WEBVTT

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Thank you. Welcome to another episode of The

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Pianopod, everyone. This season, we are exploring

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creativity and connection, highlighting artists

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who are reshaping what it means to create, teach,

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and inspire in the modern world of classical

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music. Today's guest, Anli Ling Tong, is a concert

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pianist, educator, and lecturer whose work beautifully

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bridges art, history, and faith. Born and raised

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in Taiwan during a time of martial law, An Li

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came to the United States all by herself as a

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child to study piano at Juilliard, an act of

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courage and independence that would shape her

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life and artistry. A Juilliard -trained musician

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and lifelong educator, she has since dedicated

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her career to sharing music as a force for reflection,

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healing, and human connection. Most recently,

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Anli organized a deeply moving event titled Bells

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of Nagasaki, Music for Contemplation, a concert

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that commemorated the moment when, for the first

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time in 80 years, both Bells of Nagasaki's historic

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Urakami Cathedral rang together again, a sound

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silenced since the atomic bombing of 1945. In

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our conversation, Anli reflects on the powerful

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story behind this project. her father's enduring

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influence, her family's rare journey of faith

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from Taiwan to Catholicism, and how music became

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her way to honor remembrance and hope. We also

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explore her artistic lineage through her mentor,

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the legendary pianist Mircheslav Muntz, and her

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insights as a devoted teacher who believes artistry

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must be planted from the very first lesson. Before

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we dive in, thank you to our listeners for tuning

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in and supporting The Piano Pod. Your encouragement,

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whether through sharing episodes, leaving a review,

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or simply listening, helps sustain this growing

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community of artists and thinkers who are redefining

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what it means to make music today. Here is Season

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6, Episode 8 of The Piano Pod with concert pianist

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and educator Anli Ling Tong. Please enjoy the

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show. You are listening to The Piano Pod, where

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we talk to the brightest minds in the industry

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about how they are bringing the piano into the

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future and thriving in a complex, ever -evolving

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world. Ali, welcome to The Piano Pod. Thank you

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so much for being here today. Well, thank you,

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Yukimi, for having me on. Thank you very much.

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Thank you. And I'm truly excited to explore your

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journey, your artistry, musical lineage, and

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then the deeply moving Bells of Nagasaki project

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with you. But first, let's start with our tradition,

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iconic opening question. So you built such a

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successful career as a concert pianist, educator,

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and lecturer. What would you say is the core

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passion or mission that ties all these worlds

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together? Well, that is such an amazing question,

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Yukimi, and it's all encompassing. And I think

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that maybe something that we can save for the

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end, and it might make more sense how these threads

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all come together. Yeah, that sounds great. All

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right, so can we get into the bells of Nagasaki

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Music for Contemplation project? Of course. That's

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great. So this was such a special concert held

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on August 3rd. So this past August at St. John

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Fisher Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, which is

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L .A. in California, and commemorated a profound

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moment when, for the first time in 80 years,

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both bells of Nagasaki's historic urakami cathedral

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rang together again a sound silenced for the

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since the atomic bombing of 1945 which is uh

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80 years ago wow so now for listeners and viewers

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that might sound simple at first but this story

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has so many layers and dots to connect history

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faith family, people, and music. So, Anli, could

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you start by telling us what was the Bells of

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Nagasaki concert about, and why did this moment

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feel so important for you to share through music?

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Okay, thank you for the question, and you're

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right. This is something that just pulls together

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so many things. History, music, faith, geography.

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And really, in the end, it's all about the people

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who receive the message. And we're talking about

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something that happened, as you said, 80 years

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ago. But my connection with the Nagasaki Bells

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began with a song. And I like to say the power

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of one song. You know, we never know what's something

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that we come across on a daily basis as innocuous

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as maybe a word, a phrase, a passing glance.

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And in my case, this is just a song that my father

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sang toward the end of his life. He was living

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in a senior community outside of Taipei in Taiwan.

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My mother had already passed eight years before

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that. And one of his favorite things to do was

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to go to the karaoke room in the facility. And

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he would always pick this one song. And of course,

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on the karaoke machine, you can see the images.

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And I see footages of this old Japanese movie.

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And then my dad would sing the song in Japanese.

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I do not speak Japanese. So I asked my dad, what

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is this song about? Because he sang it every

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day. And after... the karaoke session as we walk

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back to his room he would tell me the story and

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then this would repeat every day. So I began

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to wonder why was this song important for my

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father because I didn't hear it in the earlier

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years of my father's life. So long story short

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let's move to 2025. This year was the 10th anniversary

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of my dad's passing. And I had wanted to do something

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with music to honor his memory. My father especially

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loved church bells. And then I thought about

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Nagasaki bells. Because in the last 10 years,

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I have found out from my own research a lot more

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about the story. And I thought it would be nice

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to tie the idea of... The theme of bells in music,

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and we have many examples of that, right? As

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well, and to somehow incorporate the Nagasaki

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bells for the historic dimension. Then I realized

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that this year was the 80th anniversary of the

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bombing of Nagasaki. So I started to put this

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together, but it was just an idea that was percolating

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in my mind. And I was thinking that I would do

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it later in the year because I was recovering

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and I am still recovering from a hand injury

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that I had a finger fracture in January 2024.

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And as a pianist, you know that, you know, these

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things take a long time. Even when the splint

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came off the finger heel, but the rest of the

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hand, I developed secondary injuries. So it wasn't

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so easy to play. So I wanted to do it. toward

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the end of the year, but something happened.

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And I think synchronicity would be one of the

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themes that could be included into your big question.

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What are the things that pull things together?

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And when you look back in life, I think everyone

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would have the same, similar maybe thoughts that,

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wow, something that happened then. I never knew

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that it would have a certain significance 20

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years later, 15 years later. And so the synchronicity

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of events, one of the first things that came

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up was I became a Catholic three years ago during

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the COVID pandemic. So in the last three years,

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I've been... Also learning about this new faith.

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I'm fourth generation Presbyterian. So my family

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is very, very devoted to the church and from

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the day that I was born, but I am the first Catholic.

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So in my desire to learn more about my Catholic

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journey, I have been reading and then I was connected

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with an institute that was. founded by the Archbishop

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of San Francisco, Cordiglione. And he set up

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the Benedict XVI Institute. And the whole purpose

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of this institute is to promote beauty in worship.

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And I didn't know anything. I just needed to

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go somewhere and contemplate because I was in

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Taiwan earlier in the year to... to mark the

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10 -year anniversary for my dad. So we had some

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family memorial that included friends. But when

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I came back, I was once again sick. And, you

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know, I'm not a good traveler, so these things.

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As I was recovering, I was contemplating a lot

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about what I would do. And then I thought, okay,

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I received an invitation to join an artist retreat.

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near Stanford, San Francisco, that was sponsored

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by the Archbishop of San Francisco. I had no

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idea whatsoever what that was. I thought, okay,

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a retreat is something that I go to, you know,

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to enjoy solitude, to meditate. And this is about

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arts and faith. It was very much along the line

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that I have found myself. on this path in the

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last three years because of my new faith journey

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and many, many things in my life. I went through

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major upheavals in my life in the last 15, 20

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years. So these things, you know, it puts one

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in a mental space. And as musicians and artists,

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we're always looking inward. What does music

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say and what do I bring? to my art. So these

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have been constant themes and threads in my thought

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over the past few years. So then I went there

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and I did not expect to find the amazing, amazing

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collection of personalities that had gathered.

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It was a very exclusive group, not many, maybe

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15 to 20 participants, but we had the most prominent.

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architect in Catholic architecture, a great man

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who has built the most beautiful Catholic cathedrals

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and shrines in the United States. We had the

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poet, a former poet laureate of the state of

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California sharing his new play on Seneca. It

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was an immersion, an abundance of riches, and

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it just stimulated my mind so much. And toward

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the end of the retreat, we were to share about

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what we envision as our new projects that we

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would do to embark on to bring beauty and art

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together with. you know, worship and faith. And

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this was something that Archbishop Cordiglione

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was really wanting to promote and bring back

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to the church. And the idea of the Nagasaki and

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the bell concert was so, it's just in a gestational

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stage in my mind. And because I went there without

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any kind of expectation, I did not know that

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I would have to offer anything, but I did. And

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to my surprise, Archbishop Cordelion loved the

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idea. He was very interested in the Nagasaki

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story. So he greatly encouraged me. And also

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other attendees at the conference came up and

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spoke to me after I shared my idea and said,

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Anli, you must do this. So we're talking about

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middle of June. I came back and I thought, OK,

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what am I going to do? The bells, in the meantime,

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I found out that American Catholics have gotten

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together under the leadership of a professor

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at Williams College in Massachusetts. His name

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is Dr. Nolan, James Nolan, who started to raise

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funds in 2024, just a year ago, to build a new

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bell. To bring to Nagasaki. So here's the Nagasaki

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story. Would you like me to talk about? Oh, yeah,

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yeah. So you're talking about Urakami Cathedral,

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right? So it's a historic church. Yes. Let's

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talk about the bells first. Yes. Yes. So what

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happened to the bells? OK, so now we have to

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go back to history. 1945, August 9th. You know,

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the. the bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. And

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Nagasaki has been traditionally the center of

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Japanese Catholics, which was always a very,

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very small minority. And Urakami was the main

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cathedral that had two bell towers. And when

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the bomb fell, it fell very close to the cathedral.

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Many, many Catholics perished on that day. And

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out of the two bell towers, both of them were

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destroyed. heavily damaged. One was completely

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destroyed. The other one was heavily damaged,

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but they were able to salvage it. So since 1945,

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the two bell towers, one has been completely

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empty. And there's just the remains of the charred

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bell that has been on display and has never been

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replaced. So Urakami Cathedral has operated with

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just one bell. And so Dr. Nolan's idea was, well,

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he had visited Nagasaki. And here's another amazing

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story. Dr. Nolan's connection to Nagasaki, his

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grandfather was involved in the Manhattan Project

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that developed the atomic bomb. Wait, wait, wait.

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Dr. Nolan's father? His grandfather. A grandfather.

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Oh, my goodness. Yes. So he went to Nagasaki

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and he spoke. This is Dr. Nolan Jr. who is currently

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the professor at Williams College. He went and

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he met with the Nagasaki Christians, and one

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of the faithful congregants there came up and

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spoke to Dr. Nolan and said, wouldn't it be wonderful

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if during my lifetime I could see both bells

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again? And Dr. Nolan was so moved by that, he

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came back to the United States and began the

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project, which is called the Nagasaki Bell Project.

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Now, I mentioned earlier that these past few

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years since my dad's passing, I have always regularly

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Googled Nagasaki Bells, just to learn about what,

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and this is when I... came across the website

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that was taking donations for the rebuilding

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of the new bell. And I wanted to do something,

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you know, in memory of my father. So I made a

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very small donation in 2024, just a very modest.

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So then a few months later, in April, May, Right

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before I went to the retreat in June, I received

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an acknowledgement letter from Dr. Nolan, but

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I didn't look at things carefully. But when I

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came back from the retreat, the idea had solidified

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in my mind that I would do a concert in time

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for the August 8th. August 9th anniversary. But

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I did not know at that point that the new bell

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was going to be installed on that day. It was

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going to be rung to two bells together the first

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time in 80 years. So when I heard that, I wrote

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to Dr. Nolan and I said, I just want to let you

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know that And I shared with him a little bit

00:18:25.130 --> 00:18:27.789
about my father's story, how I learned about

00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:30.609
the Nagasaki bells because he sang the song and

00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:33.829
it has stayed with me all these years. And it

00:18:33.829 --> 00:18:37.190
planted a seed to my becoming Catholic, you know,

00:18:37.190 --> 00:18:40.650
10 years later. And I'm giving a concert and

00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:43.849
Dr. Nolan wrote back and he was very interested

00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:47.309
in my concert. And so he told me that the bells

00:18:47.309 --> 00:18:50.369
were already at that point on the way to Nagasaki

00:18:50.369 --> 00:18:54.859
and the new bell would be. consecrated and blessed

00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:59.579
at an installation ceremony on July 16th in Nagasaki.

00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:05.579
And then both bells would be rung together exactly

00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:10.460
at the time, 1103, I believe, on August 9. That's

00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:15.059
the time 80 years ago that the bomb fell. And

00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:18.059
it just gave me chills when I... Learned about

00:19:18.059 --> 00:19:21.759
that. So I went to my church. My new pastor had

00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:25.440
just come in, Monsignor Antonio. He came in on

00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:29.059
July 2nd. And I said, I would like to do a concert

00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:32.079
here. Would you approve it? And he loved the

00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.859
idea. So I had, what, four weeks to pull this

00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:39.380
together. Oh, my goodness. And that's why it

00:19:39.380 --> 00:19:45.059
was incredible. And this is the genesis of the

00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:48.680
concert. Wow. It's just so many layers, as I

00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.980
mentioned. It's just so beautifully, like timely,

00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:58.279
timely wise, like put together. And so I want

00:19:58.279 --> 00:20:01.640
to know about the song, the song that your father

00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:05.160
used to sing. The title was The Bells of Nagasaki,

00:20:05.299 --> 00:20:10.799
right? So he loved to sing, to sing the song

00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:18.230
because. He lived in Japan shortly. He studied

00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:22.829
in Tokyo right around that time. He was a medical

00:20:22.829 --> 00:20:26.230
student at Tokyo University. And he was actually

00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:31.109
in Tokyo during the ally raids that bombed Tokyo.

