Yeah, let's talk about what's next for you guys. So I've done Screa, I've done Katherine Mansfield,
Hindemith and Copland. Next is back to Screa, but actually this year I was going, I was planning to
have a festival as well, but then I thought, well maybe it's a good time to have a break from
festivals because I'm also planning a concert tour to South America. So in 2022 I toured Canada
and America. In 2023 I toured Asia, so that was Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Taiwan I only had
one week, I was like 20 years I haven't been back to Taiwan, one week, three concerts in three cities,
so that was a whirlwind. And then this year is going to be South America, maybe three countries.
So it's always like after the international viola congress, I go off and do a tour afterwards. So
this time I'm actually collaborating with a violist from the Netherlands, his name is Emelien Stem,
and yeah we're just going to play 10 new works by 10 composers originally from South America,
but all living overseas. So it's got a theme of like diaspora, so it's called viola-tino,
viola-tino, and yeah, but at the same time we're going to try and showcase poetry, very short,
not haiku, but shorter poems by poets from those countries and also artworks. So I'm still
organizing that because there's a lot of permissions to get, people don't always reply, so I just send
out so many. Right, and then also you mentioned that you are trying to build a cultural bridge
between Australia and New Zealand. Yeah, that was supposed to be this year's festival because I want
to celebrate the New Zealand composer, New Zealand and Australian composer Alfred Hill, and maybe his
155th birthday this year, but it doesn't matter, and also the number doesn't matter so much. I was
just thinking, well it's time for people to recognize this composer because he's not really
recognized very much anywhere, but then I thought, well maybe I need a little bit more time because I
want to build that bridge and I've got this project also, it's called Dialogues Down Under,
so I want to try and get, invite New Zealand composers to write for Australian, maybe youth
ensembles, and then vice versa, so Australian composers to write for New Zealand ensembles,
and all our choirs, so concert bands or brass bands, you know, it can be any configuration,
but I think that would be really fun to build that bridge and getting, you know, the Sydney
Conservatorium, maybe to work with New Zealand School of Music, that sort of thing, and I also
want to put on like maybe like Alfred Hill International String Quartet Competition,
but that requires time and funding, which I'm going to try and find, so I think I need an extra
two years to try and, yeah, secure that, hopefully, and I'm still a team of one, pretty much.
I have some advisors and Festival Petrol, but I think it's about time I start building a team
to try and do different works, because I am the organizer, I'm the performer, I'm also the promoter,
all sorts of things, yeah.
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?
Yeah, but next year I'm going to see if I can get back to performing in America, and because I want
to celebrate Screabin's 110th, yeah, since he died, I think we should celebrate that, and I would
really, really like to see International Piano Competition for Screabin happening, maybe the
first one ever in America next year, if that's possible, I want to try and organize that, and
maybe I see a lot of, maybe new works inspired by Screabin, or a bit of crossover, maybe jazz
people, I actually incorporated a little bit of jazz, there was one lecture about Screabin and jazz,
but if you play Screabin's music in a jazz fashion and vice versa, so yeah, that's a lot of fun, and
maybe get some transcriptions going on, getting other instrumentalists, then pianists to know
Screabin somehow, yeah, that would be my goal, and maybe if I can, I want to find alliances from
around the world, I want to build a Screabin empire, so, well, I think there's a Screabin
Association in the UK, and there's one called Screabin Club in Netherlands, and there's
potentially also one in Croatia, I don't know if it's still active, and the one in America's
actually just revived two years ago, when we did that festival, we revived it at the same time,
it's always been inactive for maybe over 10 years at that time, and I want to build one, especially
for New Zealand, Australia, and Asia, but this time, if I'm going to South America, I might talk
to the pianists there and composers there and see if they want to do something about building a
Screabin society there too. Oh wow, amazing, wonderful, well, you know, when you're, you
come to the United States, just if you're in a New York City area, just let me know.
I really appreciate my friend Joel Petridge, because he was the host for my very first solo
piano concert recital at the Clavier House. Oh yeah, Clavier House. And actually, I'm dedicating
this 2025 Screabin Festival to his memory, I guess, and hopefully, yeah, he'll remember it.
Yeah, he passed away last year. Yeah, I guess, Mr. Project of Scarlatti, the only Scarlatti
555, you can imagine what that's going to be about. So Scarlatti 555 now, because I think it's time
to, yeah, for people to look at his music again, and I want to see if I can find 555 pianists or
harpsichordists to participate in this project. You know, videos from around the world,
and each person doing a different keyboard sonata by Scarlatti, and I'm pairing it with Scraabin
just because the last name starts with the same two letters. Tell me about your 100th
day challenge or something. Yep, yep, yep. So recently I was down with COVID, unfortunately,
but the nice thing that came out of it is I started writing a reading place with, well,
with the writing place in mind, maybe at the end of this exercise. So I've said myself,
well, in the next 100 days, I am going to read 100 plays, but you know, plays that are
range from, say, 50 pages to the longest one I've seen, maybe 150 page thereabouts. So I aim to do
one a day. So if I don't, I have to catch up somehow. And I'm actually on target. Today is
day 15, and I'm about to start reading my 15th play, and it's really amazing. I mean, I was
doing poetry before, but I mean, there is a limitation because only very, very short space,
you probably don't have enough space where it's to express everything. But I think in the play,
you can even talk about your hopes, your philosophy, and a lot of things can go in there.
