A lifelong love of performance

How did you start playing music?

I grew up in Taiwan and started playing music at aged five. Then at school when I was six my teacher asked me to accompany 50 of my fellow students who were doing a singing performance. I really enjoyed doing that.

My teacher also encouraged me to attend a specialist music school, which I did. At those sorts of schools, playing piano is compulsory, so that was extra impetus.

Also, at the church I grew up in, the priest asked me to play piano for services and I ended up doing that for years. There was also a nun who came to serve in our church at that time who encouraged me greatly.

What has been your career path to come to be working at St Andrew’s Cathedral School?

I graduated from the Peabody Conservatory at John Hopkins University in the U.S and I also graduated in both music performance and teaching in Taiwan.

I toured Australia to perform with a choir and met my future husband. When I started my life here, I gained a scholarship at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I then worked at Newington before working at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

What is important in your role as accompanist?

In this role, I wanted to build relationships with students. To make good music together, it’s important to build trust as an accompanist.  If students trust you, they take feedback better.

Part of that has been creating opportunities to get to know students better. For example, I started the School’s Chamber Music Ensemble in 2019.

Some musicians don’t like the role of accompanist because it means playing the same piece over and over again, especially with younger students. But for me, each of those sessions is about inviting students to enjoy the music.

What do you love about your job?

I love performance. So in this role, I get to perform a lot. The great challenge of the role is the wide variety of music styles I play, including classical, jazz and musicals. Before I came to Australia, I had never performed for musical theatre. But this has been a very special experience for me. The first musical I performed in at St Andrew’s Cathedral School was Fiddler on the Roof, which was a very cool experience.

What is the most memorable highlight of your career so far?

Playing in the Vatican as part of the Music Tour. The nun who encouraged me in my piano playing when I was young, Loida Dula Lim, happened to be based in Italy at the time. So it was even more poignant and emotional for me with her in the audience.  I felt so nervous but I felt like I God had prepared me for that moment and given His blessing.

What role does performance play in your life overall?

My kids check with me every day to see if I am practicing because they know it means so much to me.

I love to take any opportunity to perform that I can. Before I came to St Andrew’s Cathedral School, I had a few opportunities to perform at the Sydney Opera House to raise money after the 2011 Japanese tsunami. I also perform with the Sydney Youth Orchestra.

I love to play with external musicians who visit the School, including Australian Chamber Orchestra violinist, Aiko Goto.

Every Thursday, I get together to play with other St Andrew’s Cathedral School teachers: Peta Dries (violin) and Kellie Grennan (flute).

In the past few years, I had the great honour to perform and work with Susan Blake, Georg Pedersen, James Korturm from the Conservatorium of Music and Janis Laurs, previously from the Adelaide Symphony. 

I also have a pop music band with friends. It’s name in Chinese translates as We’re never going to get old.  I see my friends playing music and I get so inspired.