00:20:31.589 --> 00:20:35.910
So that was in May of 1945, just a few months

00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:40.369
before the bombs. The bombs fell in Hiroshima

00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:47.250
and Nagasaki, which brought the war to an end.

00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:51.769
But this part of the history, I only learned

00:20:51.769 --> 00:20:56.589
this year during my research of my father's story.

00:20:56.809 --> 00:21:00.109
So it just made everything more poignant to me

00:21:00.109 --> 00:21:03.549
to know that my father was actually in Tokyo.

00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:07.279
And maybe this is why the bombing, by the time

00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:10.779
of the Nagasaki bomb, my father had already left

00:21:10.779 --> 00:21:14.880
Japan, I believe. Because since he was a student

00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.900
in Tokyo and the university, his dormitory, everything

00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:21.440
was just in ruins, which is nothing but ashes.

00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.339
And many people died. And there was a phrase

00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:28.259
that he used in his autobiography about his experience.

00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:32.220
He said, I had nothing. All that remained was

00:21:32.220 --> 00:21:36.650
the shirt on my back. So he eventually went back

00:21:36.650 --> 00:21:39.410
to Taiwan and he did finish his last year of

00:21:39.410 --> 00:21:42.710
medical school at Taiwan University Medical College.

00:21:42.769 --> 00:21:45.710
So he did not complete his studies in Tokyo because

00:21:45.710 --> 00:21:52.990
there was nothing left. So the song was the seed.

00:21:53.569 --> 00:21:56.650
And, you know, because of the song, I was able

00:21:56.650 --> 00:22:00.789
to research about the Nagasaki story. But in

00:22:00.789 --> 00:22:05.170
terms of how I would. I'm a pianist. I'm not

00:22:05.170 --> 00:22:10.529
singing. And so again, I went back to the theme

00:22:10.529 --> 00:22:15.430
of bells and I was able to pull together. I wanted

00:22:15.430 --> 00:22:20.809
to, I call it the concert, I gave it the title

00:22:20.809 --> 00:22:24.170
of music for contemplation. It's in the middle

00:22:24.170 --> 00:22:26.710
of summer. We're in Southern California. Everybody's

00:22:26.710 --> 00:22:29.529
out. We're going to the beach. Who wants to come?

00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:33.519
to hear a concert about atomic bomb i didn't

00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:35.380
think that i would be able to have many people

00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:39.299
but i wanted to do it you know as just to to

00:22:39.299 --> 00:22:42.460
mark the the occasion and to to honor my father's

00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:48.799
memory um so i i had a piece the um rachmaninoff

00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.799
Prelude in G sharp minor, which I love to play.

00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:54.740
And I want to talk about that piece a little

00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:59.220
bit because that piece was used by one of the

00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:01.960
big churches in New York City during COVID to

00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:05.420
mark the first anniversary of COVID lockdowns.

00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:08.220
And the Marvel Collegiate Church, their wonderful

00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:11.480
tech department, used my recording and made a

00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:14.920
video montage. And that was beautiful. And I

00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:38.450
saw how people responded to that. There's a part

00:23:38.450 --> 00:23:41.049
in the G -sharp minor prelude when I studied

00:23:41.049 --> 00:23:44.410
with my great teacher Vitaly Margulis, who was

00:23:44.410 --> 00:23:48.809
Russian himself. He told me, Anli, do you hear

00:23:48.809 --> 00:23:52.970
the Russian bells in there? And I did not even

00:23:52.970 --> 00:23:56.650
think about it. And he was the one that really

00:23:56.650 --> 00:24:01.700
made me realize that Rachmaninoff loved. Because

00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:06.480
church bells rang every day to mark the hours

00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:11.140
in St. Petersburg, in Moscow, the big cathedrals.

00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:16.519
So the Russian consciousness is very much, you

00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:19.500
know, church bells is very much in their recess

00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:23.359
consciousness. And Rachmaninoff's music is full

00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:29.450
of the bell. because I wasn't planning to do

00:24:29.450 --> 00:24:32.529
a big program, again, because my hand had not

00:24:32.529 --> 00:24:36.450
recovered. So I wanted to open with that. But

00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:40.670
then I had recently performed the Rachmaninoff

00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:46.829
Trio Elegiac in G minor, actually about a year

00:24:46.829 --> 00:24:50.150
ago. That was right before I injured my hand.

00:24:50.369 --> 00:24:54.410
And that was a very special occasion also because

00:24:54.410 --> 00:24:59.579
that piece, Rachmaninoff wrote it when his mentor

00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:04.319
Tchaikovsky died. So it has that memorial aspect.

00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:07.960
So we ended up opening the program with a trio

00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:13.220
and I dedicated to all the lost souls from the

00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:16.700
atomic bombings. And so we had a very solid opening

00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:22.339
with the G minor. trio, and then followed by

00:25:22.339 --> 00:25:25.279
the G sharp minor prelude because of the Russian

00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:28.319
bells. And then after that, I followed it with

00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:33.319
a short piece by composer Frank La Rocca, who

00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:37.880
is considered the most, his Mass for the Americas

00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:41.680
was commissioned by Archbishop Cordileone. It's

00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:46.369
over an hour long. And so he's considered the

00:25:46.369 --> 00:25:49.410
most significant Catholic composer of our time.

00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:53.960
And I came across an early work of his before

00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:56.240
he started writing all this liturgical music.

00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:59.500
And it's called Meditation. And he wrote it for

00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:04.299
a friend who passed also. So it fit very, very

00:26:04.299 --> 00:26:08.640
nicely. It's entitled Meditation. And he actually

00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:10.539
came to the concert. It was a great honor that

00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:12.839
he came. Even though the piece was only three

00:26:12.839 --> 00:26:16.339
and a half minutes, he drove two hours from Claremont

00:26:16.339 --> 00:26:20.200
to come to my concert and just... It just, you

00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:24.500
know, it just fits so beautifully. And again,

00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:28.680
because it was very meditative and also, you

00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:32.960
know, for a friend to have passed. Then I played

00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:38.420
also, and it included, do you know the Earl Wilde

00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:41.000
transcriptions? He wrote a set of transcriptions

00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:44.740
on Rachmaninoff songs. Oh, I do not know Rachmaninoff.

00:26:45.529 --> 00:26:49.109
I studied a little bit with Earl and he helped

00:26:49.109 --> 00:26:53.869
me greatly, especially with Gershwin's Rhapsody

00:26:53.869 --> 00:26:55.849
in Blue when I was preparing that piece for orchestra

00:26:55.849 --> 00:26:59.670
performances. He was the most direct link I could

00:26:59.670 --> 00:27:03.329
find that's still living back to the, you know,

00:27:03.369 --> 00:27:07.309
Tim Pan Alley era. And so I was very inspired

00:27:07.309 --> 00:27:10.670
with what he shared with me. So he gave me...

00:27:11.210 --> 00:27:14.789
some gifts, which include his recordings of his

00:27:14.789 --> 00:27:17.230
transcriptions. So I listened to those songs

00:27:17.230 --> 00:27:19.869
every day and I fell in love with them. And there

00:27:19.869 --> 00:27:22.009
was one in particular that I learned right away.

00:27:22.130 --> 00:27:24.890
It's based on Rachmaninoff's song, Oh, Do Not

00:27:24.890 --> 00:27:30.650
Grieve. And the poetry is beautiful. It's based

00:27:30.650 --> 00:27:34.210
on the song by a Russian poet. Rachmaninoff wrote

00:27:34.210 --> 00:27:38.359
it first as a song. And then... Earl Wilde took

00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:41.059
Rachmaninoff's song and transcribed it for the

00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:43.700
piano. It's a gorgeous transcription that I have

00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:46.779
played many times. So I incorporated it into

00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:50.900
this program because I wanted the program to

00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:54.140
acknowledge the loss, to acknowledge the sorrow,

00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:56.920
to acknowledge all the mourning, but I wanted

00:27:56.920 --> 00:27:59.559
to bring it from that point on to something more

00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:03.359
hopeful. And Oh Do Not Grieve, the text begins

00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:06.859
with... Oh, do not grieve. Oh, do not grieve.

00:28:06.859 --> 00:28:12.279
But you must live. It is our part to live. And

00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:17.000
it is the angel sent by God to wipe our tears.

00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:21.500
So I want to bring it out of that. And that's

00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:26.839
actually underlined by Dr. Nagai, who wrote the

00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:30.480
book, The Bells of Nagasaki. He himself, his

00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:35.400
wife passed. in the cathedral bombing. And he

00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:38.579
died a couple of years later. And he's devoted

00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:42.039
his life to writing about the Nagasaki story

00:28:42.039 --> 00:28:46.140
and to encourage people to focus on forgiveness

00:28:46.140 --> 00:28:50.519
and hope. And that's the symbol. That's what

00:28:50.519 --> 00:28:53.960
the bell symbolizes. It's the message of forgiveness

00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:58.460
and hope. So I needed to... end on a note of

00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:02.420
hope so oh do not grieve was my transition and

00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:06.920
then i went um into actually our music director

00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:11.259
is a wonderful trumpet player so he played uh

00:29:11.259 --> 00:29:15.720
ave maria caccini's ave maria trumpet and i played

00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:18.680
it with him and you know it's like a vocalese

00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:22.680
sure No words, but everyone knows the text of

00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:27.220
Ave Maria. It's a prayer and also a prayer for

00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:30.799
the dead, as well as, you know, prayer for the

00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:34.619
hope for, you know, our next life in eternity.

00:29:34.819 --> 00:29:39.299
And that was gorgeous. And then I ended my solo

00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:45.019
part with this, the concert etude in D flat,

00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:51.589
which everyone knows as Un Suspiro. And I love

00:29:51.589 --> 00:29:54.670
playing that piece in conjunction with my faith

00:29:54.670 --> 00:30:00.329
-themed recitals, which I began to organize a

00:30:00.329 --> 00:30:03.430
few years ago. I call it music and musings. I

00:30:03.430 --> 00:30:06.450
would use either a verse, a Bible verse, or a

00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:11.789
poem that evokes faith. There's a Bible verse

00:30:11.789 --> 00:30:17.430
from Romans 8 that says, when we do not know

00:30:17.430 --> 00:30:21.259
how to... pray, when we have no words to pray,

00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:25.779
the Holy Spirit is uttering, making utterances

00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:32.220
or sighs for our prayers. So when I saw the title,

00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:35.859
this Unsa Spirit, which means a sigh, I loved

00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:40.059
it. So I used that for my performances with that

00:30:40.059 --> 00:30:45.279
verse. But for this program, somehow I began

00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:48.930
to realize that the ending Actually, he wrote

00:30:48.930 --> 00:30:52.950
a second ending. You know how lists always have

00:30:52.950 --> 00:30:56.869
alternate endings to his pieces. He did that,

00:30:56.910 --> 00:30:59.910
but there's an alternate ending that has a descending

00:30:59.910 --> 00:31:03.630
bass and the chords in the right hand just ascends

00:31:03.630 --> 00:31:06.650
higher and higher. And that's not often done

00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:10.380
in performances. He wrote as an alternate. ending

00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:13.859
but nobody uses it but for my program it is that

00:31:13.859 --> 00:31:16.920
ending that just makes all the difference because

00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:20.779
it sounds like the low bells in the tolling of

00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:23.579
the low bells and the right hand ascending is

00:31:23.579 --> 00:31:27.640
the ascend the ascending of hope it's an upward

00:31:27.640 --> 00:31:32.880
you know We're looking heavenward. And that actually

00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:36.700
encapsulates Franz Liszt for me as well. I put

00:31:36.700 --> 00:31:39.160
that in my program notes. Liszt was a man of

00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:43.180
duality. All his life, he lived as very much

00:31:43.180 --> 00:31:46.619
a man of the world, right? But he very much also

00:31:46.619 --> 00:31:49.859
wanted to be a priest. There's a faith aspect

00:31:49.859 --> 00:31:53.480
that he was always in this tug of war. Toward

00:31:53.480 --> 00:31:57.660
the end of his life, he actually went much, much

00:31:57.660 --> 00:32:00.740
more toward the spiritual aspect. So that alternate

00:32:00.740 --> 00:32:04.880
ending with the low descending baseline and the

00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:08.359
ascending... you know, he loved to use augmented

00:32:08.359 --> 00:32:11.859
chords, right? He would go from diminished to

00:32:11.859 --> 00:32:15.619
major to augmented, which was his way, his musical

00:32:15.619 --> 00:32:18.180
language. Whenever he used augmented chords,

00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:24.759
it symbolizes heaven. So I did that. And that

00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:29.180
was my transition. And I asked the organist to

00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:32.539
chime on the organ with the bell chimes. And

00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:36.380
I explained to my audience that this is, our

00:32:36.380 --> 00:32:39.940
anticipation of the ringing of the bells that

00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:43.720
would take place in Nagasaki on August 9th. So

00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:47.519
we chimed 10 times because on August 9th, they

00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:51.460
would ring the bells at the 11th hour in the

00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:55.500
morning. So that was my prelude to Nagasaki.

