Reflecting on Mid-Autumn Festival

I had lost track until a friend mentioned that the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival was today.  I had a whirlwind of a summer and am just getting back to my routine here. 
The festival reminded me on an image I had taken over the summer, at Big Sky Lake in Montana.  I had the incredible luck to visit a former English teacher of mine from middle school, she has now retired and lives by the lake.  My last evening there was spent photographing sunset on the lake, and long after the sun was down, I continued to photograph as the night sky settled in.  This feeling of timelessness and how small we are in relation to the universe is just incredible.  It's also a relief to feel this, and more importantly for me to realize that it is indeed true. 

Being effortless is the key to everything.  I see all my training is actually to undo the training.

我完全忘記中秋節這件事，直到一位朋友突然提起。經過這夏天在美國收集了那麼多的體驗 ，我現在才慢慢回復平常的生活。

 說中秋讓我想起這夏天在 Montana 州 Big Sky 湖的一個景觀。我很辛運地能夠拜訪我中學時的英文老師，她與師丈已退修並長期住在湖邊。在那最後一晚我專注與湖上的夕陽攝影，就算太陽早已沉在山後，夜色俏俏來臨，我還是被那夜景吸引著而繼續按快門。這超越時空，人事是多渺小的感覺是無法形容的。  這對我來說也是一種安慰感，而且最重要的是，一個人生的真理。

一切要不費力，這是一個人生關鍵。所有的訓練和修養都是要解開我們的訓練和修養。

No Stamping

I found this to be very inspiring and I particularly like Laurie Anderson's honest expression.  It's not always easy to find your inner voice, and it's perhaps a life-long journey.  Release your own pressure and be who you are.  Easier said than done, but maybe let's all give it a try and then it might be easier?? 

我很欣賞Laurie Anderson 真誠的分享 。找出自我內心的聲音並不容易，也許是一輩子的
旅程。釋放自己的壓力，走自己的路，做自己的人。說到容易，但也許大家一起嘗試，為每個人打氣呢？？

New and Old

For the month of May, I'm contemplating on pieces which I've played often in my life.  Even if it's so familiar, the fascination for them continues.  Like telling a story each time in a slightly different way.

Appropriately, here's a new take on an old motif of mine.  The exchange between old and new is endless.

這個月裡，我回顧一些我常詮釋的作品。就算再怎麼熟悉，曲子的魅力和新鮮感還是存在的。每一次故事的敘述都會稍稍不一樣。

在這裡很貼切地，我的舊攝影主題以新概念來詮釋。新與舊的互相替換是無止盡的。

CD of the Month

For the month of April, I'd like to share a new CD release which may not be known to many. Gambist Gerald Stempfel is a great colleague and friend of mine.  With lutenist Thorsten Bleich, their new release circles around music by the famous French gambist and composer Marin Marais.  But it's not so much about the actual pieces but rather, the musicians' improvisations over the themes that are particularly noteworthy.  Here we enter a very special world of sound that is personal and timeless.  This kind of emotional, boundary crossing expression is what I also find as one of the greatest potentials in baroque music.  

Please take the time for a quiet listen, the most beautiful moments happen between the notes:

 

這四月我來分享一張大家可能還不知道的新專集。古大提琴家（viola da gamba ）Gerald Stempfel 是我要好的同事和朋友，他和魯特琴手Thorsten Bleich 最近推出一張CD，環繞著法國最著名的巴洛克古大提琴家和作曲家Marin Marais 的作品。專集最特別的並不是在作曲本身，而是詮釋者運用Marais的音樂做為即興的靈感源頭。在這裡，聆聽者進入一場非常獨特和跨越時光的音響世界。這種多情感，跨越性的表達方式也是我覺得巴洛克音樂最與眾不同的潛力。

請找個時間安靜的欣賞這音樂，音樂最美的時刻是在音符與音符之間的。

CD available on Conditura Records.

Drink the Sound

Some things that I keep reminding myself about historical flute playing:

最近喜歡把重點寫在黑板上，練習時可以一邊思考和體驗：

392 in silver, please.

Slight wintery blues made me feel uninspired for January.  But recently I realized that playing in A=392 has been an enlightening experience.  I feel like I'm retreating to my natural self and discovering what I have neglected.  The sound envelopes me with immense warmth and the gentle vibrations work like an inner massage.  Please don't hesitate to try it when you have a chance!

Chinese New Year is coming up so I have another opportunity to start the new year with a quote from Wilbert Hazelzet, one of his many wisdoms on the art of the traverso:

"Can you find the silver in your sound?"

