Purple is born from red and blue. Water and sun
grow the bamboo. Black and white make a great
look. Cotton would make the paper of your textbook.
Music is made of measures, minors, and earth
of colors. Dance on the canvas, try to see the
truth. Welcome back to the PianoPod, everyone.
This season, we are exploring creativity and
connection, highlighting artists who are reimagining
what musical purpose can look like in today's
world. Our guest for this episode, Vivian Fang
Liu, brings a remarkable blend of artistry, scholarship,
and creative vision. She is a classically trained
pianist, a singer -songwriter working across
multiple genres, an educator, and a researcher
whose work on music education and culture has
been presented. internationally. What makes Vivian's
voice particularly compelling is how these different
worlds come together in her creative work. Her
acclaimed children's album, Accents of Love,
invites young listeners to celebrate who they
are, their languages, cultures, and identities
through music that is imaginative, thoughtful,
and artistically rich. Alongside this project,
Vivian has also created Shape of Crowns, another
children's album centered on belonging. confidence,
and cultural pride. Her songwriting speaks not
only to children growing up in multicultural
environments, but also to the adults guiding
them. Born in Ganyan, China, and arriving in
the United States alone at the age of 15, Vivian
understands firsthand what it means to grow up
between cultures. That experience, together with
her research on Chinese and Chinese -American
music education, shapes her artistic mission,
using music as a bridge for storytelling, identity,
and empowerment. Her work moves across classical
performance, pop, songwriting, jazz influences,
and children's music, creating a musical language
wide enough to hold the complexity of real human
stories. Before we begin, I want to thank our
listeners for your continued support of The Pianapod.
Your engagement, sharing episodes, leaving reviews,
and following our conversations help sustain
this community of artists, educators, and thinkers
exploring what classical music can become. Here
is Season 6, Episode 13 of The Pianapod with
pianist, singer -songwriter, educator, and researcher
Vivian Pang Nu. Please enjoy the show. You are
listening to The Piano Pod, where we talk to
the brightest minds in the industry about how
they are bringing the piano into the future and
thriving in a complex, ever -evolving world.
Vivian, welcome to The Piano Pod. Thank you so
much for being here today. And where are you
joining us from? Thank you so much for having
me. I'm from New York right now. I'm in New York
right now. I'm so sorry. No, it's okay. Great.
Yes, we are both New Yorkers. Yes, fellow New
Yorkers. Wonderful. Now, it feels really especially
fitting to... you know welcome you on the show
during our season of creativity and connection
you really embody the spirit using your imagination
musicianship and multi -genre artistry to reach
young audiences in such a modern and thoughtful
way and of course this conversation was set in
motion by donna Wang Friedman, a longtime PianoPod
friend and former guest who recommended you with
so much enthusiasm. With all that in mind, when
you look at the full arc of what you do, from
classical performance to cross -genre songwriting
to your children's albums, what would you say
is your overall artistic mission? My mission
is that use music as a bridge between the cultures.
between the generations and between the feelings
and the sounds, yeah, to connect. I think that's
my mission. And yeah, and also I feel like music
to me is so special. I started to play piano
because of my mom. And yeah, because I was just
like a tomboy and then, you know, always running
around and not really like obeying. my Asian
parents. And then my mom was like, oh, you need
to learn piano. And then she said, because, you
know, she wants me to calm down, be more, you
know, graceful. That's what she hoped for. And
she told me that if you learn music, if you learn
piano, you will always have a friend that is
always there for you. When you feel lonely, you
can play some music. And when you feel happy,
you can play music. And music will always be
there for you. You will never be lonely. And
I didn't understand that. And I was like, okay,
I'll learn. And then I only started to understand
that, you know, later on. And I really appreciate
my mom that gave the gift for me. And I hope
my mission is also to inspire people with music.
And I hope music is a home for everyone. Wow,
that's beautiful. That's a wonderful advice from
your mom. Now, before we get into your childhood,
your training and so on, I want to kind of want
to start with your album, Accents of Love, which
is the album from 2023, which won Album of the
Year and then earned Music of the Year with the
last track, I Is Love. Right? Yeah. And then
it's a children's album with remarkably high
production, polished lyrics, rich musical writing,
and imaginative digital orchestration that still
carries touches of your classical background
as well. And I mean, not to mention your vocal
quality is just so superb. It showcases your
full range as an artist. pianist, singer, composer,
and producer. So for listeners discovering your
work for the first time today, what is Accents
of Love about? And how did you envision the sonic
world of this album? This album is my, I feel
like it's my love letter for my students and
children and also parents. I want to empower
them with my music. accents of love originally
because there's a story, you know, of it. I speak
with, you know, accent. I am originally from
China and I speak English with an accent. I know
it. And I also actually noticed that people treat
people who speak English with accents differently.
You know, if you speak with fancy accents like
French or British accents and people like, wow.
you must be great you know and that if you speak
with you know other types of accents that they
you know they don't think it's fancy and the
research shows that research shows that people
think that if you speak with some other accents
and you are less intelligent and you are less
capable and i was ashamed ashamed of it like
you know speak English with accents, and I know
how people react sometimes, you know, and I was
like, oh, okay, I wish I, you know, until today,
I'm still learning English every day. I'm learning
Spanish, English still every day, but, you know,
sometimes it's actually hard to, hard to, hard
to change, but I'm still trying to, but, you
know, until Later on, I learned my lesson. I
realized that actually accents are beautiful
because accents, you know, are cultures, are,
you know, different histories and also represents
different people, colors, and also foods. You
know, there's so many different stories in different
accents. And I started to be proud of it. I was
like, okay, this is me and this is unique. And
I want to, you know, empower other people with
my lessons. So I wrote all the songs on accents
of love. And one of the songs is called All Accents
Are Art. So I think that's my message from this
album. And it's about... inclusion and diversity
and difference is our superpower. Absolutely.
And then I know exactly how you feel because
I myself was an international student way back
then and then struggled with that sort of stereotype
ideas from others. And then somehow European
accents are accepted, but not my accent. And
I worked really hard to get rid of, but why do
I even do that? As long as, you know, people
can understand you, it's fine, right? So I feel
like what you're saying, already we're being
super philosophical here at the beginning of
the show, but like, I think it's the acceptance.
You have to accept yourself. Yes. Right? Yes.
Yeah. It's not the other way around. As long
as you accept that. hey, my Japanese accent,
your Chinese accents are cool. Yes. Right? Yes.
Is that part of the message of this album? Yes.
I think everybody's so different, so unique.
And also on this album, I talk about self -love.
Yeah, just like you just mentioned. Thank you.
