For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) Episode 41: Vivian Fung (part 3)
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In this week’s episode, we talk to Vivian Fung about her compositional process and her inspiration for composing. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Vivian Fung, check her out here: vivianfung.ca. Parts of this episode originally premiered on March 2022, found on Youtube, click here.
This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!
Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022 Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021
Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes Interns: Roziht Edwards and Merve Tokar
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, artistic executive director of Ensemble For These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Vivian Fung, who we spoke to in March 2022.[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]. Each of your pieces has a strong distinct voice and energy. Could you talk about your compositional process?
Vivian Fung:
Oh, I think process is a really good word. I really love talking about process when I talk about composition, because the end result is almost like a byproduct, byproduct, what I teach, I really liked to talk about the process and how things tend to work. And I think that once I get into the process of composing, it almost takes over for me, I can't really describe, you know, the technical details, but I can describe the feeling I get, if I go into that flow of working and composing, and actually deadlines are really helpful to me, knowing that there is an end game, I kind of my adrenaline kicks in and I kind of go into the zone of making, you know, and doing and it almost becomes like a spiritual process to me, because there is a higher power for me that takes over so to speak. I mean, not really, but you know, I feel like, there is something guiding me and and that guidance is in the form of intuition maybe, or years of doing this, what have you, but it takes over, that sort of intuition takes over and it almost guides me to choose my notes and to choose what I need to do. That being said, of course, years of craft and years of you know, doing this has certainly helped. And I also think of architecture as a very important role into crafting the whole piece, so that it has to have an inherent flow and inherent logic to it. But process for me, is really important. And that the idea of I don't know, oh, this, this, this, letting that, that force takeover.
Nanette McGuinness:
When you're staring at blank score paper, how do you generate your initial ideas?
Vivian Fung:
Why white pages are the toughest, because it's like an abyss, you know, we stare into it, and you feel so unproductive, because you're staring at the blank page, but, you know, I have come to the conclusion that the first draft will be always terrible, you know, so and I've always, you know, accepted, I've become, I've come to accept that, you know, whatever you do will be the first draft will always be a work in progress. And so I've given myself permission to just start, you know, and, and with the acceptance that you will always have to change and tweak and mold it to your liking. And so the start is always it's become like a, almost like a ritual, because it's like, the idea of starting is so difficult, you know, staring at a blank page, that's probably the most difficult the end, you know, coming to the end where, you know, things are becoming, you know, finishing and things are becoming concrete, and everything is just working itself out. That's easy, but the beginning is so difficult.
Nanette McGuinness:
What was your path to becoming a composer? Did you know that what you wanted to do from early on?
Vivian Fung:
So not to sound prodigious or anything because I'm I don't think I was but so I started I had a tiger mom and piano when I was like four or five and being the obedient child that I was I started with that. But then composition came because I didn't want to practice and I actually think that a lot of composers have the same story. So I was like, maybe seven or eight and you know, My mom was saying, Go practice and I didn't want to practice. So I would start improvising on the piano so that she could she would know that I was practicing, even though I wasn't. And it was fortunate that my first piano teacher was a composer. And I still am really good friends with her. And in fact, she came to Cambodia with us with with our son. She recognized that, and she, instead of reprimanding me saying, you know, you shouldn't do that, or whatever. She actually taught me how to notate and she said, Oh, you know, wouldn't wouldn't be fun to, you know, write some of these things down instead of just having the improvisations. And so that's my, when my imagination really became, you know, I found an outlet. And so my first, you know, composition, where I notated it was a, a group of piano pieces called insect songs. And it's not just insect songs, it's in songs, you know. And, you know, of course, the music was very simple with, you know, Alberdi bases and all those things, but the stories were really elaborate and, and so I think I, my creative outlet became, you know, I grew up in Edmonton, where there's nothing to do during the winter time. And when it came time to, you know, college and things, you know, it was just, it shows me almost, you know,
Nanette McGuinness:
I think we hear the siren call, and we follow it.
Vivian Fung:
Right.
Nanette McGuinness:
[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Dawn Norfleet for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT Our concert season online and in the Bay Area where to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at www.E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. "For Good Measure" is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and designed by Brennan Stokes. With special thanks to audio engineer extraordinaire Stephanie Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]