稍稍的冬天憂鬱讓我在一月時沒什麼靈感。但最近練習早期法國巴洛克音樂時，我體驗到吹奏音準A＝392是非常有啟發性的。 我感覺回到了我自己，回到被我遺忘的一部分。溫暖的長笛音環繞著我，極其細微的共鳴感如內在的按摩。  假如有機會嘗試的話請別錯過哦！

農曆新年即到來，再次給我一個機會獻上新年新希望的分享。來自Wilbert Hazelzet許多吹奏古長笛的智慧之一：

“找得到你音色裡的銀色嗎？”

Exercices Journaliers

In the wintery month of December, I invite everyone to find that golden sound to warm your heart! I highly recommend Reichert's exercise No. 2, it's a great way to practice tone color, intonation, musicality, embouchure flexibility.....very useful and beautiful to play. Although originally meant for the flute and probably only known amongst modern flutists, it works great on the traverso. Practice up to 4 sharps and flats, sometimes it can be slightly out of the range but that's OK, it works mostly great. Feel free to share your experiences with it!

在寒冷的十二月，請找出金黃色的音色來溫暖你的心吧！我喜歡Reichert的第二號練習曲, 這是可以練習音色，音準，音樂性，吹口靈活性等等的好幫手。雖然原先是寫給現代長笛的，但練古長笛也很好，可以練到四升四降。音域有時太廣沒關係，還是很適合的。歡迎分享過程哦。

Here's to Reichert's Exercices Journaliers.

For the month of November, I'm inspired by the ocean waves of Ireland. Playing music for me is a release of energy; we release the sound, and the music emanates from our body. On the surface waves appear slow and calm, but underneath, a constant, unstoppable power moves forward, taking along everything.

Peaceful, turbulent, and effortless flowing - this is music.

在這十一月我被愛爾蘭的浪潮感動。吹奏音樂對我來說是一種動力的釋放；我們釋放音符，音樂從我們的身體由內散發出來。表面上海浪看起來緩和安寧，但底下是一股無法阻擋的動力，帶著所有一切，一直前進。

寧靜，洶湧，自由流動著 － 這就是音樂。

October is for imagination and creativity! Today I did a listening program for my students introducing various keyboard instruments. They had to draw something based on the music they heard. Here are some reactions:

Fortepiano CPE Bach: girl climbing on a mountain and sliding down because of the snow, cat chasing mouse, spooky
Organ Buxtehude: The sky opening and birds flying, jagged lines on a heart rate monitor, love hearts
Harpsichord Louis Couperin: raindrops and rainbows, the color yellow, a king with treasures being served by servants

Let's not forget why we love music in the first place!

十月是獻給想像力和創造力！今天我介紹給學生們不同的鍵盤樂器。他們得在聽音樂時畫出音樂給他們的感受。以下是一些他們的反應：

古鋼琴 CPE Bach：女孩爬山但因雪一直往下滑，貓追老鼠，可怕
管風琴 Dieterich Buxtehude：天空展開，鳥飛行，心電圖的跳動，愛心
大鍵琴 Louis Couperin：雨滴和彩虹，黃顏色，擁有財寶的國王被侍者伺侯著

別忘記，我們為什麼熱愛音樂！

Berlin impressions

I've been having such wonderful experiences with playing that I can hardly sit still to write about them!  Although awhile ago, those feelings are nevertheless fresh in my mind.

End of September I got together with my dear friend and colleague Amanda Markwick to perform two "shows", as I'd like to call them, because they really weren't concerts in the traditional sense.  I've been having a lot of fun telling stories in my new programs, and this time we've created "Die Kunst der Verzehrung", a program telling about the enjoyments of food and everything surrounding food.  We had two shows in Berlin (the most awesome German city!), one was at Café Botánico restaurant and the other was in a zen meditation space, where people were invited to bring mats and bedding to enjoy the concert lying down.  Ticket included one glass of wine afterwards.  Amanda told me that she knew places in Berlin which do that, so I thought, well sure, I'm up for it!  

I've always wanted to do salon concerts as such.  I mean, what can be more perfect than good food, wine, music, and getting comfortable??  Café Botánico is a restaurant which uses home-grown or regional ingredients from Italy.  On specific Fridays or Saturdays of the month, they would feature a music program which customers would enjoy after their main meal, while sipping away wine or coffee.  The mood was perfect, it was one of the most enjoyable audiences I've played for.  People laughed at our humor and couples snuggled close to each other as our music glowed with romance.  This is what music is all about!  And yes, even baroque music.

On sunny Sunday afternoon, everyone got all comfortable in the zen space, the atmosphere was low-key and harmonious.  People told us that because they were lying down and relaxed, it actually increased their awareness of the music.  They could really follow the counterpoint between the two flutes weaving in and out of each other, while the overtones were noticeable as well.  The space was very resonant to play in and I felt like it was almost a three-dimensional experience in sound.  

Yay Flutes!  

Overdue blogging still coming up next….