And we have to love ourselves first. And that's
very important. And as Asians, you know children
or people we we were like trained differently
we have to work hard work hard work very very
hard and our parents actually i mean at least
my parents or my friends parents they never told
us um anything about besides work hard go to
you know, go to college and care about your feelings
and things. And I actually didn't know how to
take care of myself, my feelings and everything
until much later. And I wish I knew earlier.
So that's why I also wrote, you know, the songs
and I love and I want to, you know, just share
the message with children that self -care is
important. You don't need to learn until like
much later when you're adults. You actually need
to know when you're. little. I think that's very
important. Oh, absolutely. But I'm so happy to
hear that, you know, we are both Asian Americans,
you know, Asian people who live in America. And
so having to have that sort of progressive ideas
about identity as an Asian woman, oh, I admire
that. Thank you. Thank you so much. I think we
all have to be brave. Yeah. And if we love ourselves
and, you know, we can share the love to other
people. Yeah. But how come self -love can be
so difficult, right? Difficult. I'm still learning.
I'm learning right now. Me too. Me too. But there's
always the demon inside of my head and then telling
you the other way around. But, you know, I'm
trying. Yeah. It's so hard. Yeah, it is really
hard. Now. um each song has as you mentioned
you know such uh mentioned a few titles but such
a catchy title carries its own message but you
know i the album is geared toward children but
i actually enjoy listening to to it the album
yeah yeah from the beginning to the end and i
was on loop so repeatedly Yeah, because it's
really well made lyrics, but also I think the
soundscape that, you know, there's a pop element
to it and a Chinese traditional music element
also is included. But at the same time, you as
a classical pianist, that element is included
as well. So it's very unique. Anyway, we're going
to talk more about that. But can you walk us
through a few of them? You mentioned about the
eye is love and also all accents are art. But
also the first one, talk to the fishes with your
inner voice. Beautiful. One stomp at a time,
not one step at a time. Yes. In the shape of
eyes, I can kind of sort of tell what that is
about. And then all accents are art. Superhero
even on Mars. Bye -bye pressure. Call us at 520.
And the last track is I Is Love. Yes. Well, thank
you so much for doing all the research. I'm so
happy that you spent time listening to my music.
I'm really, really grateful. So for the first
song, The Fishes. So that song, I actually wrote
it in St. John on the Virgin Islands. That was
my first time ever. learned how to dive you know
in the water that's cool yeah and that inspired
me so much because the water there is so calm
and it's so beautiful um on the surface it's
all blue so beautiful but when you dive in the
water and you see all the different colorful
you know world is so different above is only
blue but under is all different things you know,
all colorful, all different colors and, you know,
fishes and everything. So, and that inspired
me so much that what you see is not what you
see. All you see is blue, but actually there's
more than that. So that's my, you know, inspiration
that what you see in a person or what you hear
from a song and what you see, you know, like.
of the trees or anything but there's so much
more besides what you see but then how do you
how can you know more then you have to spend
time and you have to really have the heart to
get to know the flower get to know the person
get to know the music and really spend time with
heart to get to know the real truth behind that
so that's Yeah, that's my inspiration for that
song. It sounds very complicated for a children's
song, right? So my friends were like, oh, do
children get it? And I said, of course. Or maybe
they will get it later. If they don't get it
now, they'll get it later. Like all the favors
that we learned when we were little. I didn't
understand all of them. Maybe I'm not that smart.
But then I actually understand some of the moments
in my life later on. But I'm glad. I was glad
that I learned that earlier. So I want to plant
a seed, you know, in children's mind or, you
know, or those have a child in their, you know,
inside. So I want them to get to know good stuff
first. And then maybe, you know, it will be helpful
for them. So that's the first song. Wonderful.
And for One Stump at a Time, also inspired by...
a story that from you know like the chinese history
book that one step at a time everything on thousands
of steps that starts with one step um i changed
to stump um yeah probably you can see my personality
you know you know okay oh maybe it looks so nice
and kind yes i am a that kind of person but um
i you know we also we're powerful too you know
you feel made up mind and then doing something
and you know do it do it with your all you have
your energy no matter i'm a small person you
know i was like oh my gosh you're you know but
but then i said no you don't you don't really
know who i am who we are and we have more than
you see so the story is about an old grandpa
you know wanting to move the mountains aside
And the people laughed at him that, oh, how can
you do that yourself? Move mountains, you know,
this huge mountain to another side. That's impossible.
But the old grandpa started to, you know, move,
you know, rock, white rock at a time and then
just keep doing every day. And then by generations
and, you know, after many, many years, you know,
after. his grandsons, grandchildren, you know,
all of them, many, many years, eventually the
mountains, you know, the mountain was moved to
another site. So I think that's a really inspiring
story that if we really want to do something,
you know, we do it one stump at a time and it
just takes time and we know we'll finish it.
Or we challenge, you know, also kind of like
insert a message that if we want to, you know
change people's stereotype and we do it little
by little you know just by whatever power we
have and eventually hopefully you know everything
will be good yeah beautiful but i love the concept
of stomp and there's a one step at a time you
hear it a lot and it becomes becoming a you know
cliche almost but the stomp has sort of like
an intention to it. Yes. Yeah. And also faith.
Yes. Yeah. And bravery. One stump at a time,
you know. One stump at a time. So I was singing
with my students. I told them, you know, stump.
And yes. And they're like, oh, okay, I'll do
it. But, you know, sometimes they don't understand.
But, you know, and later on, I just, I always.
feel like you know we don't expect people to
get it right away you know just like one stomach
time it takes time it's okay we have to be patient
yeah beautiful yeah and tell me about shape of
eyes yeah shape of eyes um like during the covid
time there was a really famous celebrity um yes
on instagram and then she did something really
not nice yeah so there's a picture of her that
kind of like you know doing like change her shape
like that and you know so and I was like oh my
gosh that's crazy this she's so famous and a
lot of my students actually love her And she,
of course, she said she was just making a joke
about imitating the Buddha and all that. And
it was a controversial story on the news. And,
you know, I couldn't believe it. Even, you know,
until today, now it's already 2025, people do
that. Especially they're famous. And, you know,
it's really setting a bad example to our society.
I want to write a song, but I don't want to put
any hatred in the song, you know, because love
is not about correcting, you know, it's not about
revenge. It's not about anything that is so negative.
We need to, I feel like I need to write something
beautiful about it, about the different shapes
of creatures, you know. Like when you go to a
garden, you think it's beautiful because there
are so many different colors of flowers, different
types of flowers, all the colorful flowers or
different shapes of flowers and make the garden
beautiful. And, you know, we all look different.
