YPAW 14: Mindy Chang

You Play A What?

Some words that comes to mind when we describe Western Classical music, Sophisticated? Elitist? Snobbish? Atas? Chim? Whatever the word might be for you, as musicians trained in the discipline of Western Classical music, we tend to go into a rabbit hole and tunnel vision, believing the pastures over in the Western world is greener, better and guarantees improvement in your craft to a level you can only dreamed about. I do agree that the western world includes nations that is considered the classical music mecca and schools of playing that appeals to you and it is always a good idea to broaden your own horizons by spending an extended period of time in such places. But ultimately, the idea of improving our craft comes from a dedication and eagerness from within. We could only wish that all we needed to attain performance enlightenment is a visa and an air ticket to the country of your choice. Therefore in any given situation, it is important that we find opportunities to learn, in respect of music, culture, social interactions, language just to name a few.

At first when I heard that Mindy was going to Thailand as part of her exchange programme, I was shocked. Did she mistake her exchange for a holiday? The idea of moving west was so strong that I fail to see the other possibilities, more importantly understand one's decision. On hindsight, I believe that going to a country near home for exchange might not be all that bad after all. Tune in to find out what is going on in Mindy's life and why she made the decisions she did!

Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the podcast! You can get in touch with me through https://www.youplayawhat.com . Subscribe and share this podcast with your friends if you enjoyed the episode. Feel free to leave a rating and review on which ever platform you choose to listen to your podcast!