Le Mercure concerts

I just finished a series of projects with my ensemble Le Mercure.  The first two concerts took place in beautiful small towns in southern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg.  Both concerts were extremely well received and it was a great start into our tour.  

I was particularly touched by one woman who came up to me after one concert, she was a recorder player who had just started to take up the traverso with Linde Brunmayer in Trossingen.  She explained that she was extremely touched by our playing but also somewhat "discouraged" in the sense that she felt she would need a whole other lifetime to achieve at least a somewhat decent sound on the traverso.  I told her that it is a life-long goal for everyone, disregarding one's starting point, and that I admire her desire and courage in exploring a new horizon.  I could not be more grateful that she came to the concert and that our playing could touch her soul.  

Performances are incredible in this way; musicians and audience members come from completely different worlds to one location, and for that short moment, both sides can connect through this medium of music, a language, an energy, whatever you want to call it.  And I do mean you "can" connect, because as beautiful as it is when it happens, it's also part of nature that it might not happen.  

I've been very fortunate to have had a couple of these deep experiences, and each incident has been unique in itself.  The bonding of joy and love is but the essence of them all.

Isn't that incredible?  Neither music nor love is something tangible, but it just exists in us.

The lady hugged me THREE times afterwards!!  It gives me tears to think about it.  

THANK YOU, Le Mercure!

Mind Game

Get out of the way and release the sound!

A Review

I was recently wonderfully surprised to read a review in The Boston Musical Intelligencer about a concert I was involved in. It wasn't so much of a review in the normal sense of an intellectual dissection of the music or the performer's technical capabilities, but rather, the reviewer shared his personal feelings about each piece inspired by the performance.  For the Leclair concerto, he wrote the following:


"Court musician of Louis XV and later of the Princess of Orange, Jean-Marie Leclair was 18 when Louis XIV died and 19 when Watteau painted his Fête Galante, depicting a return to a more Gallic, amorous and permissive society. Les Bostonades gave the Flute Concerto in C Major an engaging and slightly mysterious Allegro which moved away from courtly pomp to a more down-to-earth gentility. With Teddie Hwang’s sensitive phrasing on the traverso, the Adagio urged us to take interest in tender emotions and small but meaningful human interactions. The concluding allegro assai celebrated convivial gathering, in which human beings enjoy each other’s company through a shared curiosity in developing a new science of human emotions." (Leon Golub, May 24, 2014)

It is exactly this kind of inspirational storytelling which I've been going after recently in performances. I was happy to read that Mr. Golub caught on to our "stories", in addition to sharing his own. Despite feeling somewhat apprehensive before the concert, my mission was accomplished!

I certainly hope many audience members experienced the music in a similar way as well. Some of you may know that I've been experimenting with different ways in presenting concerts, and I'm certain that the most compelling performances are those that connect listeners personally or emotionally. There are ways to achieve this and to reach out to all sorts of people through classical music, crossing boundaries of class, cliques, and exclusivity. This is hardly about "selling" classical music, but rather, coming home to what music means on a fundamental level.

Learn to Forget

We work on certain aspects of playing in order to forget about them.  Technique has to be so internalized that it then no longer exists.  

Contradictions coexist – learn to forget.

Music Yoga

Developing sound is a continuous process, I suppose it's comparable to meditation or yoga where you seek to expand your limits to become limitless.  It takes a lot of trust and conviction.

I was asked this question today and it felt nice to be able to put it in words.  Thanks HD!

Really true

I almost forgot....but so true:

DRINK YOUR SOUND. (WH)

the Essence

I've been working a lot on photography these days, intensely thinking about composition within the frame.  My work ranged from portraiture for musicians to documenting an oboe maker's workshop.  Before walking into the session I'd sketch out potential images I'd like to capture and prepare some ideas as to how to make those happen.  Once the session starts, it's just like a performance actually.  Interaction with people, being on top of the technicalities, and the ultimate goal to bring about the essence of the subject.

Like music is more than just showing the notes.

Having beautiful light is like having a beautiful sound.  

The essence becomes something visible, audible, almost touchable.

One important advice from Wilbert Hazelzet:

Play to the horizon.

I'll admit I forget this when music-making borders on routine.

The one-minute bow

Sound production on the flute is comparable to bowing, we produce sound with the slowest and steadiest air possible. 

The eccentric conductor of my youth orchestra BZ always told the story of when he studied with the famous cellist Gaspar Cassadó, the students had to practice the one-minute bow.  60 seconds.

Not only is it a training, it's something to be enjoyed! Listen, experience, and believe.

Who ARe you?

One time my dear friend E said to me, "You know, I was playing for all these conductors like a chameleon, able to change colors, and produce all of their musical desires.  It was a great experience, but at a certain moment you forget who you really are!"  

Am chewing on that slowly....