Some people are taller, some people are smaller,
some people... have for example have a big face
and have smaller face which is beautiful and
some people are figures you know just different
shapes of people are so beautiful and different
you know colors different ages different heights
different sizes um of things and really make
the world beautiful so that's the song about
so i kind of and i'm also from Miao is an ethnic
group in China that, you know, wear all different
like costumes and big crowns and all that. I'll
show the picture. So I used some of the elements
of my Miao music, Miao style music into the song.
So it's kind of like beginning. It's kind of
like, you know. Something like that. Wow, you're
incredible. Sorry, I just got out of the Bible.
There's no more of that. And also kind of want
to insert my, you know, hometown elements, you
know, like the beautiful things that I really
love to the song and, you know, to have a message
that look at this. The music's different. It's
also beautiful. You know, maybe you don't like
us because you don't know us enough. OK, let
me show you the beautiful parts of us. And also,
you know, let you know that we are actually here
to help and then to just to be ourselves and
then to just be another, you know, friend. You
know, we're not here to do anything. bad sometimes
i feel like all the negative comments about you
know discrimination and everything maybe i'm
thinking from the positive perspective that maybe
because they don't know us enough because they
only know you know everything you know about
us from media sometimes media is not portraying
us different well either and you know asian we
asian people are the most diverse Group of people.
Yes. Yeah. You know, language wise, even the
skin colors. To squeeze into everything. Right.
Yes. So it's so funny. I mean, I almost, you
know, at this point of my life, because I've
lived in the West. You know, the culture for
decades. So I almost laugh at them. And I feel
so sorry. Yeah. Or, you know, it's there. the
limitation and then that really prevent prevents
them from learning yeah right i think if we are
here to acknowledge the differences between each
other and they're gonna be more love you know
why not have more love you know i know right
what's the core themes or messages were you hoping
to impart to children and families maybe you
already mentioned but you know positivity and
self -image and so on but My core message is
still love and hope and also belonging. I think
that's also another message that I want to not
share, but also explore with my audiences together.
Wow, that's a big word, belonging. So one of
the songs is called Call Us at 520. 520, yeah,
actually means I love you. So, yeah. So in China,
5, 2, 0, these three letters, you know, the pronunciation
of the three letters is very close to I love
you in Chinese. So we use the numbers. You know,
in China, we don't really say I love you. I don't
know if in Japan or it's hard for us even though
yeah you know like we don't say I love you to
our parents parents don't say that to us either
and so we use numbers and we don't say 5 -2 -0
in front of your face but you know we write it
so every year on May 20th it's kind of like a
secondary valentine days in china now so they
kind of make it like you know a thing now so
if you know you love someone you text 520 that's
all that means i love you and also you know if
you get a red envelope on wechat and it's five
dollars and twenty cents and that means i love
you yeah so the song was inspired by the number
you know 520 i love you um it's a song about
a group of detectives they're young detectives
so yeah and they are they're you know they're
answering phone calls and the phone code the
phone number is 520 if you have any troubles
call 520 and we're gonna be there to help you
if you have your missing hat missing homework
missing anything or if you need help Or if there's
your balloon fly away, call us at 520. So that's
the song about. And I think I kind of embedded
all the message with all the fun stories and
into my songs. Yeah, my message sounds a little
big and children's music, but I made it fun.
So people probably will get it. But, you know,
it's amazing. As I said to you, these are written
for children, I didn't feel like I'm listening
to kids songs like, you know, my baby nephew
would listen to, you know what I mean? So I totally
enjoyed. So how did you approach writing for
children without oversimplifying the musical
language? I think I believe children deserve
artistry, you know, so because they also can
feel the depth. They can feel the feeling, the
music. everything. Sometimes I just feel like
we need to believe them and they can do it because
I've been teaching for a very long time. Most
of them are young children and many of them,
you know, they're like four or five or six years
old. They're already playing very challenging
pieces and perform at Carnival Hall, Royal Albert
Hall, you know, like everywhere. And I learned
one thing that we treat them as children, as
people who are beneath us and you know they will
not learn i treat my students as you know equals
i believe them you know for example one of the
pieces i played for my students a piano piece
and then she was like wow i can never play like
that i said you can so after a few months and
she did and then you know and it's not just like
for her it happened to everyone i feel like if
i believe in them and you know guide them with
the right direction you know or tailored direction
for them and then also they believe in themselves
and they put the effort into it and they will
be able to do it and for my songs yeah people
always ask me oh is it too hard too difficult
for children to understand and i test it with
my students I think they understand and it takes
a little time. But also children, you know, they
have different age groups. They have like toddlers,
pre -K and, you know, like first grade to like
seven, like six to nine, 10 to 12, 14 to the
different like, you know, age groups. I think
my music may be. probably doesn't fit for the
toddlers because not maybe too hard for them
but maybe pre -k from pre -k to like elementary
you know or even middle schools i think you'll
be good you know for them and yeah so i think
i don't want to sacrifice artistry just to you
know write easier songs for them but how do they
learn about good stuff until later too late they
need to know the good stuff when they're little
so they know they have standards they know what's
good that's how I you know I don't know if it's
right but amazing you're right absolutely yeah
yeah but um what made you decide to I because
this is not the only album geared towards children
you have another one uh the title is shape of
crowns so what made you decide to write songs
for children also during covid i think covid
changed a lot of us yeah yeah yeah yeah so because
uh during covid um you know there are like really
bad things happened you know um just that one
of my little students you know during covid i
Right before that, a little bit. Not like before
shutdown and everything. Something happened.
So there was a little girl. And then she told
me a story. She said, Miss Vivian, my friends,
they don't want to hang out with me. And she
feels so sad. And I was like, why? Because she's
a good student, good person, good girl. And she
said, oh, they call me Chinese virus. I was like,
oh, you know, they're young kids. They probably
heard it somewhere, you know, or I felt so bad
about it. And then after that shutdown, everything,
all the anti -Asian crimes happened, you know,
to the elderly and to everybody, you know, during
that time. It was just so crazy. Sometimes between
my friends and I, we were talking about, can
we still walk on the street without worrying
about our safety anymore? Should we wear wigs?
Because they said they can still identify you
with your mask because your eyes, your hair color,
everything. That was just so ridiculous. And
I felt so bad. As a teacher, as a musician, and
I'm not a millionaire, billionaire, or anybody
who has money or power to change everything,
but I feel like I'm a musician. My power is my
music. I want to do something about it. You know,
just like one stump at a time. Maybe it's not
going to be big, but I need to do something about
it. So I started to write my... first children's
album, Shape of Crowns. And so, yeah, that album,
I want to, you know, share the messages with
my students or other children who, you know,
face the problems. I want them to be leaving
themselves to be proud of their heritage and
be proud of who they are. That's how we started
for that album. You don't I love all the songs
in there, but I love the second track, Belong,
which highlights Asian -American contributions.