I really appreciate this exercise. And this is not like set by a school or teacher,
let's say by myself, a challenge to myself. I want to see if I can do this and at the end,
maybe write a play and people are looking forward to it. So I share my progress on Facebook every
day. So we're coming toward the end of this conversation. But speaking of philosophy,
you mentioned, so I have like one or two philosophical questions. So one is, in the
era of this dominated by popular music, what are your thoughts on maintaining the relevance of
classical music and ensuring the thriving of the industry? I was thinking a bit of a fusion is
actually not a bad idea and introducing it to a younger crowd. But how to actually make it
interesting is the I think it's the hard part. So maybe getting the young kids to promote them
themselves. So that's why I get my kids to actually perform and maybe it's going to be
a little bit more appealing for the kids to see the kids performing, but not because they are
pushed to perform in the setting of like, say, a competition. This is we're doing it for fun. I
think we have forgotten a lot about like playing music for fun. That's why I really want to be
that's why I really bring us back to the next actually the next golden age, which is about,
you know, there's like a lot of people inspiring one another. They're all different disciplines.
So it could be a poet or musician, then painter or all sorts of philosophers. They're all in the
house or at a cafe and they're all talking and they're just, yeah, getting ideas from
from another person. I think it's really essential. So I'm doing house concerts now.
And with my kids and my friends and I'm hoping that, yeah, when the arts intersect, we're just,
yeah, I think there'll be magic.
All right. And then one more. What is your thought on our duty or gift as classical musicians to
society?
So what do you think? I think just we can use our music to touch them, because at the end of my
at the end of my concerts and even just online ones, I had feedback from my audience saying,
wow, this is like, yeah, I felt so touched or moved by this. Yeah, I enjoyed this better than
like big, you know, famous pianists who felt so distant. So I think we really what we should do
is to bring it ourselves closer. We're not like, like a glorious, you know, famous musician up
there, like not approachable. I think that the thing I like about, say, the haiku circle
and the violists is like, they're all very easygoing and approachable people.
There's no such thing as like, I'm so famous, I'm not going to talk to you. Yeah, yeah.
And I have security all around me. No, nothing like that. I think I like talking about things
in my or about the pieces or about different things. I dedicate things in my concerts. I
always like to include a scrap in at the end of my concerts if I can help it, if I get to choose.
So I like talking to my audience and finding out how they feel and interacting. I think
this is really important. Wonderful. OK, this has been really a great
inspiring conversation, Sherry and Zoe. Thank you so much for being here. So but before I let you
go, we have one more thing to do. It's called the piano part rapid by questions. This is part of the
show where I get to ask fun questions to each guest. Now, here's a little twist. As silly as
these questions may sound, your answers may reveal who you truly are. So are you ready?
Do you want to participate as well? Yes, I will ask you a question. And then I want you to answer
them with shortest responses as possible. Question number one, what is your comfort food?
For me, sushi, chicken noodles, chicken noodles. All right. Maybe this this question is not for
Zoe, but how do you like your coffee? Oh, I don't even drink coffee anymore. I like tea. Earl Grey.
I love Earl Grey. How about you? What do you like to drink?
All right. Number three, cats or dogs? Oh, cats for sure. Cats. Yeah, we've got a cat. Cats.
Great. Number four, summer or winter? Summer. I think summer. All right. Next question.
What skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't had the chance to? Maybe this is not for
Zoe because Zoe is still 10 years old. Yeah, my parents always said, why are you not a composer
yet? I think they assume that being a musician, you must be able to compose. So I am yet to be
a composer. I want to compose an opera, but I want to be able to also write librettos. I'm learning
to write a play now. So that would come, but it would take time. All right. Next one. What is
your word or words to live by, Sherry? I think just being curious all the time. Curious. What is
the most important quality you look for in other people, Sherry? I think it's sincerity and
friendship. I mean, just being able to open yourself up and to two people. Being approachable,
but I think friendship. And I've learned this a lot. At the start of the journey, the poetry
journey, I went and just tried to add everybody on Facebook, whichever name I see on the journal.
That was actually proved to be really fruitful because later on I got friends with them and
they submit to our journals or competitions. It's always actually judged a competition on her own
last year. All right. Now two more questions. So name one piece in your current playlist.
Ooh, it's always scrubbing. I'm planning to learn all the 10 smartas. I haven't because I wasn't
actually like a solo pianist until say two years ago. So that's on my bucket list. So I'm listening
to scrubbing all the time. Okay, great. How about you Zoe? Can you name one piece in your create
list? What do you like to listen to? Taylor Swift. Okay. Let me find Taylor Swift. Which one? Which
song do you like? Blank space. Blank space. Okay. I don't know that one I have to listen to.
So last question, fill in the blank. Music is blank. Music is emotions, but music is everything.
How about you Zoe? Music is cool. Yeah. Music is cool. That's a great answer. So that concludes
the episode. This episode of the piano pop. Thank you Sherry and Zoe for joining my show today and
sharing your stories, beautiful stories and insights and expertise. So for the piano pause
listeners and viewers, please visit artsinfinitypress.com to learn more about Sherry's work and also Zoe's.
Thank you to my wonderful audience and fans for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode,
please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform you use. Remember to hit the thumbs up
button and subscribe to my YouTube channel. If you are watching this episode on YouTube,
follow the piano part on social media to get the latest piano news via Facebook, Instagram,
TikTok and LinkedIn. I will see you for the next episode of the piano part. Bye everyone.
And thank you and bye Zoe and Sherry. Thank you so much.