00:32:56.019 --> 00:33:01.779
And just an unbelievable set of circumstances

00:33:01.779 --> 00:33:05.960
we were able to get. the score, which was very

00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:09.640
hard to come by, of the song of Nagasaki itself

00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:14.579
that my dad sang. Yes. And it was actually a

00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:18.839
theme song of the movie based on Dr. Takashi

00:33:18.839 --> 00:33:22.380
Nagai. That's the man who wrote the Nagasaki

00:33:22.380 --> 00:33:26.359
story. Let's clarify a little bit, Dr. Nagai,

00:33:26.440 --> 00:33:28.440
because it sounds like, you know, the root of

00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:31.279
this whole project, well, for you, this concert

00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:34.019
comes from that song, right? So I didn't realize

00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:37.339
it's the theme song from the movie based on Dr.

00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:42.559
Takashi Nagai. You mentioned his wife passed

00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:46.299
away during the atomic bomb. And he survived.

00:33:46.339 --> 00:33:50.299
But I think a few years later, he also passed

00:33:50.299 --> 00:33:54.359
away. He had major health issues after the atomic

00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:58.460
bombing. But he was writing a memoir or something

00:33:58.460 --> 00:34:04.289
like that? Yes. He was a radiologist. So he was

00:34:04.289 --> 00:34:06.349
actually working in the hospital when the bombs

00:34:06.349 --> 00:34:08.829
fell. And that's why he was far away from the

00:34:08.829 --> 00:34:12.429
cathedral where that was the center where the

00:34:12.429 --> 00:34:16.110
bomb had the most damage. So he went back to

00:34:16.110 --> 00:34:19.929
the ruins. And the only thing he found, because

00:34:19.929 --> 00:34:24.550
everything was ashes, and he found his wife's

00:34:24.550 --> 00:34:29.679
rosary among the ashes. And that was how he could

00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:34.519
identify his wife's remains. And so based on

00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:39.380
that, he wrote a book of the story. And he said

00:34:39.380 --> 00:34:43.300
that finding the rosary gave him a lot of comfort

00:34:43.300 --> 00:34:46.840
because he realized that meant that his wife

00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.639
had the rosary and she was praying until the

00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:52.940
moment of her death and that she was most likely

00:34:52.940 --> 00:34:57.880
very much at peace. And so that was the basis

00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:01.000
of his book called The Bells of Nagasaki. In

00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:04.659
Japanese, it's called Nagasaki no Kane. Kane

00:35:04.659 --> 00:35:10.860
is bells. And that book became the basis of a

00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:14.639
movie that came out around 1950. The movie was

00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:19.340
made and became a big hit. So the song, Nagasaki

00:35:19.340 --> 00:35:22.500
Bells, that my father sang, was that theme song

00:35:22.500 --> 00:35:25.380
from the movie. So it was a kind of a popular

00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:28.400
arrangement, you know, that's why it was in karaoke.

00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:33.179
And I wanted to, I wanted to find a way to have

00:35:33.179 --> 00:35:37.059
that song sung, but it has to be sung in Japanese.

00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:40.980
But first of all, we could not find even my music

00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:43.639
director, we Google, we could not find even a

00:35:43.639 --> 00:35:48.139
score of that. song and but somehow you know

00:35:48.139 --> 00:35:51.219
with with help from my son -in -law who's a music

00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:55.739
consultant in in New York he was able to find

00:35:55.739 --> 00:36:00.179
a four -part you know choir arrangement but it's

00:36:00.179 --> 00:36:03.179
in Japanese so we were able to find an English

00:36:03.179 --> 00:36:05.900
translation and a kind lady from church then

00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:09.420
inserted the English translation but it also

00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:13.510
the Japanese pronunciation right into the score.

00:36:13.690 --> 00:36:17.250
So our church choir, none of them spoke Japanese.

00:36:17.630 --> 00:36:20.670
They were able to learn to sing the song in Japanese.

00:36:20.849 --> 00:36:24.849
And that became the finale of the concert. And

00:36:24.849 --> 00:36:28.829
it was an amazing moment. And people were in

00:36:28.829 --> 00:36:34.849
tears. It was so, so, so moving. And my part

00:36:34.849 --> 00:36:38.289
was done by then. I just sat in the front pew

00:36:38.289 --> 00:36:42.690
and I enjoyed. hearing the song. And it was an

00:36:42.690 --> 00:36:47.289
amazing kind of a full circle moment. So many

00:36:47.289 --> 00:36:50.469
elements just came together as one. But I think

00:36:50.469 --> 00:36:52.730
you also have to mention that the church itself

00:36:52.730 --> 00:36:56.650
had some sort of a meaning, right? The church

00:36:56.650 --> 00:36:59.829
that you performed at. Is that the church that

00:36:59.829 --> 00:37:04.369
you belong to? Yes, it's my parish. And so I

00:37:04.369 --> 00:37:06.610
have been a parishioner only for three years.

00:37:06.690 --> 00:37:11.239
And because Because of the COVID pandemic, when

00:37:11.239 --> 00:37:14.619
I became a church member, I really didn't know

00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:18.420
too many people. And so to pull this together,

00:37:18.519 --> 00:37:22.210
I barely knew the music director. But without

00:37:22.210 --> 00:37:24.469
his help, we could not have made this happen.

00:37:24.590 --> 00:37:27.610
So Grant Hungerford, who was the trumpet, also

00:37:27.610 --> 00:37:31.289
the music director, he became my partner in all

00:37:31.289 --> 00:37:33.769
of this. And also my sponsor into the church,

00:37:33.909 --> 00:37:38.110
Lenay Belsky, helped me to coordinate a lot of

00:37:38.110 --> 00:37:41.489
things. So it was just all of these things together.

00:37:42.090 --> 00:37:46.809
And I did not know that people were... resonate

00:37:46.809 --> 00:37:49.530
with the story so much. In fact, another friend

00:37:49.530 --> 00:37:52.110
came and said, well, this is such an amazing

00:37:52.110 --> 00:37:56.090
story. We must get the local press to cover it,

00:37:56.110 --> 00:37:59.190
maybe even just an announcement. And lo and behold,

00:37:59.329 --> 00:38:01.690
they asked me for an interview and they said,

00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:04.010
well, just be a very short interview, a very

00:38:04.010 --> 00:38:09.269
short article, maybe just a mention of the story.

00:38:09.710 --> 00:38:13.230
And then three days later, they called me. They

00:38:13.230 --> 00:38:16.360
said they would make it the cover story. Oh,

00:38:16.360 --> 00:38:21.480
my goodness. Wow. Three days after our interview,

00:38:21.699 --> 00:38:24.380
two days before the magazine had to go to print,

00:38:24.440 --> 00:38:26.420
they called me and said, we're going to make

00:38:26.420 --> 00:38:32.699
this the cover story. And the writer, Bondo Vistanuski,

00:38:32.760 --> 00:38:37.880
I'm sorry, I just said it wrong, Vispolsky, Bondo,

00:38:37.960 --> 00:38:41.559
he did such an amazing article and laid out the

00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:45.619
whole history. And he included my father's photo.

00:38:45.940 --> 00:38:49.340
It says the bells may stop, but the ringing continues.

00:38:49.699 --> 00:38:53.000
He included a picture of the before and after

00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:59.260
picture of the Nagasaki Cathedral. And it's just

00:38:59.260 --> 00:39:02.280
an amazing story that he, as you said, there

00:39:02.280 --> 00:39:05.280
are so many layers to this story. I don't know

00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.119
how after one hour of interview, he was able

00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:11.659
to. pull all these threads together. And I have

00:39:11.659 --> 00:39:16.360
a feeling because I was expecting 75 to 100 people

00:39:16.360 --> 00:39:19.739
at most, because so many people were either away

00:39:19.739 --> 00:39:22.519
traveling or, you know, during the summertime.

00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:25.300
Yeah, exactly. You know, half of the people that

00:39:25.300 --> 00:39:27.699
heard about the concert said, I'm so sorry, we

00:39:27.699 --> 00:39:31.159
had planned a long time ago to be away, you know.

00:39:31.980 --> 00:39:34.820
So I told the church asked me how many programs

00:39:34.820 --> 00:39:38.829
and I said, Well, maybe 100, maybe 75 people

00:39:38.829 --> 00:39:42.170
will come and I'll keep a few extra copies. They

00:39:42.170 --> 00:39:44.530
ended up printing 300. I guess they knew better.

00:39:45.130 --> 00:39:50.670
And the day after the concert, the music director

00:39:50.670 --> 00:39:53.969
called me and he said, Anli, do you know we ran

00:39:53.969 --> 00:39:56.530
out of programs? And I said, I didn't know. I

00:39:56.530 --> 00:39:59.570
could see it was a full house. He said 500 people.

00:40:01.949 --> 00:40:06.000
The concert. Oh, my goodness. Wow. And so you're

00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:11.260
talking about a local church with a last minute

00:40:11.260 --> 00:40:14.139
concert that pulled together. Something touched

00:40:14.139 --> 00:40:18.800
people about this concert. What do you think

00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:22.320
that was? You know, it's very interesting. And

00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:26.800
I couldn't put my finger on it. And even as we

00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:29.820
got closer to the concert that whole week, and

00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:32.320
I was going crazy because I was writing the program

00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:36.019
notes. And then I had my... One rehearsal with

00:40:36.019 --> 00:40:40.900
my trio, and then I incorporated poetry reading

00:40:40.900 --> 00:40:43.679
as part of the program. For example, before the

00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:47.579
Rachmaninoff, I asked someone to recite, you

00:40:47.579 --> 00:40:51.719
know, the John Donne poem, All for Whom the Bell

00:40:51.719 --> 00:40:54.980
Tolls. It's a beautiful poem. So I had asked

00:40:54.980 --> 00:40:59.039
one of the lectern recitation. We have people

00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:02.119
that recite. Bible passages. And here's a gentleman,

00:41:02.260 --> 00:41:05.139
Anthony, who has a beautiful South African accent.

00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:08.659
And I said, would you kindly do the honor of

00:41:08.659 --> 00:41:13.099
reciting the poem for whom the bell tolls? And

00:41:13.099 --> 00:41:15.739
even before the concert, he came to me and he

00:41:15.739 --> 00:41:21.460
said, Anli, something about your concert touches

00:41:21.460 --> 00:41:25.250
a nerve in our community. But at that time, I

00:41:25.250 --> 00:41:28.489
didn't know what he meant. It was after the concert.

00:41:28.550 --> 00:41:31.489
And I saw how many people showed up. You know,

00:41:31.550 --> 00:41:33.929
I don't know where the people came from. And

00:41:33.929 --> 00:41:37.369
then in the greet and meet afterwards, people

00:41:37.369 --> 00:41:41.130
were coming up in tears. And then my friends

00:41:41.130 --> 00:41:44.329
were sending me text messages. They were overhearing

00:41:44.329 --> 00:41:47.110
things when they went to the parking lot. They

00:41:47.110 --> 00:41:53.130
overheard what people were saying. It's from

00:41:53.130 --> 00:41:56.690
these peripheral things that I began to understand

00:41:56.690 --> 00:42:03.289
the power of music. It had to come through music.

00:42:03.550 --> 00:42:08.730
And that was what I could offer. But when you

00:42:08.730 --> 00:42:15.909
use music in a way that I think goes right back

00:42:15.909 --> 00:42:20.579
to what Johann Sebastian Bach, one of my... just

00:42:20.579 --> 00:42:26.199
one of my all -time sources of inspiration for

00:42:26.199 --> 00:42:31.719
music. He said, and I will read the quote, Bach

00:42:31.719 --> 00:42:38.519
wrote this in 1738. He said, the original cause

00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:46.880
of finish and end of all music should be nothing

00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:52.320
other than... to be for the worship of god and

00:42:52.320 --> 00:42:58.820
the re -creation of the spirit and i think for

00:42:58.820 --> 00:43:03.199
me it goes back to that this is you know for

00:43:03.199 --> 00:43:05.820
pianists our music doesn't go much further back

00:43:05.820 --> 00:43:10.300
than johann sebastian bach and so all the inspiration

00:43:10.300 --> 00:43:14.960
i and i share with this with my students all

00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:22.000
the time that bach his insignia was sdg every

00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:26.280
piece at the end of a piece he signs his name

00:43:26.280 --> 00:43:31.159
with sdg and what does that mean soli deo gloria

00:43:31.159 --> 00:43:39.400
which means for god's for god's glory alone and

00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:44.539
that was his purpose for his music and if we

00:43:44.539 --> 00:43:48.980
go back to that If we're able to use music for

00:43:48.980 --> 00:43:53.300
that end, the original cause of finish and end

00:43:53.300 --> 00:43:57.159
of music, this is exactly what he said, should

00:43:57.159 --> 00:44:00.800
be for nothing other than for the worship of

00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:05.960
God, only to his, all for God's glory. So I think

00:44:05.960 --> 00:44:11.039
this was a case where the music and the God element,

00:44:11.139 --> 00:44:15.599
because it came from What was in my heart and

00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:20.199
also the message of the bells, the suffering

00:44:20.199 --> 00:44:23.400
of the Nagasaki Christians, which did not begin

00:44:23.400 --> 00:44:26.840
with a Nagasaki bombing. Actually, the story

00:44:26.840 --> 00:44:30.199
of the Nagasaki Christian began in the 16th century

00:44:30.199 --> 00:44:36.260
when the European missionaries first converted,

00:44:36.420 --> 00:44:40.500
started to convert Japanese locals. And the shoguns

00:44:40.500 --> 00:44:43.780
did not like that. the Catholics were made to

00:44:43.780 --> 00:44:46.380
choose between their allegiance to the shoguns

00:44:46.380 --> 00:44:49.639
or to God. And if they chose God, they would

00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:53.159
be crucified. So there were many, many Christians

00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:55.619
that were crucified along with the missionaries.