And, you know, also you're blending Beethoven's
Sonata Pathétique and hip -hop all by her. Incredible.
Wow. This is your idea, right? Yeah, that's my
idea. I love the song, too. Thank you so much.
Yeah, and I'm a classical musician, so, you know.
And I know my students, they love hip -hop. They
always listen to rap songs. They think it's cool.
So I'm open -minded. I'm like, okay, let's use
something that you like and also that I think
is valuable. Combine them, and then maybe you'll
be accessible for children to listen to it. It
is one of the songs that is very, you know, beloved
by the young children. Like, oh, this is so cool.
I want to sing it. And even without understanding
it. So I'm not sure if you actually watched the
music video. I can share with you later. I did
it with my students and there was a story behind
it, too. And of course, for Asian children, it's
very hard for them to rap. So when they first
rap, it sounded really funny, practiced and make
them look very cool. And they feel like they're
cool. So in the song, we talk about all the amazing
things, cultures and foods in Asia. And also
all the contributions that Asian -Americans,
not just Chinese, but Asian -Americans that have
done for this world in medical technology. art,
everything. We have done so much. Do you know
that there's a Korean surgeon that invented the
medicine? for cancer patients so they can feel
less hurting. And we have IM Pei designed so
many amazing architectures. We have Verowal.
We have so many, so many people, Asian Americans
have contributed their talent, time, lives, including
the first generation, first generations came
here to build the railroad. and everything. So
I want the children to see that, see where actually
we have so many rich stories and we have done
good to the world. Be proud of yourself. Be proud
of your skin color. Be proud of who you are.
But when we shot this music video, the parents
were like, oh, Miss Vivian, we don't want to
wear the Asian. And I said, why? And the mom
said, oh, you know, we don't want our children's
classmates feel that, you know, we're different.
So they might laugh at my children. But then
I was like, but you have to be proud of yourself
first and nobody can actually. look down to you
if you don't really know who you are. So I need
to actually, I can't, I couldn't believe it.
The parents are first generation immigrants.
I thought they understand the rules. And, but
then they, I also understand their worries that,
you know, if they are, you know, because young
children's mind, sometimes they just don't know
enough. They are just worried that their children
will be bullied because of this. And even the
children, they didn't understand the lyrics at
the very beginning. But they started to understand
later after I brought them to perform everywhere.
After COVID and many people heard those songs,
the New York Senator, John Liu, heard it. and
invited us to perform in Albany. And he said,
this is what we need. And then he told me that,
Vivian, you're not just writing a song, you're
writing history. And we need other people, more
people to hear about this. So he is advocating
for a bill called AAPI Bill. So that bill is
about putting more Asian American history contributions,
everything. in the history textbook in public
schools in New York. And there was a voting that
day in Albany. So he invited us to perform right
before they vote for the bill. And there were
15 senators there that day, watched us perform.
And the children were rapping and talking about
Asian American contributions. And all the senators
there, they're a club, you know, applaud. And
then like, wow, you guys are the best rapper
in the building. And then that day, the bill
passed Senate. But there's still like more, more
steps to go to pass the bill. And, you know,
before I wrote the song or when I wrote this,
I never thought. actually music really can make
an impact. So that day, my students and me and
plus the senators just brought us and then, you
know, to every room in that building, legislative
building, to tell us about the story of each
building and painting and about the sessions,
how, you know, two parties are working together
or not and everything. That's a great lesson.
And all the children, they were like, oh, wow,
we actually, we are important. And so, and after
that, and, you know, the Queensborough president
and the mayor's office and many, you know, we
actually were invited to perform that song almost
everywhere. And of course, the Queens District
Attorney, you know, so our office. They invited
us to perform at their celebration events. And
I was like, wow, music can really make an impact.
It's not just for people to enjoy. Yes, to enjoy
music is for joy, right? But also we can make
an impact through our music. I never thought
about it, but I actually, you know. Experienced
and witnessed. Yeah, witnessed it. And I feel
very grateful and proud. Yeah. Oh, you should
be. You should be proud. Wow. And I am proud
of you. And as a fellow Asian American, that's
so cool. That's so cool. But at the same time,
message is strong. Yes. But also the production
value is high. You know, that's one of the reasons
that probably there was. the power to move people
to do something right through your music. That's
incredible. Wow. Bravo to you. So, you know,
even like in the, I, I know in the song belong,
you named a few Asian American innovators like
Eric Yuan, who is the creator of Zoom, right?
You know, Eric created Zoom. Zoom is the tool
that connected everyone. Yeah. So that's really
just amazing. I'm so proud. Every language has
a word for love. Love in Chinese is I. I is love.
I'm truly awe of your artistry. It's originality
and groundbreaking. And as a young Asian woman
creating boldly in the United States, creating
your own path, you are breaking stereotypes by
simply being who you are. and a powerhouse musician
with a real creative force. So tell us about
your upbringing, how music was introduced, because
you also sing. So what your musical training
was like in those crucial early years and where
does this singing come from? You have such an
incredible voice. Thank you. My parents, my parents,
they love singing. I used to have a karaoke machine.
They sing all the time, my dad, my mom, you know,
and all the traditional songs. And so I just,
when I was little, I just sang along with them
and without even understanding the words or anything.
I just love singing because I see, you know,
the joy that they have when they sing. I was
like, I want to do this. So I always sing. So
my dad, you know, sometimes they carry me on
their shoulders and all that, walking on the
streets. I also, I was like, I was not a shy
kid when I was first born. Before, you know,
I got, you know, go to school and then learn
how to behave and all that. I was just not shy.
I just sing, you know, loudly on the streets
while my dad carried me on the shoulder. My dad
was like, oh. Fang, that's my Chinese name. Can
you turn down a little bit? Because he's shy
and he felt like, you know, but I was like, oh,
I don't care. I'll keep singing because I love
singing because the joy that I have when I sing.
And then, you know, as you know, my mom wants
to change me. And with piano and all that. So
I started to play. uh piano and i started to
take lessons and i didn't like to practice that
much so but um i still you know did it but not
so much for my first uh a few years but my mom
didn't give up so i'm glad that she didn't give
up on me so um until when i was 12 i took i went
to the uh to audition one of the conservatories
in Wuhan and middle school. It's kind of a great
college here. But that's like you have to go
to the school every day for music and all other
subjects. So it's kind of serious. So I have
to move to another city. So I got into the school.
