Blog Reflection 2: Performance Pathways

Dear Xiao Wen,

Have you ever wondered what challenges you will face when you go into the professional musician world? I often worry about them because the unknown always seems scary and unpredictable. That is no problem because I’m sure that new problems will always appear at different periods in our lives. Recently, a few industry experts shared about their experiences as professionals and I hope that they will relieve some possible stressors in your life.

I feel the need to figure out what my characteristic style is quickly. As a composer and musician, branding is very important and I want to set myself apart from my peers. From a session with the Lorong Boys, I learnt that it is perfectly normal to not restrict yourself to a single identity. As a band, they have very diverse interests and pursuits, however, they do not let that negatively affect them. Rather, they use that to their advantage by allowing each other to take turns being the “leader” and deciding what their artistic identity is. During the session when dealing with performance decisions, they also shared that sometimes it is alright to ignore the rules and think outside of the box. This may result in more interesting results. This is very inspiring because I often think that I need to decide on a style and stick to it for the rest of my career, which is not true and quite unrealistic. Like the Lorong Boys said, “It doesn’t have to be so serious”. I learnt that it is perfectly normal, and sometimes even recommended, that I should experiment and “mess around” until I find something interesting to me, and have fun with it. Their carefree but at the same time, serious, approach to music is one that I can learn from.

I also often think that I need to be “perfect”. Musicians are often perfectionistic and are afraid to venture into unknown territories. Hence, Alan Choo’s sharing was eye-opening. Even though he was very successful with Red Dot Baroque, it was surprising that he did not expect them to make it so far. His “just try and see how” attitude for the debut concert seems like he was treating it lightly, but it was his not being afraid of failure that is so admirable, and is an important trait for an entrepreneur. Alan also places great trust in the musicians around him and creates good chemistry with them. This allows him to build a strong community of dedicated musicians who can work well together to bring his vision to life. Having trust in others as well as trusting the process more than the result is a good approach to taking the first step when undertaking a new project. In the scenario that I ever have to lead a visionary project, I hope to have the same amount of faith that things will be alright and trust in the process.

Lastly, I wonder if my artistic identity will be supported and can be presented in a suitable way to the audience. Even though there are many grassroots movements to promote contemporary music in Singapore, the public is still mainly exposed to classical and pop music. The Esplanade programming team showed me that in Singapore, there is a nurturing environment which supports local musicians in their pursuits. By providing ample opportunity for musicians to showcase their works to the Singaporean public, we can have a platform to share our vision with others. Even though I sometimes worry that contemporary music could be indigestible for the public, the Esplanade programming team also shared how they try to present a mix of commercial and artistic productions to expose the audience to a wide range of styles. Having an environment which supports my artistic endeavours just the way it is makes me feel reassured that I do not have to change my artistic identity to appeal to a crowd.

That is all from me today! Hopefully, you will be less stressed after hearing about these success stories and be more confident in the path you want to take in the future! Cheers,

Xiao Wen