00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:58.579
And then after that, for centuries, they went

00:44:58.579 --> 00:45:02.760
into hiding. And in fact, the year after my father

00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:06.599
passed away, you know, because I kept this idea

00:45:06.599 --> 00:45:12.780
in my mind, Martin Scorsese. The big Hollywood

00:45:12.780 --> 00:45:16.360
name director came out with a movie called Silence.

00:45:16.659 --> 00:45:19.519
Do you know that movie? No, I'm not familiar.

00:45:19.880 --> 00:45:23.119
And it means silence. It's exactly about those

00:45:23.119 --> 00:45:26.980
16th century Japanese Christians who were crucified.

00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:30.260
And so when that movie came out, I thought, oh,

00:45:30.280 --> 00:45:32.179
wow. And I still wasn't a Catholic yet. I was

00:45:32.179 --> 00:45:36.210
wondering why my father left me with this. seed

00:45:36.210 --> 00:45:39.349
in my heart. So I paid a lot of attention to

00:45:39.349 --> 00:45:41.550
anything that fell in line. And I thought, well,

00:45:41.829 --> 00:45:45.329
you know, one year after my father's death, this

00:45:45.329 --> 00:45:48.230
big movie that won all kinds of Academy Awards

00:45:48.230 --> 00:45:50.849
is exactly about that story that my dad told

00:45:50.849 --> 00:45:54.010
me. He didn't tell me just about Dr. Nagai and

00:45:54.010 --> 00:45:57.650
Nagasaki. He told me about the 16th century Christians

00:45:57.650 --> 00:46:01.800
that were crucified. So again, it goes back,

00:46:01.820 --> 00:46:05.440
and it's amazing how these things align. My father's

00:46:05.440 --> 00:46:09.000
song, the stories he told me, and the way the

00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:11.860
last 10 years unfolded, that takes me right back

00:46:11.860 --> 00:46:18.960
to 80 years ago, March this year. And I don't

00:46:18.960 --> 00:46:25.079
know, it's the confluence of events. if you are

00:46:25.079 --> 00:46:28.159
a christian and this is my perspective everything

00:46:28.159 --> 00:46:32.739
comes from this perspective is there's the spirit

00:46:32.739 --> 00:46:37.619
is at work and you know where you think that

00:46:37.619 --> 00:46:40.199
things are not quite possible because of limitation

00:46:40.199 --> 00:46:44.719
in time the limitation of my own piano technique

00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:48.269
you know How could I make this happen? And how

00:46:48.269 --> 00:46:51.909
did so many people come? Why were they so, so

00:46:51.909 --> 00:46:56.190
moved? And I kept thinking, it's not about me.

00:46:56.309 --> 00:47:00.610
That was one thing that I received, a message

00:47:00.610 --> 00:47:03.730
that I received. It's not about me. I was just

00:47:03.730 --> 00:47:08.150
a vessel. Even music itself is a vessel. Right.

00:47:08.530 --> 00:47:13.050
But how are you processing right now? I still

00:47:13.050 --> 00:47:17.510
feel the passion and heat. Coming from you, I

00:47:17.510 --> 00:47:20.829
feel like you're still like maybe processing

00:47:20.829 --> 00:47:28.230
the event. Yes. So the event, it was almost a

00:47:28.230 --> 00:47:32.210
way, a door, a new door that opened. Yes, the

00:47:32.210 --> 00:47:34.610
event is finished and we can't do this because

00:47:34.610 --> 00:47:37.650
the 80th anniversary of the bombing is done.

00:47:37.889 --> 00:47:41.809
So that whole part is closed. But what it showed

00:47:41.809 --> 00:47:46.679
me was. Very much in terms of my personal, and

00:47:46.679 --> 00:47:50.739
we can say passion or my goal, my inspiration.

00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:54.940
And it goes right back to my childhood. And things

00:47:54.940 --> 00:47:57.599
are now beginning to make sense. When I began

00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:00.579
piano as a five -year -old in Taiwan as a child,

00:48:00.739 --> 00:48:03.860
and my family being very devoted Christians in

00:48:03.860 --> 00:48:07.300
the Presbyterian Church, I was sent very early

00:48:07.300 --> 00:48:11.940
on to study music in New York. And so I lived

00:48:11.940 --> 00:48:16.679
on my own since, you know, sixth grade and in

00:48:16.679 --> 00:48:18.920
elementary school in this country without my

00:48:18.920 --> 00:48:23.760
family. And it was always impressed upon me by

00:48:23.760 --> 00:48:28.460
my parents that my music was to serve God. But

00:48:28.460 --> 00:48:32.539
all these years, I didn't understand how I was

00:48:32.539 --> 00:48:35.380
to do that. Does that mean just playing as a

00:48:35.380 --> 00:48:37.719
church pianist, which I did a lot, you know,

00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:40.460
even all those years when I was growing up, wherever

00:48:40.460 --> 00:48:43.780
I was at a church, if we were there for more

00:48:43.780 --> 00:48:46.440
than a year, I would, you know, help out to be

00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:49.599
the church pianist. And if I went back to Taiwan,

00:48:49.780 --> 00:48:53.380
I would play for services. But, you know, I think

00:48:53.380 --> 00:48:57.619
God has something else in mind because I look

00:48:57.619 --> 00:48:59.840
back to my life and I said, I didn't have to

00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:03.260
leave home. to go to a foreign country, to be

00:49:03.260 --> 00:49:06.760
a pianist, to do that. Plenty of pianists can

00:49:06.760 --> 00:49:12.539
do that, right? And I think now my life makes

00:49:12.539 --> 00:49:16.260
sense because of all these things, because of

00:49:16.260 --> 00:49:19.179
what I have gone through, because of my family

00:49:19.179 --> 00:49:21.320
background and the seed that was planted very

00:49:21.320 --> 00:49:26.539
early on, what the music was for, which coincides

00:49:26.539 --> 00:49:31.059
exactly with what Bach wrote. It's nothing. for

00:49:31.059 --> 00:49:55.500
nothing else but for the worship of God. I guess

00:49:55.500 --> 00:49:58.019
I want to talk about your father now, and he

00:49:58.019 --> 00:50:02.340
nurtured your talent. And he literally tutored

00:50:02.340 --> 00:50:06.639
you at the piano, right? So there's a special

00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:09.480
connection to this concert you mentioned that

00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:12.940
the inspiration came from your father's singing

00:50:12.940 --> 00:50:18.920
this song at karaoke, right? But then there is

00:50:18.920 --> 00:50:21.280
a lot more story with your father's relationship.

00:50:21.559 --> 00:50:25.980
So can you tell us about how did you, you briefly

00:50:25.980 --> 00:50:29.650
mentioned you about... how you started your musical

00:50:29.650 --> 00:50:31.590
journey and it came to the United States on your

00:50:31.590 --> 00:50:36.210
own. But let's start with your father. Yes. So

00:50:36.210 --> 00:50:39.750
my father was by profession, a doctor, a surgeon,

00:50:39.829 --> 00:50:44.989
and he had quite an extraordinary life. In fact,

00:50:44.989 --> 00:50:47.570
there are documentaries about him and books about

00:50:47.570 --> 00:50:54.630
him. Really? Yes. So he, you know, we can consider

00:50:54.630 --> 00:51:00.179
his life was really. a product of time and place

00:51:00.179 --> 00:51:04.900
time being the upheavals of world war ii and

00:51:04.900 --> 00:51:08.780
the subsequent political changes in taiwan which

00:51:08.780 --> 00:51:15.280
is my native homeland and the so Just to kind

00:51:15.280 --> 00:51:18.099
of make it short, after he came back from Japan

00:51:18.099 --> 00:51:21.460
because Tokyo was bombed, he came back to Taiwan

00:51:21.460 --> 00:51:25.440
and began his studies at Taiwan's, it's the most

00:51:25.440 --> 00:51:29.199
elite medical school, the Taiwan University Medical

00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:32.860
School. But around the same time in 1948, 49,

00:51:33.519 --> 00:51:38.440
Taiwan had just... was coming out of the Japanese

00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:41.739
colonial era. And because Japan lost the war,

00:51:41.980 --> 00:51:46.199
the allies took over Taiwan, but they didn't

00:51:46.199 --> 00:51:49.320
have a chance to settle the question of what

00:51:49.320 --> 00:51:53.059
was Taiwan going to be. And China, in China,

00:51:53.059 --> 00:51:56.119
the civil war broke out between the communists

00:51:56.119 --> 00:51:59.360
and the nationalists, and the nationalists lost.

00:51:59.699 --> 00:52:04.860
So if you remember, in World War II, The Allies

00:52:04.860 --> 00:52:08.840
included China, the United States, and Great

00:52:08.840 --> 00:52:11.980
Britain. The Axis included Japan and Germany,

00:52:12.260 --> 00:52:15.980
you know, and Italy. So Japan and China were

00:52:15.980 --> 00:52:21.159
opposite ends. For my father's generation, they

00:52:21.159 --> 00:52:23.780
went through a period. They thought they were

00:52:23.780 --> 00:52:27.019
Japanese because they grew up under 50 years

00:52:27.019 --> 00:52:31.590
of Japanese colonial governance. For my parents,

00:52:31.690 --> 00:52:33.670
Japanese was almost like their native tongue.

00:52:34.170 --> 00:52:36.869
And they didn't even know anything about China.

00:52:37.030 --> 00:52:41.289
And then after the war, that's gone. And a new

00:52:41.289 --> 00:52:46.690
government came to Taiwan first. was supposed

00:52:46.690 --> 00:52:49.250
to be a government in exile because when they

00:52:49.250 --> 00:52:51.710
lost to the communists the united states being

00:52:51.710 --> 00:52:53.809
allied partners with the nationalists during

00:52:53.809 --> 00:52:56.429
world war ii wanted to help them so they said

00:52:56.429 --> 00:52:59.949
come over to taiwan which is under u .s jurisdiction

00:52:59.949 --> 00:53:04.010
and wait you know and stay here and they were

00:53:04.010 --> 00:53:07.579
hoping to fight back to recover all of China.

00:53:07.679 --> 00:53:10.840
That never happened. So that nationalist government

00:53:10.840 --> 00:53:14.420
became entrenched in the Taiwanese geography,

00:53:14.980 --> 00:53:17.860
the territory. But of course, as you know, when

00:53:17.860 --> 00:53:23.300
you have these forces that conflict, the Japanese

00:53:23.300 --> 00:53:31.199
made Taiwan a very organized But most people

00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:35.019
spoke Japanese and the Chinese came. There was

00:53:35.019 --> 00:53:37.920
a lot of conflict. So out of these conflicts,

00:53:38.219 --> 00:53:44.000
people were arrested, of course, you know, and

00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:48.380
the nationalists began 40 to almost 50 years

00:53:48.380 --> 00:53:50.559
of martial law. It's the longest period of martial

00:53:50.559 --> 00:53:54.340
law in the world. So there was, you know, it

00:53:54.340 --> 00:53:58.119
was just they call it the white. terror era.

00:53:58.239 --> 00:54:02.320
And during that period, my father with his university

00:54:02.320 --> 00:54:05.719
medical school classmates, lots of them were

00:54:05.719 --> 00:54:08.579
all arrested because they participated in reading

00:54:08.579 --> 00:54:10.659
clubs that they were reading books that were

00:54:10.659 --> 00:54:13.679
not, you know, approved by the nationalist government.

00:54:13.840 --> 00:54:17.920
And instead of, you know, looking at everybody's

00:54:17.920 --> 00:54:20.019
record, they just rounded everybody up. And then

00:54:20.019 --> 00:54:22.380
all these prisoners, because Taiwan is a small

00:54:22.380 --> 00:54:25.019
island, so they were all shipped to a remote

00:54:25.019 --> 00:54:29.349
island. It's called the Green Island. So my father

00:54:29.349 --> 00:54:32.010
was a political prisoner for seven to eight years.

00:54:32.690 --> 00:54:37.809
Yeah, so this was all the time before I was born.