It's a very prestigious program because they
only took at that time 20 pianists from the country.
lucky to get into that program and then so I
moved to another city for my you know starting
my professional training when I was 12 and it
was very hard for me because I'm from a small
city Guiyang in China and Wuhan is a big city
and now everybody knows about Wuhan now and people
there they're very smart and many of them are
from other big cities Beijing Shanghai and It
was hard for me to live in another city without
my parents. And it's just always hard. But I
practice very hard. I practice like eight hours
a day before the election. So everything's about
practice. I eat, breathe, and practice. And I
work very hard. I got the scholarship there.
The only scholarship, they give like 5 ,000 RMB
a semester and they only give one to one student
every semester. And I'm the only student to get
that scholarship every semester for three years
until I moved to America. So I worked very hard
and people call me, you know, super woman. You
are. But I also very, I was very stressed, you
know. Because, you know, from that experience,
I learned that I don't want to be the best. Why?
You know, because my parents always teach me
that, oh, try your best and do everything your
best, which I did. But I felt so much pressure
because it's so hard to maintain the trust because
you have to give so much extra and your friends
don't like you because maybe some of them are
jealous, you know, or you just don't have time
to hang out with them to build the relationship.
And, you know, I was not that happy. You know,
I got, you know, all the scholarships at that
time. And so I moved to America and I met my
really great teacher, a few teachers, and they're
very nice. Did you come to New York first? Yeah,
I went to North Carolina first. And then the
teacher then recommended me to go to New York.
It's a long story, should I keep it short? Because
I came here by myself, and it's an adventure
for me. I know I want to go to a good school,
but then I need to figure out how to go to high
school and everything. So I was very lucky. I
found a landlord. It's a Hong Kong family, and
they took me in and then be the guardian for
me. And so I taught their son, little son, which
is actually a few years younger than me, and
that piano every day. And they saw the improvement
of the son. And then he was my very first student.
And then after that, they introduced their classmates,
you know, for me. So I started to make money
when I was 15. as a piano teacher and I didn't
have time to hang out with my friends and all
that and I felt a little sad sometimes because
I didn't have time to experience real campus
life you know like you know teenager life I was
working and studying and because my mom was sick
at that time and everything and then you know
I have to make start to make some, you know,
make living and carry the burden a little bit.
So, but then now I think it's a very valuable
experience for me. It's treasure because, you
know, I started when I was 15. I have so many
years of teaching experience. Yeah. So maybe
that also makes me a good teacher because I have
so many years of experience. Alrighty. Yeah.
And I just feel very grateful that. the parents,
you know, believed in me. Even I was just a few
years older than their kids and they were so
nice, so kind. They always gave me, you know,
snacks or food. You know, when I went to their
home to teach and I still remember, it's very
vivid, the memory that I was waiting for the
bus to go to another student's house and it was
snowing very hard and it's at night. And I was
just a high school student. And I feel like,
oh, this is so beautiful. You know, the sky is
so clean. But, you know, I'm a little sad that
it's Christmas time. I'm not with my parents,
but I'm actually helping my family also, you
know, to make money. So I feel proud of myself.
And sometimes I wanted to cry. But then I told
myself that it's okay. It's going to be okay.
that's I always you know very hopeful no matter
what so wow you're a self -made woman yeah what
a that's a classic American immigrant story don't
you think yeah and thank you it is so cool that's
cool because you have two incredible albums and
one should you should have won Grammy thank you
by the way yeah I'm telling you and I heard that
not From someone too. So I swear you should have
one, but you know, to do, to be able to get there
with your own determination. And that's just
so incredible. But now you're using your power
and the ability to spread the positive message
to young people because you are a teacher. You
have been a teacher for a long time, right? Yes,
thank you. Yeah, I just, when I look back, everything
is my treasure. I just feel so lucky that I have
met so many amazing people, kind people who helped
me, you know, along the way. I couldn't make
it without any of them. You know, everybody,
like all people I know, I don't know who supported
me, my students, my parents, the students' parents,
my teachers, my friends. They all helped me so
much because they all know maybe I was alone
here and then they all tried to help me. I feel
like the world is beautiful because people are
so nice. And some people, they always say that
New York is the worst place and people are so
bad. But I never felt that. No, I just feel people
here actually are nice. I feel the same way.
They're just sometimes being too honest. Yeah.
Yeah, but once you create your own pathway and
also create your community, New York is the best
place, don't you think? Yes, I totally feel that.
People are so, I feel like they're real. Yeah,
they're real. They don't like you, they like
you, you know, they just say it or don't care,
they walk away. But, you know. It's efficient.
It is, yeah. But I'm just curious, did you have
any vocal training along the way? Actually, I
took a few lessons, but I never have degrees
in voice. So I think I got it from my father's
side, maybe. I just love singing, you know. And
I don't think I'm a great, great singer, but
I love singing. Wonderful. Now, I want to go
back to the theme of identity, belonging, and
so on. So themes of those identity, belonging,
and then resilience appear throughout your music.
And how did your childhood and moving to the
United States at 15 shape the way those themes
show up in your work? I think it's in my blood,
my journey, my experience. I feel like, I don't
know, I just always feel positive. I told myself
to be positive no matter what. Maybe I learned
it from my mom. My mom is also a very, very strong
person, no matter how much she suffered. I probably
watched it when I was little, how she deal with
things. She never gave up anything, no matter
how hard. how life how you know life like kind
of like joking with her and all that i just feel
like okay if you just keep going if there's a
light there so i think that spirit is in my blood
and then um when i you know write songs it just
shows you know and also when i teach my students
i also tell them to never give up. Even when
I teach them sight reading, the first thing,
you know, sight reading, children, they don't
like it. Many people don't like it. The first
message I told them is that don't give up. Sight
reading is about just finishing. You can make
mistakes, it's fine. But as long as you don't
give up, then, you know, and then it's going
to be good. So that's the first message when
I teach sight reading for my students. And I
think my experience, my journey just told me
that if you don't give up, it's not going to
be too bad. Yeah. And what's the meaning of life?
You know, I've been thinking about that for a
very long time. And, you know, everybody's answers
are different. Sometimes I feel like it's about
helping people. It's about, you know, realizing
your goals. And now, I don't know, just at this
phase, I was thinking about life is about just
living. Just live. You know, if you just keep
living and maybe things won't be too bad. Maybe
things are bad now. But when you look at... you
know, look at it back in one year or two years,
you will never think it's a big deal. Or maybe
it's a big deal, but then you already passed
that. You won't be too bad. You know, there's
just always, if you just live and then be yourself,
do good things. And that's enough. That's how
I feel. And then also don't be afraid of challenge
yourself. And also challenge the things that
you don't believe or believe. Like one of my
songs is called Bruce Lee Doesn't Like Math.
