65: Six MORE Questions For Chee-Yun
with Chee-Yun
6) What makes an young artist a good collaborator when you work together for the first time?
Well, most recently, and not just because I am doing this for YCA, but Lun Li, whom I just adore very much and I love working with him, we played the Prokofiev duo and his enthusiasm was wonderful. And he's... just overall all positive outlook and also being extremely well prepared and even doing the concert, he had-- he knew my part as well and - I think, I believe - and as well as his so that we were able to like exchange some couple of smiles and he played it as if he's played this part, played the second violin part, and he had told me later on, afterwards that he said this was his first time playing the Prokofiev duo, period, and the second violin part as well. So I was very impressed.
So I really loved his energy, positive energy, and it was really lovely working with him too. During the rehearsals he was professional, he always got there before I did! And because I'm like typically, usually pretty much on time for everything I do too. But like he was actually earlier, so I really appreciated that.
7) How would you advise a young artist in choosing repertoire?
Well, in my case, I actually had wonderful teachers, wonderful mentors who guided me in that direction. But I think I also began to understand myself and when I did that, I, I would lean towards certain repertoire that I felt really connected to. Now, having said that, sometimes you are thrown with the idea of exploring other eras of music, and sometimes you have to learn them to play at concerts. And I would say also take risks and think outside of your box. And even though sometimes some of the repertoire, like I'm talking about myself really, but some of the repertoire that I didn't really initially want to learn, but I ended up loving it more when I actually did it. It's like, you know, when it's too easy for you, when it's too familiar to you, you don't appreciate it as much. But when you actually put in the hours of work to learn it, to master it, I think you become more appreciative of it. So, yes, I think outside of your box, but also have wonderful friends and mentors and people, you know, take, take their ideas into account, also.
8) How do you choose your repertoire?
How do I choose my repertoire? Um, I often go back to history and read about a lot. I mean, first of all, it's always good to know about the background information about the piece you're playing. That's another thing that my teacher used to make us do often, and I did it almost always. But-- and, if you know that you could also like, come up with a repertoire like, Oh, is this some big year, like somebody's big birthday coming up - Bicentennial or 150th - this is Rachmaninoff’s year. So things like that. And then I will program recitals around it. But because recital programs are, you know, you could choose your recital programs, but with a concerto it’s often, it's music director or the conductor's suggestion. And I try to accommodate that as much as I can.
9) How do you cultivate a network to support a young growing career?
I have to say that like the people that I stayed in touch with, like when I talked about writing thank you notes, networking is very, very important for young artists or artists general, but I think it's also being genuine is very important because I think a lot of times you could tell if one is being genuine or not. And I just think that, well, okay, so my mom used to give me advice when I was growing up. She said nobody could spit on a smiley face. So meaning if you smile, people are going to treat you and they're going to smile back at you. And in fact, I use that in-- that advice even on stage when I'm extremely nervous, when I walk on stage, I just start smiling first and try to make eye contact with some of the audience members. And they, even if it's forced smile from them, they smile back. And that's somehow made me feel good. So I'm sure if they make their smile made me feel good. I know my smile will too. So I've always felt that if I approach people with positivity, they do give me something positive back. And that has been wonderful. I've made so many friends and I still keep in touch with them and some of the host families that I stay with, they become like my, you know, if I stay with them in Colorado, they became my Colorado parents. If I stay with them in New York City, when I moved away from New York City, they became my New York parents. La Jolla, La Jolla parents. Things like that. So and I just like that because, you know, it could be kind of lonely on the road and it would be nice to go back to places where you could make a call and say, you know, get together for a meal. And that just makes it more personable experience and a lot more pleasant.
10) How to you cultivate continued artistic growth over a lifetime?
How do I continue to grow as an artist? Well, I just feel like I'm still not there. I just feel like I'm still lacking and, and especially these days when I look at like, for example, when I play with Lun Li, and I hear these young violinists and, you know, with the social media, I'm just astounded what they could do. And I'm constantly inspired by them. And I love the fact that they are so passionate and they're so dedicated. And I'm sure I have been and I know I have been, but I feel like that keeps me going. And music is so wonderful. I mean, I-- as I’ve gotten older, I've felt deeply, more deeply with music, and I'm so happy that I'm a musician. I would not trade my life with anybody else's, that's for sure.
11) What advice would you give a musician starting out on their performing or solo career?
Try to say no as little as possible. Positivity, period. Always wins. It is challenging because you never know what's going to happen. There is no guarantee in it. So I just literally like live the best moment every time I'm on stage I try to make it. How do I make it? I have to be, first of all, well-prepared, because otherwise I'll be too nervous about the notes to really enjoy my experience. And also just have a great time and make friends with the people on stage with you, whether it's chamber music or with orchestra players, music director try to avoid conflict as much as possible. Remember, it's like you're there just for the weekend and there is somebody else who's going to come next weekend or next month and you're as good as your last performance. That's actually a good one. And, bad news travels faster! And there is always going to be somebody better than you. So don't get competitive! Because that's just-- Competitive, I fear, like, that's more like a-- Think of it as inspiration! Like competitiveness is negative to me. So be positive, be competitive with yourself. Always push yourself. 200% preparation. Don't expect great results every time. Just be yourself on stage.