00:54:37.889 --> 00:54:39.909
So I did not know anything about my father's

00:54:39.909 --> 00:54:43.530
life. So that's a whole different story. And

00:54:43.530 --> 00:54:46.130
it's a beautiful, actually a beautiful story

00:54:46.130 --> 00:54:49.969
that's come out of that. I gave a lecture once,

00:54:50.010 --> 00:54:53.800
I call it... They sang and sang because I learned

00:54:53.800 --> 00:54:57.260
later on when I visited my father toward the

00:54:57.260 --> 00:55:00.059
end of his life that many of those inmates, they

00:55:00.059 --> 00:55:02.260
were highly educated people, you know, lots of

00:55:02.260 --> 00:55:04.440
doctors, lawyers. And, you know, my father had

00:55:04.440 --> 00:55:08.119
his fellow doctors, too. And they were, you know,

00:55:08.139 --> 00:55:10.500
part of their education. A lot of them love classical

00:55:10.500 --> 00:55:13.500
music. A lot of a lot of them love music, you

00:55:13.500 --> 00:55:16.619
know, to begin with. And they would make they

00:55:16.619 --> 00:55:19.380
would. use wood from the tree and whatever. They

00:55:19.380 --> 00:55:21.199
make their own instruments. They created their

00:55:21.199 --> 00:55:26.980
own band and they love to sing. So singing was

00:55:26.980 --> 00:55:32.280
one of the ways they sustain their spirit. And

00:55:32.280 --> 00:55:34.940
so my father, after he retired, he taught himself

00:55:34.940 --> 00:55:38.909
how to compose. He wrote over 30... Christian

00:55:38.909 --> 00:55:41.829
hymns. He wrote pieces that had been transcribed

00:55:41.829 --> 00:55:44.510
for solo piano that I had performed. So this

00:55:44.510 --> 00:55:47.570
musical seed in him, maybe that's where the seed

00:55:47.570 --> 00:55:51.409
came from. And he also says that he was able

00:55:51.409 --> 00:55:55.269
to sustain his spirit because some of the prisoners

00:55:55.269 --> 00:55:57.429
came out, either they were executed or even if

00:55:57.429 --> 00:56:00.190
they survived, they never were the same. But

00:56:00.190 --> 00:56:03.269
my father came out of the eight years of imprisonment.

00:56:03.349 --> 00:56:06.730
Not only that, he continued to practice medicine.

00:56:06.769 --> 00:56:10.469
He raised family. We were all born after that.

00:56:10.570 --> 00:56:15.530
And he became a church elder. He transcribed

00:56:15.530 --> 00:56:18.369
the first Taiwanese Bible in his retirement.

00:56:19.150 --> 00:56:21.690
Oh, my goodness. And he taught himself to compose.

00:56:21.969 --> 00:56:26.289
He has published music. Incredible person. And

00:56:26.289 --> 00:56:30.150
what I saw in him was never any bitterness. He

00:56:30.150 --> 00:56:33.880
never talked about the hardship. The hardships

00:56:33.880 --> 00:56:37.000
of those prison years, I had to learn from reading

00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:40.300
other things. But from him, if you looked at

00:56:40.300 --> 00:56:42.940
my father, he would have big smiles. He loved

00:56:42.940 --> 00:56:45.059
to talk, but he didn't do small talk. He was

00:56:45.059 --> 00:56:48.320
always talking about philosophy. Then I learned

00:56:48.320 --> 00:56:52.800
that his favorite author was, you know, his favorite

00:56:52.800 --> 00:56:58.239
literature was Les Miserables. And it's the theme

00:56:58.239 --> 00:57:02.900
of redemption. Yeah, less than a year before

00:57:02.900 --> 00:57:05.599
he passed, one of our most profound conversations

00:57:05.599 --> 00:57:11.679
was about Zhang Baozhan. And the theme of, and

00:57:11.679 --> 00:57:16.519
that's when he told me, he says, Anli, this is

00:57:16.519 --> 00:57:20.099
what you need to remember. I sent you away when

00:57:20.099 --> 00:57:23.639
you were little because your mom and I were told

00:57:23.639 --> 00:57:26.780
by all the teachers who heard you play that you

00:57:26.780 --> 00:57:29.980
had a certain talent. And I didn't think that.

00:57:30.360 --> 00:57:32.760
You staying in Taiwan, we could give you that

00:57:32.760 --> 00:57:37.840
environment. And so I sent you away because my

00:57:37.840 --> 00:57:41.619
father, these were his words. Musicians, artists

00:57:41.619 --> 00:57:46.480
have a unique role to play. You have a unique

00:57:46.480 --> 00:57:52.539
ability to help and bring betterment to humanity

00:57:52.539 --> 00:57:57.719
in a way that politicians, economists and bankers,

00:57:57.719 --> 00:58:00.860
you know, others, people. They cannot do. But

00:58:00.860 --> 00:58:05.559
musicians, artists can do that. So that was the

00:58:05.559 --> 00:58:09.039
conversation that I took from the end of my father's

00:58:09.039 --> 00:58:12.599
life. He instilled in me that I had to use my

00:58:12.599 --> 00:58:16.820
music to serve humanity. And I call it his belief

00:58:16.820 --> 00:58:20.280
in the nobility of the arts. So for the last

00:58:20.280 --> 00:58:23.480
10 years, this has been what has been on my mind.

00:58:23.539 --> 00:58:28.300
And now with my new faith journey, it's... another

00:58:28.300 --> 00:58:32.820
dimension yeah but it really does make sense

00:58:32.820 --> 00:58:36.880
that you came to this point right but I also

00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:40.000
want to know how in the world you were able to

00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:42.239
go to the United States on your own as a child

00:58:42.239 --> 00:58:46.980
I want to know that journey yes and I cannot

00:58:46.980 --> 00:58:49.219
tell you how many people have told me that I

00:58:49.219 --> 00:58:52.840
need to write a book and I have never felt ready

00:58:52.840 --> 00:58:54.780
to write my book because I didn't understand

00:58:54.780 --> 00:58:58.860
my life I didn't understand it. And as I said,

00:58:58.980 --> 00:59:02.280
this is the first time that I am beginning to

00:59:02.280 --> 00:59:06.579
see that my life makes sense. You know, because

00:59:06.579 --> 00:59:09.780
how many pianists, wonderful, fantastic pianists

00:59:09.780 --> 00:59:13.400
are there in this world, right? No one has to

00:59:13.400 --> 00:59:16.940
leave home as a little girl to go to a foreign

00:59:16.940 --> 00:59:20.280
country and live by herself, which is what I

00:59:20.280 --> 00:59:24.130
did. I was put on an airplane. I had a little

00:59:24.130 --> 00:59:28.349
doll that i chose to be my travel companion and

00:59:28.349 --> 00:59:31.869
i flew i stopped by in los angeles where i had

00:59:31.869 --> 00:59:36.710
family and that was the idea was i would go to

00:59:36.710 --> 00:59:39.789
new york and stay with my father's sister my

00:59:39.789 --> 00:59:44.570
aunt however and my older sister who was living

00:59:44.570 --> 00:59:48.030
in Los Angeles, decided to join me once I arrived.

00:59:48.250 --> 00:59:50.489
So she went with me to New York. But she got

00:59:50.489 --> 00:59:52.909
married within three months. So shortly after

00:59:52.909 --> 00:59:55.889
that, I was really on my own. So I would rent

00:59:55.889 --> 01:00:01.150
a room in somebody's apartment. And there would

01:00:01.150 --> 01:00:03.690
be a little piano. My parents, you know, bought

01:00:03.690 --> 01:00:07.670
me a little upright piano. So my room would be

01:00:07.670 --> 01:00:11.320
just my bed. and my piano. And I went to two

01:00:11.320 --> 01:00:13.500
schools. I went to Juilliard Pre -College for

01:00:13.500 --> 01:00:16.219
music, and I went to a regular school for regular

01:00:16.219 --> 01:00:19.300
school day. But I did all the cooking, paying

01:00:19.300 --> 01:00:24.480
rent, all my laundry on my own. So I was living

01:00:24.480 --> 01:00:29.519
exactly like that. Wow, that's impressive. Wow.

01:00:29.639 --> 01:00:34.659
So then there's a story of a very influential

01:00:34.659 --> 01:00:38.679
teacher. That you met when you were still very

01:00:38.679 --> 01:00:42.320
small. Nine years old. Nine years old in Taiwan,

01:00:42.519 --> 01:00:46.619
right? Yes. Yes. His name is Mircheslav Muntz.

01:00:46.679 --> 01:00:50.219
Of course, he is a very well -known teacher and

01:00:50.219 --> 01:00:53.820
also pianist of that time. And so he came to

01:00:53.820 --> 01:00:58.139
Taiwan and you met him. Yes. Yes. I was brought

01:00:58.139 --> 01:01:02.920
to play for him. And, you know, how these great

01:01:02.920 --> 01:01:06.300
masters, they travel the world. And they hear

01:01:06.300 --> 01:01:08.960
students. And then if they like them, they'll

01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:13.280
invite them to come and study. And Mr. Moons

01:01:13.280 --> 01:01:16.000
happened to love teaching young students. He

01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.260
was already a professor at Juilliard. He taught

01:01:18.260 --> 01:01:20.739
at Curtis. He taught at Peabody. He taught at

01:01:20.739 --> 01:01:23.739
Manhattan. But I think he specialized in bringing

01:01:23.739 --> 01:01:26.480
very young talents. As you know, Emmanuel Axe

01:01:26.480 --> 01:01:28.719
was very young, too, when he started with Moons

01:01:28.719 --> 01:01:32.679
and studied until he became a great artist. In

01:01:32.679 --> 01:01:35.199
fact, one of my first lessons at Juilliard Pre

01:01:35.199 --> 01:01:38.320
-College, I remember somebody coming into the

01:01:38.320 --> 01:01:41.179
studio, and I barely spoke any English. And it

01:01:41.179 --> 01:01:43.880
was this big guy, it turned out to be Emmanuel

01:01:43.880 --> 01:01:47.099
Axe, who was... who spoke Polish. And the two

01:01:47.099 --> 01:01:50.480
of them, my teacher, they were just they were

01:01:50.480 --> 01:01:52.820
just speaking Polish. And I looked at them. I

01:01:52.820 --> 01:01:54.579
didn't know what they were saying. But, you know,

01:01:54.619 --> 01:01:56.940
I was I was his only student at that time in

01:01:56.940 --> 01:01:59.440
pre -college, which I didn't know, you know,

01:01:59.440 --> 01:02:01.219
because when you're young, you don't know. I

01:02:01.219 --> 01:02:05.949
met him. He liked my playing. And after I played

01:02:05.949 --> 01:02:08.650
for him, my teacher summoned my mother and said,

01:02:08.690 --> 01:02:10.769
Mr. Moons wants to talk to you. I don't know

01:02:10.769 --> 01:02:12.230
what they said. I was just a kid. I went out

01:02:12.230 --> 01:02:15.329
to play. And then my mother came home and told

01:02:15.329 --> 01:02:19.070
my father, Mr. Moons wants Anli to go to America

01:02:19.070 --> 01:02:22.449
to study with him and that he would take her

01:02:22.449 --> 01:02:25.949
at the Juilliard School. Yeah, back then it was

01:02:25.949 --> 01:02:28.889
like going to the moon to go from Taiwan. And

01:02:28.889 --> 01:02:31.550
my parents, because as I said, Taiwan was under

01:02:31.550 --> 01:02:34.239
martial law. There was no immigration. allowed

01:02:34.239 --> 01:02:37.719
so there was no question that i had to go by

01:02:37.719 --> 01:02:44.920
myself um wow i see okay yeah but you your parents

01:02:44.920 --> 01:02:48.119
you know supported you and you made the move

01:02:48.119 --> 01:02:51.219
and they here you are today but later in your

01:02:51.219 --> 01:02:55.119
life you wrote a deeply moving article in search

01:02:55.119 --> 01:02:58.739
of mere chest love months to ensure that his

01:02:58.739 --> 01:03:01.019
artistry and legacy would not be forgotten so

01:03:01.019 --> 01:03:04.190
what inspired you to write that piece again,

01:03:04.190 --> 01:03:08.349
it's about the life behind every artist, right?

01:03:08.869 --> 01:03:11.610
So because I was his youngest, I didn't know

01:03:11.610 --> 01:03:14.449
much about his life. And then he passed. After

01:03:14.449 --> 01:03:18.590
that, I was still, you know, a child and I floundered

01:03:18.590 --> 01:03:22.210
around, moved around, then lived for a couple

01:03:22.210 --> 01:03:26.110
of years in Ohio with my older sister, but there

01:03:26.110 --> 01:03:29.610
was not much happening. And I decided that I

01:03:29.610 --> 01:03:33.179
found a way to get into Interlochen on my own

01:03:33.179 --> 01:03:34.960
because that would solve all of my problems.

01:03:35.059 --> 01:03:37.420
I would get music and I would get housing, right?

01:03:37.599 --> 01:03:40.239
And that's where I met Dr. Kunrat, who was a

01:03:40.239 --> 01:03:42.880
wonderful teacher for me. Then I went back to

01:03:42.880 --> 01:03:45.820
Juilliard after I graduated from Interlochen.

01:03:46.280 --> 01:03:51.239
And this is before the internet age. I didn't

01:03:51.239 --> 01:03:54.059
know anything. All these years, I wondered. I

01:03:54.059 --> 01:03:57.119
remember people have said that Mr. Moons, his

01:03:57.119 --> 01:04:01.079
entire family perished. in the holocaust because

01:04:01.079 --> 01:04:03.599
he was from poland and poland suffered greatly

01:04:03.599 --> 01:04:06.739
especially krakow where he was from so he had

01:04:06.739 --> 01:04:12.119
no family alive and he married um aniela rubinstein

01:04:12.119 --> 01:04:15.059
who the who you know for a short period because

01:04:15.059 --> 01:04:17.980
she then left him to marry um arthur rubinstein

01:04:17.980 --> 01:04:21.000
and he remained unmarried for the rest of his

01:04:21.000 --> 01:04:25.929
life so he had no children and then when i realized

01:04:25.929 --> 01:04:30.170
as I grew older and I realized that I was possibly

01:04:30.170 --> 01:04:34.199
his youngest ever student before he passed. And

01:04:34.199 --> 01:04:37.400
I could never find any information about him.