Yes, yes, yes. So, you know, I just want to challenge
the stereotypes. Like Asians are all good at
math, right? And I'm not good at math. So, yeah.
And Bruce Lee actually found out that he's not
good at math either. And he loves poetry. And
he's not just a martial artist, but he's a good,
you know, writer. He actually wrote a lot of
poems about everything, you know, love and everything.
And he has a tender heart. And even he is so
strong, you know. So in that song, I talk about
even Bruce Lee doesn't like math. And then, you
know, he loves poetry. And then you can be anything
you want to be. So that's it. I just put everything
that I learned to my songs and I want to share
it with my students and also my friends. I think
just like you said, adults can listen to it too.
Now, so I want to talk a little bit about the
soundscape that you create. You know, in the
background, I hear sometimes traditional Chinese
instruments, or maybe that's digital. I don't
know. And then sometimes I hear, you know, your
piano playing in the background. I'm not talking
about your vocal part. And then sometimes I hear
more pop, like as if I'm watching an anime, you
know, animation. Right. So. Where do all these
palettes come from? I mean, are these all your
ideas? Or you work with a sound engineer? They're
most of my ideas. I also have some engineers
to realize my ideas. So I could talk to them
about my vision and about the sounds, about the
music that I want to... But where does that come
from? I'm just trying to connect the dots. Because,
you know, we all have similar classical -trained
piano background. But where do you go from there
to where you are right now? You know what I mean?
You know, I'm a classical pianist. I love to
listen to so many other kinds of music. And I'm
just so curious about everything. I love pop,
rock, R &B, hip -hop, metal. Just, you know,
just many different kinds. And also, I know this
album is going to be about, you know, promoting
the good parts of my culture and everything.
I want to insert the beautiful elements. For
example, in All Accents of Art, there's guzheng,
you know, the blocking instruments. And I played
it. I took, I went to a guzheng teacher in New
York. I've even bought guzheng here. I can show
you later. I took the lessons. I was learning
that part because I don't need the whole thing.
It's very fun. For that, I actually learned how
to play guzheng. I want to put that element into...
I also have a music video I can show you later
to my music. The classical parts, for example,
in Coase F520, there's a... a concerto -like
message in the bridge. And so I created that
concerto part myself. And, you know, because
I also want to teach them musical, you know,
knowledge through songs. And not many children
know about concerto. Even adults, they don't
know what's concerto. So, you know, and I, you
know, concerto is about a solo instrument or
voice with orchestra. So I kind of put that idea
into the bridge. And then I played it. I recorded
it. And I told my producer also didn't understand
what's concerto. Maybe he was not in classical.
So he didn't know. I said, you have to do this
as concerto. And then you have to build the strings
around it. And I played the piano part. My students,
after they listen to it, they ask, oh, what is
this? I said, oh, that's concerto. See, that's
a way to teach them, too. They learn it without
even knowing that we're teaching them. And so
I actually have very detailed ideas in my mind
before I produce it. And I want to make sure
the elements I put in my songs align with my
vision. Yeah, but... Also, the ability to write
songs, you know? Yeah. Wow. And that's also something
that you just explore that by yourself on your
own? Yes. Like when I first came here, it was
very lonely. I didn't know anyone. And, you know,
I like to take pictures. I still have my camera
and then, you know, to record my life. And also
I started to write my first songs during that
period, because for me, it's kind of a way to,
it's kind of like a journal. You just write down
things, just, you know, but also I feel like
it was therapeutic for me to express myself.
It was healing. So I write down, you know, everything
I felt, maybe my stories or also. other stories
my very first song i wrote it for my cat yeah
and my very first pop song i wrote it um the
name was everything's gonna be fine i wrote it
for myself so maybe i just i feel like maybe
if you just write it from your heart and it's
gonna be it's not gonna be bad That's how I feel.
And plus, maybe I listen to a lot of different
kinds of music. Did you have any teenage years,
so that's back in China, experience in maybe
pop songs, like singing in front of the people
with pop songs or anything? I never. I was singing
in a children's choir when I was in China, but
I never actually performed. or anything. You
were strictly classical piano training. Wow.
That's incredible. Like, because I thought you
had some sort of background like that, you know?
No. From my parents, they loved seeing Chinese
pop songs. So, but those are old classics, like,
you know, Teresa Teng, if you know her. So, yeah,
just that. And I just listened, I listened to
a lot of Disney music and pop songs when I was
little. You know, even like visual things like,
you know, for example, your album cover or even
the videos that I saw. Yeah, they're great. Thank
you so much. Yeah, I'm sure your ideas are put
into those designs, no? I designed my very first
album's cover. Different shapes. Did you see
different colors, shapes? But it's kind of pink
related, I think. And also... the um on the cover
there was a two stripes of large so it's larger
it's a it's kind of like tie -dye pattern famous
from my hometown so i can't believe there and
then in the middle there are different shapes
of animals and you know just that that's my idea
and then i drew i drew it with my crayons and
then i sent it to a designer so i just make it
you know like nice so it's fascinating to hear
all these people's stories where we learn the
same piano literature, basically. Yes. From Beethoven
Pathétique to Chopin Waltz to everything. Then
everybody has their own path. It's just so incredible.
Thank you. Thanks for being interested. No, and
thank you for sharing. So now, is it okay if
we are going to go more toward music education?
Yeah. And you are deeply involved in, I mean,
now I understand. And I was like, where does
this, you know, connection come from? Like being
such an incredible recording artist and then,
you know, and also you write scholarly writing
or paper and. publish it about music education.
I just couldn't really connect before I spoke
to you. But now I see it because you started
teaching when you moved here at such a young
age. But does that passion of music education
come from those formative years as a young artist?
No, it's later. I didn't know about research
before. So I started piano performance at NYU
with Professor Edwards. Oh, me too! Really? Oh
my gosh! I love him so much. I love him so much.
You know, he actually supported me singing pop
and jazz and rock besides classical music. He
was the very first one. Really? A teacher told
me that folk is not classical. Everything else
is garbage. That was my first teacher that told
me that I was wasting time doing everything else.
But then when I studied with Professor Halim,
he's just so talented, so nice, so kind. And
I told him that, hey, Professor Halim, I have
a jazz band. I mean, this competition, could
you please vote for me? And he was like, yes,
I'll definitely vote for you. And then he actually
voted for me with his two sons and his wife.
