The Strad: Life Lessons

When I was growing up in Taiwan, people either played piano or violin. I learnt piano, and when the time came to learn a second instrument, at ten years old I thought I may as well be useful and play something other than the violin! So I went to the orchestra office and asked what they needed, which was the viola. At first I didn’t take it very seriously, but it was with the guidance of conductor Felix Chen that I progressed to the level of being able to join the Menuhin School when I was 14. Every Saturday my friends and I would spend five hours at Felix’s house having lunch, drawing, singing, joking, playing sonatas and duos – just having fun. This sense of the joy of music was also emphasised by my father, who taught us to sing. He had such a fresh mind and was so open to the world.

Read the full excerpt on The Strad’s website here, or the full article in The Strad’s July 2022 issue available here.