01:04:37.539 --> 01:04:40.099
And I felt really sorry because this is before

01:04:40.099 --> 01:04:43.579
the internet age. Now, I knew Emmanuel Axe was

01:04:43.579 --> 01:04:45.460
his student, but Emmanuel Axe is a great artist.

01:04:45.500 --> 01:04:48.380
He's busy concertizing. And Shine was playing

01:04:48.380 --> 01:04:52.260
everywhere. I didn't know them. We were a generation

01:04:52.260 --> 01:04:57.510
apart, right? So in 2000... When I started my

01:04:57.510 --> 01:05:00.449
doctoral studies at UCLA, I began to have to

01:05:00.449 --> 01:05:02.949
learn how to use the computer and I began to

01:05:02.949 --> 01:05:06.469
search. And then little by little, I began to

01:05:06.469 --> 01:05:11.250
find information about my old teacher. So fast

01:05:11.250 --> 01:05:16.449
forward a few years, I wanted to do something

01:05:16.449 --> 01:05:19.469
more concrete. So I went back and I did research

01:05:19.469 --> 01:05:23.820
at Curtis Institute where he taught. And I researched

01:05:23.820 --> 01:05:26.599
the archives. And that was the basis of my article.

01:05:26.800 --> 01:05:30.940
And since then, there's been other projects for

01:05:30.940 --> 01:05:33.579
Mr. Moons. And there is a documentary. I don't

01:05:33.579 --> 01:05:36.500
know if you heard of it, but some one of Anne

01:05:36.500 --> 01:05:40.440
Shine's students who is now a professor at University

01:05:40.440 --> 01:05:43.960
of West Virginia. Her student did a project on

01:05:43.960 --> 01:05:47.219
Mr. Moon's, which was turned into a documentary.

01:05:47.260 --> 01:05:49.780
So I was invited to be in that documentary and

01:05:49.780 --> 01:05:53.440
I talked about Mr. Moon's. And what happened

01:05:53.440 --> 01:05:56.659
was that when I realized that I was his last,

01:05:56.880 --> 01:05:59.760
the end of the line, and the rest of them were

01:05:59.760 --> 01:06:02.320
either busy concertizing or some of them had

01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:05.579
already passed, you know, because we're talking

01:06:05.579 --> 01:06:09.869
about 70 years. Mr. Moons was 70 years old when

01:06:09.869 --> 01:06:14.550
I met him. And so I felt like if I didn't do

01:06:14.550 --> 01:06:18.269
something, who is going to do it? Who is going

01:06:18.269 --> 01:06:21.389
to remember Mr. Moons' name? And that was the

01:06:21.389 --> 01:06:24.210
impetus for my research project. And that's why

01:06:24.210 --> 01:06:28.530
I gave the title In Search of Mitchell Moons,

01:06:28.610 --> 01:06:32.389
because clearly at that time when I started my

01:06:32.389 --> 01:06:35.880
research, there was very, very little. And, you

01:06:35.880 --> 01:06:39.019
know, of course, I mean, I was inspired by Alfred

01:06:39.019 --> 01:06:42.360
Courtauld's book, In Search of Chopin, right?

01:06:42.579 --> 01:06:46.139
That beautiful book, which I love. So I gave

01:06:46.139 --> 01:06:48.440
the title In Search of Maitre's Moons. And it

01:06:48.440 --> 01:06:52.000
coincided with the 100 -year anniversary of the

01:06:52.000 --> 01:06:56.019
Juilliard Pre -College. So I offered this for

01:06:56.019 --> 01:06:59.460
that. Wow. And I set up a guest artist series

01:06:59.460 --> 01:07:02.940
at Juilliard in Mr. Moons' name. So they have...

01:07:03.239 --> 01:07:06.920
now featured a great artist in the inaugural

01:07:06.920 --> 01:07:10.079
series. Andra Schiff was the guest artist for

01:07:10.079 --> 01:07:14.039
the first installment. So I know Mr. Moon's name

01:07:14.039 --> 01:07:18.139
will not be forgotten. And that was my only wish

01:07:18.139 --> 01:07:24.440
was to keep his name out there. Beautiful. And

01:07:24.440 --> 01:07:28.039
I believe that you sent me the link to this article,

01:07:28.159 --> 01:07:31.619
right? Yes. And also the another article about

01:07:32.059 --> 01:07:35.079
The Bells of Nagasaki as well. So they are all

01:07:35.079 --> 01:07:39.599
available as links. So I will make sure to insert

01:07:39.599 --> 01:07:42.900
that into the description of this episode so

01:07:42.900 --> 01:07:45.539
that a lot of people can read it and read them.

01:07:46.300 --> 01:07:51.099
Wonderful. And so I want to talk about some seminars

01:07:51.099 --> 01:07:55.400
you led about musical lineage. So what do you

01:07:55.400 --> 01:07:58.329
hope participants... fence takeaway or uh what

01:07:58.329 --> 01:08:01.150
do you hope our listeners to take away from learning

01:08:01.150 --> 01:08:05.650
about your artistic ancestry so uh this kind

01:08:05.650 --> 01:08:10.260
of came just very innocuous. One of my Juilliard

01:08:10.260 --> 01:08:13.460
friends, good friend, he's a fabulous pianist,

01:08:13.480 --> 01:08:17.680
Cheney Wang, who was a student of Anya Dorfman

01:08:17.680 --> 01:08:21.859
and later on had studied with Yablonskaya, Oksana

01:08:21.859 --> 01:08:24.460
Yablonskaya. So he's been a good friend. And

01:08:24.460 --> 01:08:26.960
one day, just out of the blue, he sent me a text.

01:08:27.060 --> 01:08:30.579
He says, Anli, The Holy Spirit moved me today

01:08:30.579 --> 01:08:33.739
to research our past teachers, and I found out

01:08:33.739 --> 01:08:36.579
that three of your four teachers, he only knew

01:08:36.579 --> 01:08:39.500
four of my teachers, I can trace their lineage

01:08:39.500 --> 01:08:44.079
all the way back to Johann Sebastian Bach. And

01:08:44.079 --> 01:08:47.270
I thought, That's amazing. And he knew about

01:08:47.270 --> 01:08:50.409
my faith. And he says, and you and I know who

01:08:50.409 --> 01:08:53.050
was Bach's teacher. It was God himself, because

01:08:53.050 --> 01:08:56.949
all the inspirations came from God. And so I

01:08:56.949 --> 01:09:00.550
just love this idea. And then I was approached

01:09:00.550 --> 01:09:04.609
to do another podcast for Mufa Epsilon. They

01:09:04.609 --> 01:09:10.060
call it... music talk, music tunes. And I gave

01:09:10.060 --> 01:09:12.880
him two or three topics to choose from. And the

01:09:12.880 --> 01:09:16.659
person in charge said, I like the musical lineage

01:09:16.659 --> 01:09:18.979
because we call it, what is your musical DNA?

01:09:19.840 --> 01:09:23.220
Because once my friend charted it out, I was

01:09:23.220 --> 01:09:26.199
able to go back and add my other teachers, including

01:09:26.199 --> 01:09:29.539
Dr. Kunra, actually. And I was able to trace

01:09:29.539 --> 01:09:33.369
everyone. And this is what's interesting. Anybody

01:09:33.369 --> 01:09:37.750
who's anybody in the Western piano world can

01:09:37.750 --> 01:09:43.430
trace back to either Franz Liszt or Theodor Lechetitsky.

01:09:44.149 --> 01:09:49.430
Both of them came from Czerny. So Czerny was

01:09:49.430 --> 01:09:53.770
a prolific teacher and who, you know, he was,

01:09:53.890 --> 01:09:56.010
Franz Liszt studied with him for seven years.

01:09:56.170 --> 01:10:00.579
So, and you know, how many students then? Franz

01:10:00.579 --> 01:10:04.020
Liszt had, right? Impact he made on the modern

01:10:04.020 --> 01:10:07.920
piano technique. And then on the Russian, Eastern

01:10:07.920 --> 01:10:11.239
European side is Lechetinsky. So the Russians

01:10:11.239 --> 01:10:14.380
and their offsprings, including Rachmaninoff,

01:10:14.380 --> 01:10:17.500
Paderewski, they came out of there. So all of

01:10:17.500 --> 01:10:21.250
my teachers, I can trace back. to either the

01:10:21.250 --> 01:10:23.229
Russian side, because I had wonderful Russian

01:10:23.229 --> 01:10:26.949
teachers. My teacher, Martin Cannon at Juilliard,

01:10:27.069 --> 01:10:30.050
his teacher was Rosina Levine, who came from

01:10:30.050 --> 01:10:33.310
the Russian side, right? And then Mr. Moons was

01:10:33.310 --> 01:10:37.029
from Franz Liszt, Busoni. Mr. Moons has studied

01:10:37.029 --> 01:10:40.409
with Busoni and then me. So I'm only two generations

01:10:40.409 --> 01:10:45.130
off from Busoni. And then we go all the way back.

01:10:45.369 --> 01:10:49.390
So what this... It was just a fun exercise to

01:10:49.390 --> 01:10:52.710
do this. So what this showed me was that, and

01:10:52.710 --> 01:10:55.590
I share it with all of my students, if you know

01:10:55.590 --> 01:11:00.899
where your teachers came from. You can trace

01:11:00.899 --> 01:11:04.140
it all the way back to the master of masters,

01:11:04.300 --> 01:11:07.720
Johann Sebastian Bach, who got his inspirations

01:11:07.720 --> 01:11:11.420
from God himself. Then you know that this is

01:11:11.420 --> 01:11:13.340
something that you don't just play around with.

01:11:13.380 --> 01:11:17.880
There is a seriousness of attitude. We have this

01:11:17.880 --> 01:11:23.079
glorious inheritance given to us. It's part of

01:11:23.079 --> 01:11:26.520
our musical. We get our physical DNA from our

01:11:26.520 --> 01:11:28.979
parents, where our temperament, you know, our

01:11:28.979 --> 01:11:31.659
physical temperament and our cultural DNA from

01:11:31.659 --> 01:11:34.840
our life, where we live. And then you put that

01:11:34.840 --> 01:11:37.479
all together with our musical DNA. That makes

01:11:37.479 --> 01:11:40.939
each one of us unique because you cannot duplicate

01:11:40.939 --> 01:11:45.600
anyone the same way. So each of us is unique

01:11:45.600 --> 01:11:48.260
as a musician. We have something unique because.

01:11:48.939 --> 01:11:51.460
The musical DNA, the physical, biological DNA,

01:11:51.479 --> 01:11:54.640
and our cultural DNA combined together makes

01:11:54.640 --> 01:11:59.779
us the artists that we are. And so you should

01:11:59.779 --> 01:12:03.779
all cherish your own heritage. Your parents.

01:12:03.899 --> 01:12:06.739
Give thanks to your parents for the experiences

01:12:06.739 --> 01:12:08.939
you had, whether they were good or difficult.

01:12:09.119 --> 01:12:11.859
Like my life had many upheavals, but that's all

01:12:11.859 --> 01:12:15.279
part of what makes my life experience a little

01:12:15.279 --> 01:12:18.479
bit deeper. And that comes out in your art. So

01:12:18.479 --> 01:12:22.140
that's the whole idea behind this musical lineage.

01:12:22.560 --> 01:12:25.479
Yeah. And you're such a, as I'm talking to you,

01:12:25.500 --> 01:12:27.239
you're such a wonderful teacher and educator

01:12:27.239 --> 01:12:29.939
as well. And in your lectures on pedagogy, you

01:12:29.939 --> 01:12:35.260
often talk about how to plant. the seed for artistry

01:12:35.260 --> 01:12:38.079
from the very first lesson. And you mentioned

01:12:38.079 --> 01:12:40.500
about Dr. Michael Kumrad, who happened to be

01:12:40.500 --> 01:12:44.180
on my show a couple of years ago. And he is actually

01:12:44.180 --> 01:12:46.640
the one who connected me to you. You mentioned

01:12:46.640 --> 01:12:49.239
that you're fascinating at discussions on nature

01:12:49.239 --> 01:12:52.000
versus nurture in developing musical artistry.

01:12:52.060 --> 01:12:54.640
How do you approach that in your teaching? What

01:12:54.640 --> 01:12:57.800
does it mean? Nature? I mean, I know what nature

01:12:57.800 --> 01:13:01.119
versus nurture means, but in your definition

01:13:01.119 --> 01:13:07.479
in. music musical pedagogical sense yes so i

01:13:07.479 --> 01:13:11.380
have to say i want i want to give credit to dr

01:13:11.380 --> 01:13:16.939
shinichi suzuki you know Suzuki Method. So when

01:13:16.939 --> 01:13:19.060
I first graduated from Juilliard, I didn't know

01:13:19.060 --> 01:13:21.800
how to teach, but my first job, we had moved

01:13:21.800 --> 01:13:25.159
to Chicago and I was hired by a music school

01:13:25.159 --> 01:13:27.479
and all they wanted was Suzuki teacher because

01:13:27.479 --> 01:13:31.020
Suzuki was so popular and I'm like 24 years old.