Oh, so sweet. Yeah, he told me one thing. He
said, no matter what you do, you love jazz, you
love pop songs, I know you love rock. Everything
you do, you will always come back to your classical
playing. He said, you will be a better. artist
do everything that you love and that really just
free freed me i just love him so much yeah yeah
same he's so awesome wow and continue on please
yeah so and after that i went to columbia for
music education and because i love teaching and
i think you know i i love when uh one -on -one
teaching i have enough experience and did pretty
well and I just want to improve my classical
class classroom teaching classroom teaching that
how to teach a group of students or you know
all that I would just I want to improve my teaching
I only applied one school and that's that's Teachers
College at Columbia and that's the only school
I want to go to at that time so I got in and
then um but it was very hard for me because I
never needed to read so many papers and write
so many papers, you know, like in my life, never.
And it was very hard, you know, because language
problem and, you know, we never really write
papers. Right, right, as musicians. I didn't
even read, understand all the... very difficult
concepts and everything. And it was very hard,
very challenging in the beginning. I started
to love it. I started to love research. I was
like, oh, wow, this is very helpful. You can
actually, you know, try to identify problems
and then maybe you can find solution for problems
by doing research or understand the problems
better if you don't find an answer. So start
from. yeah there and I started to love researching
you know if I need to if I don't need to work
so much I love keep researching and then you
know do all the stuff so start from there and
I started to learn about critical thinking you
know only during that time about oh you don't
need to believe everything right okay wow there's
problems and how do we find solutions so All
of that inspired me so much. And I look at my
own teaching and I see problems, I see conflicts.
So most of my students are second generation
and the parents are first generation immigrants.
They have totally different, you know, education
and they experience different, you know, cultures
and many things. They're so different. But there
are families. And then you see the conflicts
in the education too. What the parents want them
to do? What do the students do? What do the teachers
do? And I want to find the problem. And I also
want to find the solution how to support this
kind of dynamic. So I started to survey more
than 100. Can you, sorry, can you explore for
my audience about the conflict a little bit?
Right. For example, first generation, like immigrants,
right, parents, and what they learned are from
their parents or grandparents. And the education
and, you know, for example, because I don't want
to make it too big, just for example, in China,
And we learned about group values, not self -centered.
You sacrifice for other people. That's a concept
we learned about, you know, being a good person.
And here, it's a little more about yourself.
You know, it's not self -centered, but you have
to care about yourself, which is right. You know,
there's good and bad duality. But, you know,
the values are so different. The values are different
and they're going to have so many conflicts.
For example, it shows in piano learning too.
The parents, you know, they sacrifice a lot,
really. You know, first -generation parents,
they work so hard and they sacrifice their own
personal lives and they spend time, energy, money
to their children. only because they want to
provide a good education, good life for the children.
At the same time, it also gives a lot of pressure
to the children. They tell the children that,
oh, you have to be good, do well, do well in
school and get a good job so you can have a good
life. And if you don't obey, you are a bad kid
because I sacrificed so much for you already.
And then... The children here, they learn different
concepts that I don't live for anybody else.
I live for myself and I don't need to sacrifice
myself to, you know, to help another person.
I need to be good at myself first. This core
value are so different, you know, and why do
I learn music? Because my parents want to, you
know, force me to learn. Many of them say that
because also sometimes lazy don't want to practice.
But the parents were like, oh, and that's one
thing. And the other thing is very interesting
that they want their kids to be successful, right?
And they also, you know, they're also very kind
of like superficial that, oh, because learning
music, playing piano or get awards will be good
for the college application for them. even themselves
don't listen to music, or they don't take their
kids to concerts to listen to music. Only in
practice. No, the kids take the exams or go to
the competition. And the kids, that's very interesting.
That's most of the parents, they say that, right?
Very, you know, superficial. And then the answers
from the kids. And then I ask them, why do you
want to learn music? And some of them say that,
oh, because my parents asked me to. And also,
Other answers are that, oh, because I can show
off in front of my friends. And I think that's
not a bad reason. It's okay. As least you want
to play. And there's just one student. I surveyed
more than 100 students and then parents and also
teachers. And then just one student said, oh,
I just feel peaceful when I play music. And then
she was only in elementary school. She wrote
the answer. That was very funny. and but you
know so i feel like the goal the purpose of learning
music are so different and you know if their
goals are different you will always have conflict
and even including the teachers i surveyed the
teachers teachers have different backgrounds
they're novice teachers to very experienced julia
professors and you know so from their parts of
answers they said Most Asian -American students,
they work very hard, you know, but, you know,
also most of the problems are the problems happened
in practice because we only have like a lesson
once a week. But, you know, so you practice at
home for one week and there are many, many things
happened in that week. And if the students, they
don't practice with, you know, their mind and
goals, if the parents don't support the way it's
supposed to be, and everything will go wrong.
And which most of the times, it just, it always
goes wrong. And that's a problem. And they also
said the problems of the... teachers from the
teachers perspective between parents and students
parents they they want to see instant result
you know the teachers that asian american parents
they want to see instant results and then but
it doesn't work like that so that's a big thing
and then for children you know they have so much
pressure to be good how can you enjoy music if
you only work for that instant results and for
teachers the teachers they some of them are asian
american teachers some of them from europe europe
some are from america they're all different backgrounds
and has also different cultures so that's a big
problem for them too But they love Asian American
students because they work hard. But they also
see the problem that, you know, how can they
help them to be more creative? And from the teacher's
part, they also experience problems. Most of
them are classical pianists. But the children,
they have different, you know, tastes and everything,
right? So I actually asked a question about the
teachers that, do you teach, what do you see,
you know, the repertoire? Do you teach, you know,
any other genres besides classical music? And
the answers I got, they are very honest. Most
of the teachers said, I want to teach them improvise.
I want to teach them, you know, other genres
like jazz, anything, but I don't know how to.
That's, that's very honest. You know, we're in
classical, you know, musicians. Improvisation
is not part of our training. It's actually not
easy for us. But I feel like if we keep learning,
we can learn together with the students. That's
how I see it. But for students, like new students
nowadays, they've heard so many different kinds
of music. If you just play one classical piece,
maybe it's not enough. We can teach other techniques
from other genres of music, from a pop song too.
