My Instrument is out of tune: what quarentine feels like for a living composer.
Wang Jie
My instrument has been out of tune. I’ve been struggling.
For composers, our instrument is our body. Our instrument is right here (points to the top of her head), and here (points to her heart) and here (points to her gut).
It’s invisible. Our techniques are invisible, so when I say our instrument is out of tune, it is a reaction to the sufferings of others. I am sensitive to it, and yes: part of my instrument is to sharpen my senses and my antenna so that I can be connected to the others and to the public and to the musicians and to the music in different realms.
And, I have to say I am very comfortable making this statement on behalf of my community. From everything I have been reading, social media, friends and composer friends I have been talking to – although each one of us is individuals and individual artists, and, we approach our art from our own world - there is one thing that unites us: it’s that we are sensitive people, and we thrive on connections. We thrive on the live performances and to connect with the audiences and musicians.
So there’s one thing I’ve learned from the last few weeks of the struggle, of artist struggle, and that is wondering what empowered me to endure the solitude and the never-ending hard work of composing work. And now, it’s so obvious: it’s the musicians, it’s the music lovers, and it is our music public.
And the musicians – Oh My God, this is the true wealth of this country. These are the people who make music possible, and we are at the source. We composers…we provide that source for this nation to function, and to be the artistic leader of the world. It is each and every one of our artist musicians who made it possible.
Composer Wang Jie speaking with Host Fred Child during the Artist Tree Relief Benefit broadcast stream presented by John Zion from MKI Artists and OurConcerts.live co-founder and tech entrepreneur Gregory Pine.