01:13:31.119 --> 01:13:33.600
I just needed a way to make income. So they sent

01:13:33.600 --> 01:13:38.380
me to get Suzuki training. But what I found was

01:13:38.380 --> 01:13:41.760
not so much. The method, which unfortunately

01:13:41.760 --> 01:13:45.100
I see that is not really applied well. And I

01:13:45.100 --> 01:13:48.460
feel that Suzuki method is very much misunderstood.

01:13:48.920 --> 01:13:52.680
But the basic idea of the Suzuki method is really

01:13:52.680 --> 01:13:56.560
universal. And, you know, Joseph Levine, who

01:13:56.560 --> 01:14:01.619
was Rosina Levine's husband, he wrote a beautiful

01:14:01.619 --> 01:14:04.659
little book on piano teaching, right? One of

01:14:04.659 --> 01:14:07.520
the chapters talks about the beautiful sound.

01:14:08.000 --> 01:14:11.380
It has to start with a beautiful sound. The Suzuki

01:14:11.380 --> 01:14:14.880
method mentions that as the first lesson, but

01:14:14.880 --> 01:14:17.180
the other thing, it really touches on nature

01:14:17.180 --> 01:14:22.000
versus nurture. Suzuki believed that every child

01:14:22.000 --> 01:14:26.100
has the ability to learn music like it's their

01:14:26.100 --> 01:14:29.640
native tongue. And in this regard, it's very

01:14:29.640 --> 01:14:33.000
much... Different from my kind of training, you

01:14:33.000 --> 01:14:35.680
know, Juilliard, conservatory, all the, you know,

01:14:35.680 --> 01:14:38.880
it's all about practice and talent, right? But

01:14:38.880 --> 01:14:41.960
Suzuki is the one that believes in the nature

01:14:41.960 --> 01:14:46.680
of a child. And he equates that with a child's

01:14:46.680 --> 01:14:50.000
ability to learn the mother tongue. Every child

01:14:50.000 --> 01:14:52.180
can learn to speak their mother tongue well,

01:14:52.319 --> 01:14:56.779
but you have to. Repeat. A child hears the word

01:14:56.779 --> 01:14:59.539
mommy, mommy, mommy. In the beginning, they can't

01:14:59.539 --> 01:15:02.079
say it, but after a few tries, they can do it.

01:15:02.100 --> 01:15:04.500
And that's how they learn words. So it's the

01:15:04.500 --> 01:15:07.760
repetition of sound and the idea of encouragement.

01:15:08.020 --> 01:15:10.579
A child, a baby who can't say mommy doesn't get

01:15:10.579 --> 01:15:15.640
scolded. Right? So as a teacher of very young

01:15:15.640 --> 01:15:18.560
students, which I ended up with 50 students at

01:15:18.560 --> 01:15:20.979
that. I had three schools that I was teaching.

01:15:21.340 --> 01:15:25.310
Half of them were under age five. So I have a

01:15:25.310 --> 01:15:28.869
whole crop of very young students, but this philosophy

01:15:28.869 --> 01:15:32.949
touched me greatly. And it's all about modeling

01:15:32.949 --> 01:15:36.390
a love of beautiful sound and how to get it,

01:15:36.409 --> 01:15:39.609
how to use encouragement, not praise. Don't say,

01:15:39.710 --> 01:15:41.869
oh, you're so good. You're so talented. Say,

01:15:41.949 --> 01:15:45.189
I love the way you positioned your hand. I love

01:15:45.189 --> 01:15:48.909
the way you touch the key. Mention, talk about

01:15:48.909 --> 01:15:52.630
what they do, not who they are. And they will

01:15:52.630 --> 01:15:56.829
gain confidence. In the end, Suzuki's goal is

01:15:56.829 --> 01:16:01.090
to raise children to become noble human beings.

01:16:01.270 --> 01:16:05.210
And I think that philosophy is beautiful. And

01:16:05.210 --> 01:16:07.829
it's very much in line with everything that I

01:16:07.829 --> 01:16:10.350
was raised to believe. And that's why I love

01:16:10.350 --> 01:16:14.369
the method. Yeah, it's unfortunately misunderstood.

01:16:14.649 --> 01:16:18.569
But the philosophy is something that I hope that

01:16:18.569 --> 01:16:22.750
all teachers. Well, take some time and think

01:16:22.750 --> 01:16:27.149
about that. The nature is the ability to learn.

01:16:27.270 --> 01:16:32.350
The nurture is parents, teachers, the environment,

01:16:32.409 --> 01:16:35.789
making it possible for the child to flourish

01:16:35.789 --> 01:16:38.250
like a flower that can bloom with the right amount

01:16:38.250 --> 01:16:41.430
of water and sunlight. There's another quote

01:16:41.430 --> 01:16:43.829
I would like to share about Franz Liszt. Franz

01:16:43.829 --> 01:16:50.149
Liszt wrote a manifesto in 1836 called On the...

01:16:50.430 --> 01:16:56.810
Position of Artists in Society, which is an amazing

01:16:56.810 --> 01:17:03.029
essay. But he was encouraging people. He says

01:17:03.029 --> 01:17:07.970
artists and musicians must leave the temple and

01:17:07.970 --> 01:17:15.409
go out into the world to serve, to enrich, and

01:17:15.409 --> 01:17:20.649
ennoble your fellow human beings. And this was

01:17:20.649 --> 01:17:23.930
his words. I could send you the exact quote,

01:17:24.090 --> 01:17:29.510
but I think I have it here. This is from his

01:17:29.510 --> 01:17:36.989
manifesto, 1836. He says, Today, art must leave

01:17:36.989 --> 01:17:41.430
the sanctuary of the temple and expand into the

01:17:41.430 --> 01:17:46.229
outside world to seek a stage for its glorious

01:17:46.229 --> 01:17:52.300
manifestation. Music must recognize God and people

01:17:52.300 --> 01:17:56.859
as its living source, must go from one to the

01:17:56.859 --> 01:18:02.140
other to ennoble, to comfort, to purify man,

01:18:02.420 --> 01:18:09.159
and to bless and praise God. Beautiful. And it's

01:18:09.159 --> 01:18:14.119
beautifully written. And I came across that quote

01:18:14.119 --> 01:18:20.550
a long time ago. And it has always inspired me.

01:18:20.569 --> 01:18:25.470
So I actually loved doing benefit concerts because

01:18:25.470 --> 01:18:30.250
in my mind, this is one way that I am serving

01:18:30.250 --> 01:18:34.489
in the spirit that Franz Liszt encouraged all

01:18:34.489 --> 01:18:38.090
of us musicians to go out. We must leave the

01:18:38.090 --> 01:18:41.210
temple, he said. Not just be in the temple for

01:18:41.210 --> 01:18:44.970
me means the concert hall. Right, right. Or the

01:18:44.970 --> 01:18:46.989
conservatory. That's what we were trying to do.

01:18:47.090 --> 01:18:50.689
Oh, yes. We spent our entire lives working on

01:18:50.689 --> 01:18:54.449
our repertoire and our technique to play a concert

01:18:54.449 --> 01:18:58.029
in a concert hall. But Franz Liszt is saying

01:18:58.029 --> 01:19:03.050
we must leave the temple and go out into the

01:19:03.050 --> 01:19:09.210
world to enrich and ennoble. I love that word,

01:19:09.250 --> 01:19:15.060
to ennoble. I am teaching. some gifted students

01:19:15.060 --> 01:19:20.039
too. And their focus is to really get into schools,

01:19:20.220 --> 01:19:24.479
certain schools, and which is rightly so. But

01:19:24.479 --> 01:19:31.659
then some of the students may start feeling anxiety

01:19:31.659 --> 01:19:37.659
because the focus, the goal is just to this one

01:19:37.659 --> 01:19:40.640
thing, specific thing. you mentioned about tempo,

01:19:40.800 --> 01:19:44.699
but then I always try to tell them, think much

01:19:44.699 --> 01:19:48.659
bigger, wider. It's not about that. Yes, that

01:19:48.659 --> 01:19:51.239
is important, but it's more important that you

01:19:51.239 --> 01:19:59.039
involve people and how you make the music resonate

01:19:59.039 --> 01:20:04.020
with others. So yeah, that poetry you just read

01:20:04.020 --> 01:20:07.930
just means so much. It's beautiful. As teachers,

01:20:07.989 --> 01:20:12.170
we cannot lay it all on them. What I share with

01:20:12.170 --> 01:20:15.550
you is pretty heavy. And because we're talking

01:20:15.550 --> 01:20:21.590
as equals, right? So part of becoming an effective

01:20:21.590 --> 01:20:26.130
teacher, and I felt like I really have my introduction

01:20:26.130 --> 01:20:31.859
into teaching was trial by fire. you know coming

01:20:31.859 --> 01:20:35.020
out of Juilliard and I didn't even know how to

01:20:35.020 --> 01:20:38.539
explain the concept of a quarter note versus

01:20:38.539 --> 01:20:41.840
a half note you can't just do counting because

01:20:41.840 --> 01:20:46.699
the beat itself can The duration can vary. You

01:20:46.699 --> 01:20:49.779
have to make them feel. It has to be a kinesthetic

01:20:49.779 --> 01:20:52.720
experience. So it was very, very hard for me.

01:20:52.779 --> 01:20:55.720
I had many nightmares. I wake up having nightmares

01:20:55.720 --> 01:20:57.920
where my students are just laying on the floor

01:20:57.920 --> 01:20:59.960
and wouldn't get up and play the piano because

01:20:59.960 --> 01:21:04.619
they were all so young. So one of the things

01:21:04.619 --> 01:21:09.020
is just to keep things in proportion, keep things

01:21:09.020 --> 01:21:13.899
balanced, make things digestible. For your students,

01:21:14.140 --> 01:21:17.859
you have to relate to them. For example, even

01:21:17.859 --> 01:21:20.239
one of the things that you relate to them, when

01:21:20.239 --> 01:21:22.520
I taught very young students, I didn't stand

01:21:22.520 --> 01:21:25.380
over them. If I'm holding their hand and they're

01:21:25.380 --> 01:21:29.199
only this high, I would be almost kneeling down

01:21:29.199 --> 01:21:32.159
so that I'm showing them their hand position

01:21:32.159 --> 01:21:36.500
and their eye to eye. on the same level. And

01:21:36.500 --> 01:21:40.600
I feel very sad when I hear sometimes we have

01:21:40.600 --> 01:21:42.760
transfer students and they come to me and the

01:21:42.760 --> 01:21:45.960
parents say, oh, my child is just not that talented.

01:21:46.060 --> 01:21:48.920
I know you have great students. And that hurts

01:21:48.920 --> 01:21:52.439
me when I hear that kind of talk because no,

01:21:52.640 --> 01:21:55.760
no, no mother, no father should be saying my

01:21:55.760 --> 01:21:58.520
child is not talented because the child then

01:21:58.520 --> 01:22:01.060
goes home and repeats it to himself. I'm not

01:22:01.060 --> 01:22:05.300
talented. It doesn't even enter my vocabulary

01:22:05.300 --> 01:22:11.420
when I'm working with students. And so about

01:22:11.420 --> 01:22:16.079
my faith and all my core passion, that's me personally.

01:22:16.359 --> 01:22:18.760
But when you deal with students, it has to be

01:22:18.760 --> 01:22:22.539
very practical. It has to be in digestible doses.

01:22:22.560 --> 01:22:28.260
And the teachers. I'm also working with teachers

01:22:28.260 --> 01:22:32.300
who teach other students, and I require them

01:22:32.300 --> 01:22:34.260
to bring the pieces that they're teaching. I

01:22:34.260 --> 01:22:36.560
said, are you practicing what you're teaching?

01:22:36.800 --> 01:22:40.760
So if you're teaching even a Clementi Sonatina,

01:22:40.859 --> 01:22:43.880
you have to play it for me. Because if you don't

01:22:43.880 --> 01:22:46.279
play it, you think that student is doing something

01:22:46.279 --> 01:22:49.579
and you're correcting them based on paper or

01:22:49.579 --> 01:22:51.539
based on what you think. But if you actually

01:22:51.539 --> 01:22:55.149
work it out. on your own, you realize a certain

01:22:55.149 --> 01:22:57.670
fingering just doesn't work as well, especially

01:22:57.670 --> 01:23:01.789
size of the hand is different. So my adult teachers

01:23:01.789 --> 01:23:05.310
who are students, I mean, my adult students who

01:23:05.310 --> 01:23:07.470
are teachers, I asked them to play what they're

01:23:07.470 --> 01:23:10.069
teaching for me. And one of the lectures that

01:23:10.069 --> 01:23:12.770
I just gave to our local music teachers group,

01:23:12.869 --> 01:23:16.210
I said, please use your morning hours before

01:23:16.210 --> 01:23:19.010
your students come. Practice. You have to practice.