Pop song has so many syncopated patterns. You
can teach, you know, you actually can teach them
syncopation from a pop song. That's how I see
it. So I just, you know, research just fascinated
me because I see so many, you know, perspectives
and different, you know. problems and I was like
oh this is very interesting we just need to know
each other better to work as a team so amen to
that amen sister I've been teaching for decades
too and then I understand this core issues where
you just all three parties get stuck yeah and
they're looking at each other it's like what
is going on, right? And one party says this and
then another says differently and then another
says differently. It's a challenging thing and
you kind of have to come together and meet in
the middle and say, hey, this is the reality
of music lessons or this is the reality of life
and we have to talk it out and what it takes
to be, what it means to learn music. What is
music? You know, and I totally understand their
point of view. We're spending this X amount of
money for children's education. We need to see
the results. Totally understand that point of
view too. Yes. Yeah. But so now what I do is
that I just strictly told the parents that, you
know, learning piano not necessarily will help
the college application. And then the parents
are like, why do we learn music then? And I just
ask. The parents, one question that do you want
your children, you know, in the future after
the work and then go home and just play games
and then sitting there doing nothing with nothing
to do and, you know, like just live a boring
life. You know, they don't say anything after
that, you know, because living is not just about
making money, about having a good job. And it's
really about enrich your life. you know, spiritually
too. And music can help that tremendously. I
think that's very important. Yeah. And I tell
the parents, you should learn music too. We all
should. What do you believe the role of the artist
is in shaping cultural narratives for the next
generation? I feel like people see artists as
some people that, you know, outside of regular
life. Oh, they're just people who have dreams.
But I think we're very important. We're very
important. I think... you know as an artist myself
um music is always there for me and i already
benefit so much from music so i can say it from
my experience that music is important in people's
life he saved my life so many times so so many
times every time i feel down negative want to
give up many other moments sad you know abandoned
all all the moments and i started to i told myself
okay sing a song sing whatever play a piece write
something collaborate with people and it always
you know you always lighten up my spirit so i
think as an artist our role is to promote music
of course and also to share all the meaningful
messages in you know through music to people
to connect and also use music to heal music is
a therapy it's not just something that for you
to um enjoy it is that's very important to make
you happy yes that's also one of the you know
important aspects of therapy and Music is so
important in people's life and we just need to
keep doing it and maybe evolve it and have open
mind because we never know about artificial intelligence
you know like AI how are we going to evolve but
I believe you know just like I always do that
we can use music to heal people. But we need
to have an open mind and thrive with the changes,
not stuck in the past. Beautifully said. Thank
you. Now it's time for us to promote your work.
So what are you working on now? And also any
upcoming projects that you can share with us?
I just recorded my piano concerto, a new one,
with a composer from Cincinnati. University,
Douglas Nguyen's work, Piano Concerto is called
Storm, with Bortno Philharmonic in Czech a few
months ago. And that was a very amazing experience.
And it was conducted by Mikel from London, and
he's an amazing conductor. So I am very excited
about this project. I'm also going to record
in London next month at Abbey Road with London
Philharmonic as one of the featured artists in
the new group called String Symphony. I'm very
excited about that too. um yeah so these two
are biggest projects so far and i just performed
at carnegie hall and lincoln center last week
so that's why i was like so really and wow what
did you perform uh i performed uh my own compositions
and i also i collaborated a lot with different
types of artists these two are classical projects
but i also collaborated with two rock artists
with classical music for a, you know, kind of
fusion music. And I also performed the new arrangement
from me and the violist, Julia violist, Karen
Olson for the Christmas song, Carol of the Bells.
I brought my students to sing some of my originals,
Love, Peace, Prayer, at Lincoln Center. They
also performed with the American artist Grant
Malloy and Eileen Sherman's music. Just a lot
of things happening. Wow, that's exciting. That's
so great. Thank you. Well, thank you for showing
up today, despite all the exciting events. you
know, coming up for you. I really appreciate
that. Thank you. Yeah. So where can people follow
you? On social media? Social media. At Vivian
Fan Liu. Instagram, right? And then also you
have a website, VivianFanLiu .com. Yes. Perfect.
Now, is there anything else you want to say before
we do that rapid fire questions? I think. No.
Thank you so much. Of course. And by the way,
Eduardo's Halim, he was on my show a few years
ago. So check him out. I think it's season three,
episode two. So he talks about, you know, of
course, Horowitz and everything. There's a personal
anecdote that he shares. It's beautiful. So I
want you to check it out. Thank you so much.
Oh, my gosh. This is a beautiful coincidence.
And wow. See, a great teacher. He's a great teacher.
Great impact on people's lives. Oh, totally.
And sometimes I get overwhelmed with his influence.
It's like, he's so talented. What's the main,
like, one of the lessons you learned from him?
Oh, you know, well, as practical as technique.
Or anything. But also, I think life, like, you
know, you can have a beautiful life with styles
and I think that's something that the biggest
takeaway from him. Yes. He's such an elegant
person. Yeah. And his wife is also so supportive
and so sweet. Yeah. But he showed me one thing.
He asked me one time that, Vivian, you look very
graceful. You must have a temper. It sounds like
him. Really? How? You know, because I'm always
very, you know, nice in the class. And then he
said, you know, we all have, we're great, you
know, great artists. They should have that. So
otherwise you can, you know, how can you express
yourself in your music? You know, you just need
to have control. Wow. That's cool. Well, thanks
for sharing that. So. Now we have one more thing
to do, the Pianopods rapid fire questions. Now
we take this segment seriously. You shared your
stories and expertise today, but these questions,
next questions, carefully curated by my team,
which is me, will give our listeners a glimpse
into who you truly are. So let's do this. Question
number one, what is your comfort food? Oh, hot
pot. How do you like your coffee in the morning?
I don't drink coffee. Oh, so many of them. You
pianists, don't you? Okay. Cats or dogs? Cats
and dogs. Sunrise or sunset? Both. Oh my gosh,
so hard to choose. I love both of them. Summer
or winter? Summer. Next level. What skill have
you always wanted to learn but haven't had a
chance to? Flying a plane. Oh, good one. What
is your word or words to live by? Love. Favorite
venue you have performed in or maybe dream venue?
The Music Fireground in Vienna. I just performed
in August. The Golden Pond in Vienna. What is
the most important quality you look for in other
people? Honesty. Name a composer you wish more
people knew about. Myself. That's great. All
right. Then last two. Name one piece in your
current playlist. The Granados. Poetical. Voices.
Poetical. Fill in the blank. Music is blank.
Music is my savior. Oh. Good one. Vivian, thank
you so much for joining us today and for sharing
your artistry and your journey and beautiful,
thoughtful reflections. Your work from classical
performance to children's music, education and
research demonstrates how music can shape identity,
belonging and confidence for the next generation.
It has been a joy to explore your creative world.
Thank you so much. Thank you. And to our audience,
if you'd like to learn more about Vivian and
To explore her music, visit her website at VivianFangNu
.com. You can also listen to her albums, Accents
of Love and Shape of Crowns on all major streaming
platforms. Follow her on social media to stay
connected with her latest projects at Vivian
Fang Nu. Of course, a heartfelt thank you to
all of you, our dedicated listeners for tuning
in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please give
it a thumbs up and subscribe to the PianoPod
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