01:23:57.159 --> 01:24:00.739
We're coming to closer to the end, but I want

01:24:00.739 --> 01:24:04.579
to ask two more questions. One is going back

01:24:04.579 --> 01:24:07.840
to the first question I asked about your mission

01:24:07.840 --> 01:24:11.239
and passion. So now it's time for you to maybe

01:24:11.239 --> 01:24:16.119
putting all these things together. Yes, I think

01:24:16.119 --> 01:24:21.840
my mission and my passion, again, so the three

01:24:21.840 --> 01:24:25.520
aspects that I've kind of talked about in a very

01:24:25.520 --> 01:24:31.090
broad way. Faith, music, and my life. The life

01:24:31.090 --> 01:24:34.170
was given to me by my parents. The faith is from

01:24:34.170 --> 01:24:37.890
God. The music is this gift, really from God,

01:24:37.930 --> 01:24:41.170
and also a skill that we spend our lives cultivating

01:24:41.170 --> 01:24:45.310
and perfecting as much as we can. So the three

01:24:45.310 --> 01:24:50.409
quotes, or the three main philosophical quotes

01:24:50.409 --> 01:24:54.409
that I share, the one from Bach about music,

01:24:54.470 --> 01:25:01.619
the only reason. is to worship god and then that

01:25:01.619 --> 01:25:06.079
is the faith part the cultural part is what list

01:25:06.079 --> 01:25:09.819
told us to do get out of the temple the temple

01:25:09.819 --> 01:25:13.579
we spend our lives practicing a hundred hours

01:25:13.579 --> 01:25:17.899
on one etude and you play for a select select

01:25:17.899 --> 01:25:20.880
group of people who don't may not even understand

01:25:20.880 --> 01:25:23.899
it. And does your plumber, your gardener, can

01:25:23.899 --> 01:25:27.000
they appreciate what you do? No, we can't be

01:25:27.000 --> 01:25:30.960
so elitist, you know? Come out of the temple.

01:25:31.039 --> 01:25:34.319
What does he say? Music, to seek a stage, to

01:25:34.319 --> 01:25:36.819
expand into the outside world, to seek a stage

01:25:36.819 --> 01:25:40.680
for its glorious manifestation. And so the purpose

01:25:40.680 --> 01:25:43.880
of my music is to do all of that, to bring the

01:25:43.880 --> 01:25:49.489
music out. And then... my life part is just gratitude

01:25:49.489 --> 01:25:53.090
for my parents and for even though they sent

01:25:53.090 --> 01:25:56.130
me away very early on it was a difficult decision

01:25:56.130 --> 01:25:59.529
for them and i went through a lot of hardships

01:25:59.529 --> 01:26:05.210
but these are these are my lessons and they come

01:26:05.210 --> 01:26:11.670
back in my art you know life gives you the fuel

01:26:11.670 --> 01:26:15.250
the lessons that you need to refine yourself

01:26:15.250 --> 01:26:19.470
as a human being and art can only come as a result

01:26:19.470 --> 01:26:22.210
of that otherwise there's no art it's just empty

01:26:22.210 --> 01:26:28.550
yeah absolutely yeah yeah so um what's next for

01:26:28.550 --> 01:26:33.390
you is there anything exciting project or yes

01:26:33.390 --> 01:26:36.800
that's coming up Well, you know, as I said, I'm

01:26:36.800 --> 01:26:39.899
kind of taking it easy. I have things planning,

01:26:40.060 --> 01:26:43.960
and I have projects in mind, and I hope that

01:26:43.960 --> 01:26:47.340
someday we can have another conversation about

01:26:47.340 --> 01:26:50.560
some of the projects, which I'm very excited

01:26:50.560 --> 01:26:56.600
about. But again, it will be kind of in alignment

01:26:56.600 --> 01:27:00.420
with what I talk about. Beautiful. Just to give

01:27:00.420 --> 01:27:03.699
another concert playing, you know, Hammer Clavier.

01:27:04.800 --> 01:27:06.659
which actually is not in my repertoire, but you

01:27:06.659 --> 01:27:09.739
know, but you know what I mean? Yes. Trying to

01:27:09.739 --> 01:27:13.779
aiming for the Mount Everest, which is fine.

01:27:14.000 --> 01:27:16.180
And it's wonderful. You know, I just watched

01:27:16.180 --> 01:27:19.520
the Chopin competition. It's very inspiring that

01:27:19.520 --> 01:27:23.199
these fantastic, very young pianists, they're

01:27:23.199 --> 01:27:26.399
giving their life to achieve, but I hope that

01:27:26.399 --> 01:27:29.960
all of them will then live life so that their

01:27:29.960 --> 01:27:35.170
art will deepen. So, yeah. So, you know, these

01:27:35.170 --> 01:27:38.090
amazing pianists can go on and give those concerts,

01:27:38.170 --> 01:27:42.449
but I hope that my music and my life will come

01:27:42.449 --> 01:27:45.729
together in such a way that, you know, I can

01:27:45.729 --> 01:27:49.710
give something a little bit more unique. And

01:27:49.710 --> 01:27:52.310
how would you like your artistry and legacy to

01:27:52.310 --> 01:27:53.869
be remembered? I know you're still very young,

01:27:53.970 --> 01:27:57.130
but what kind of connection, what kind of artistry

01:27:57.130 --> 01:28:01.220
and legacy to be remembered? I think. Maybe someday

01:28:01.220 --> 01:28:04.119
one of my students will remember me as I remember

01:28:04.119 --> 01:28:10.779
Mr. Moons. Wonderful. So this is the end of our

01:28:10.779 --> 01:28:13.359
conversation, but we have one more thing to do.

01:28:13.399 --> 01:28:15.479
But is there anything else you want to mention

01:28:15.479 --> 01:28:19.119
before we go? I am just in awe of people like

01:28:19.119 --> 01:28:22.520
you. Like I said, I'm so social media shy, but

01:28:22.520 --> 01:28:25.630
you are someone that represents. you know, the

01:28:25.630 --> 01:28:28.810
current and the future, you are able to bring

01:28:28.810 --> 01:28:33.069
technology into service of the arts. So I congratulate

01:28:33.069 --> 01:28:37.689
you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah. So before

01:28:37.689 --> 01:28:40.069
I let you go, we have one more thing. It's called

01:28:40.069 --> 01:28:42.810
the Pianopods Rapid Fire Questions. And we take

01:28:42.810 --> 01:28:45.670
this segment very seriously. I didn't expect

01:28:45.670 --> 01:28:49.920
this. We've shared your, you've shared your stories

01:28:49.920 --> 01:28:52.680
and expertise today. And, but these questions

01:28:52.680 --> 01:28:56.680
carefully curated by me, we'll give our listeners

01:28:56.680 --> 01:29:00.539
a glimpse into who you truly are. So, but let's

01:29:00.539 --> 01:29:03.640
really make it fun. So we'll start with the first

01:29:03.640 --> 01:29:08.720
question. What is your comfort food? Tofu. All

01:29:08.720 --> 01:29:15.279
forms of tofu. Yes. Same. How do you like your

01:29:15.279 --> 01:29:19.170
coffee in the morning? Black. Black. Cats or

01:29:19.170 --> 01:29:24.250
dogs? I've had both. Okay. Sunrise or sunset?

01:29:24.630 --> 01:29:27.050
I'm a sunset person. I'm not a morning person.

01:29:27.229 --> 01:29:29.630
I appreciate sunsets, but I'm never up at that

01:29:29.630 --> 01:29:34.329
hour. Sunsets I enjoy every day. Great. Summer

01:29:34.329 --> 01:29:38.090
or winter? That's a good one. I'm not sure. It

01:29:38.090 --> 01:29:41.090
depends on what location, right? You're right.

01:29:41.229 --> 01:29:44.829
I think I can enjoy elements of summer and facets

01:29:44.829 --> 01:29:48.140
of the different. I think that's important in

01:29:48.140 --> 01:29:50.600
one's life to have the different seasons. You're

01:29:50.600 --> 01:29:54.840
right. Yes. All right. Now, next level. What

01:29:54.840 --> 01:29:57.260
skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't

01:29:57.260 --> 01:30:03.399
had a chance to? Swimming. Oh, okay. What is

01:30:03.399 --> 01:30:09.479
your word or words to live by? Gratitude. Favorite

01:30:09.479 --> 01:30:12.920
venue you have ever performed in or any dream

01:30:12.920 --> 01:30:18.739
venue? I don't have one, but I love playing for

01:30:18.739 --> 01:30:24.380
small audiences, the salon situation. But I also

01:30:24.380 --> 01:30:27.960
had a really fun time playing in a big amphitheater.

01:30:27.979 --> 01:30:30.399
It's like a mini Hollywood Bowl. And that's when

01:30:30.399 --> 01:30:33.380
I did the July 4th Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue.

01:30:33.680 --> 01:30:36.979
Oh, wow. And it was, you know, there were thousands

01:30:36.979 --> 01:30:40.479
of people there and they were, they were a rowdy

01:30:40.479 --> 01:30:43.960
crowd, but in that way it was fun. And they were

01:30:43.960 --> 01:30:46.079
supposed to have fireworks, but that year, because

01:30:46.079 --> 01:30:48.840
of all the fires in LA, they didn't do fireworks,

01:30:48.960 --> 01:30:53.800
but they did laser show afterwards. And that

01:30:53.800 --> 01:30:58.600
was so much fun. Oh, that's cool. What is the

01:30:58.600 --> 01:31:01.319
most important quality you look for in other

01:31:01.319 --> 01:31:06.800
people? Honesty. Name a composer you wish more

01:31:06.800 --> 01:31:10.880
people knew about or play. You know, for piano,

01:31:10.979 --> 01:31:16.960
really. Everyone that's played is pretty much,

01:31:17.039 --> 01:31:21.500
you know, we have Chopin, of course, Rachmaninoff,

01:31:21.619 --> 01:31:25.699
Mozart, Bach. I think I would like to hear more

01:31:25.699 --> 01:31:28.439
Bach. I don't know why in Southern California.

01:31:28.680 --> 01:31:32.300
I discovered, you know, when I was doing my early

01:31:32.300 --> 01:31:35.520
music training at Juilliard on the East Coast

01:31:35.520 --> 01:31:38.680
or any college auditions, they require Bach.

01:31:38.880 --> 01:31:41.739
But that's something I'm finding kind of missing

01:31:41.739 --> 01:31:46.619
in California. I would love to see more of that.

01:31:46.779 --> 01:31:50.140
And I think if more people can play Bach and

01:31:50.140 --> 01:31:55.079
study, a lot of things will be right. Yeah, absolutely.

01:31:55.399 --> 01:31:59.020
Two more questions to go. Name one piece in your

01:31:59.020 --> 01:32:02.739
current playlist, if you have one. In my current

01:32:02.739 --> 01:32:07.739
playlist? Name one song in your playlist. It

01:32:07.739 --> 01:32:09.579
doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be classical.

01:32:10.279 --> 01:32:16.260
Surprise us. You mean recorded or something that

01:32:16.260 --> 01:32:20.060
I play? Something that you listen to. Oh, something

01:32:20.060 --> 01:32:24.600
that I listen to. I love Piazzolla. Which one?

01:32:26.399 --> 01:32:30.220
I play the Four Seasons on the piano, but I love

01:32:30.220 --> 01:32:36.279
Oblivion. In fact, there's this channel that

01:32:36.279 --> 01:32:39.979
has Oblivion for three hours, and when I'm cooking...

01:32:40.640 --> 01:32:43.279
You know, making Chinese dumplings. I have that

01:32:43.279 --> 01:32:46.180
on and I'm dancing and making my dumplings. Oh,

01:32:46.520 --> 01:32:50.979
that's nice to know. Yay. Yeah. The last question.

01:32:51.039 --> 01:32:54.899
I want you to fill in the blank. Music is blank.

01:32:57.420 --> 01:33:03.180
Music is heart. Beautiful. Thank you, Anli. Thank

01:33:03.180 --> 01:33:06.439
you so much. Beat, right? It has to pulsate.

01:33:07.060 --> 01:33:10.560
Yeah. okay beautifully said thank you so much

01:33:10.560 --> 01:33:12.520
for joining us today on the for sharing your

01:33:12.520 --> 01:33:15.539
artistry and journey Thoughtful reflection with

01:33:15.539 --> 01:33:18.579
such openness and kindness and grace. To our

01:33:18.579 --> 01:33:20.699
audience, if you'd like to learn more about Anli's

01:33:20.699 --> 01:33:24.939
recent Bells of Nagasaki project and also another

01:33:24.939 --> 01:33:27.800
article she wrote, you can find links to related

01:33:27.800 --> 01:33:30.300
articles in the show notes. And of course, a

01:33:30.300 --> 01:33:32.640
huge thank you to all of you, our dedicated listeners,

01:33:32.739 --> 01:33:34.779
for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode,

01:33:34.939 --> 01:33:37.500
please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the

01:33:37.500 --> 01:33:40.739
PianoPod on YouTube. Share and review this episode

01:33:40.739 --> 01:33:43.939
on favorite platform and tag us at The Piano

01:33:43.939 --> 01:33:46.340
Pot. It's one of the best ways to help our community

01:33:46.340 --> 01:33:49.460
grow and we love hearing your feedback. For the

01:33:49.460 --> 01:33:52.500
latest updates, guest news, and stories that

01:33:52.500 --> 01:33:55.079
inspire creativity and connection, follow The

01:33:55.079 --> 01:33:57.899
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01:33:58.359 --> 01:34:00.600
We'll see you in the next episode of The Piano

01:34:00.600 --> 01:34:03.119
Pot. Thank you, Anli, once again. Thank you very

01:34:03.119 --> 01:34:03.779
much, Yukimi.