Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Han Chen

Music has always been an integral part of our family, woven into our very genes. My granddad and his brothers were known as the Gunn Gospel Quartet. Every one of my siblings and I sang in choirs and still sing. My mom was very proficient at playing the piano. My siblings and I all learned to play the piano, in varying degrees. My oldest brother never learned to read music but could play a piece completely by ear. My sister still actively enjoys playing her piano.

My mom’s 1902 grand piano proudly sits in my living room. I can sit at the piano bench quite well. I can even curve my fingers properly on the keyboard, but play well I cannot. Because I was truly not good, I was not inspired to continue playing.  #saysalladultswhotookpianolessons Now when I stroke the piano keys, the cats run and the dog looks at me like I am sick. Otherwise, the piano lid makes a great place to display family photos.

Spotify and Pandora playlists include classical and modern piano recordings of which I greatly admire. Music Appreciation class was not lost on me. I appreciate how easy they make playing a difficult piece sound. We grew up with family favorites. When Claire de Lune begins, all work ceases as I close my eyes and hear my mom’s favorite piece transpose even the most chaotic day into calm.


Imagine then my thrill at being invited to my neighbor’s home for a private piano concert. The audience was mesmerized as Han Chen, now competing in The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, played with immense emotion and passionate depth.

Moving between Rachmaninoff to Haydn is like moving from Lynyrd Skynyrd to James Taylor but Han made it look effortless and flawless. As he stroked the keys in rapid succession, he drew us in to the notes and phrases of the composition itself. Captivated and hypnotized we listened. Full but wanting more, we were heartbroken when the last note was played.

What an evening!

The Van Cliburn competition brings the world’s best rising stars to Fort Worth. The world. Han is from Taiwan, but others are from Russia, South Korea, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Romania, Austria, Croatia, Poland, Canada, China, and yes, the United States. Though a predominantly male field, there are nine females competing this year. Out of the 290 applications the Van Cliburn received this year, 146 were invited to audition live in seven world locations: London, Hannover, Budapest, Moscow, Seoul, New York, and Fort Worth.

From the audition, 30 were chosen to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition’s Preliminary Round in Fort Worth. In the first round, the pianists chose their compositions to play plus a Van Cliburn Competition commissioned piece they did see nor hear until February. They have up to 45 minutes to perform these pieces.

In the next round, the Quarterfinals, 20 competitors are play pieces, again of their choosing, for up to 45 minutes. The Semifinal Round is 12 competitors that will perform in two phases. The first phase is a recital of compositions chosen by the pianist for up to 60 minutes. The second phase is a Mozart piano concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

The Final Round is 6 competitors in two phases. The first phase is a quintet with the Brentano String Quartet and the pianists chose from a list provided by the Van Cliburn Competition. The second phase is a concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, where the pianists may choose any work scored for piano and symphony, but must be approved by the Van Cliburn Competition.

The competitors choose, learn, and perfect 16 pieces that can be played with passion, sensation and eloquence, like no other competitors. Han keeps a journal of his practice on each piece, and could count the hours he spent learning the commissioned piece in three months.

Beginning piano lessons at age 4 in Taiwan, Han has been in the United States for seven years studying at The Julliard in New York City and now at the New England Conservatory. It is an understatement to say piano is his life.

Like any fine-tuned athlete, Han’s days are filled with perfecting his trade. He is meticulous in the evaluation of his playing. He is precise and exacting in how he approaches learning a composition.

He lives with music playing in his head 24/7 – melody sequencing, passionate phrasing, and rapid scaling. I asked him what he thought about before he went to sleep at night, and he replied, “Whatever I was practicing before I went to bed.” And, he wakes up thinking about the same.

Han’s favorite composition is Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, composed in 1849 and completed in 1853. It takes 30 minutes to perform and is of extreme difficulty. That is why he loves it – it challenges him and provides a great variety in a single composition. It has four movements with a common melody. He is performing this at 5:15pm today during the Quarterfinal Competitions, which can be viewed online.

One evening, we talked about the comparisons between a pianist and ice skater. It was an intriguing comparison. As the ice skater builds their program to draw the audience in to their skating, so does the pianist. As the ice skater must tackle difficult programs to demonstrate their skill and proficiency, so must the pianist. Both perform in front of audiences with huge potential distractions – a cough, a physical movement, a cell phone, etc. Both must stay in shape, eat right, rest well, and be mentally tough.

Continuing our ice skating comparison, I asked him if certain piano compositions were graded higher due to their complexity, such as Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, which would give the pianist a higher score. Han explained that the pieces were not judged on their complexity but that the judges want to see the greatest capability of every piece played, to the fullest potential of that particular composition, regardless of the complexity.


What is different between playing in an 8’ ceiling home versus the Bass Hall? It takes longer for sound to reach the ceiling then travel to the back of the room. Where it feels like he is playing slower, he said, he is actually playing faster because it takes longer for the sound to go up and out. He said all pianists learn to adjust how they are playing for this phenomenon.

One of my excuses for not continuing to play the piano was because of my short fingers. I was shamed when comparing the size of our hands, for Han’s fingers were not that much longer but the stretch of his hands was much broader. His love of the piano, plus passion, determination and perseverance has brought him to such a proficiency to be invited to compete. Han Chen is definitely my Audience Choice - he was a good sport to answer all my questions.


Speaking with Han was truly a pleasure. Listening to Han play the piano? My fingers are curved on my computer keyboard waiting for the appropriate heartfelt response to type out. Listening to Han stunned my ears to a higher existence. He is amazingly gifted. And, I am at a loss of words to describe the depth of joy I felt in listening to him.  I do not doubt he is quickly becoming a world renowned pianist.
 
A great thanks to Cliburn.org who not only hosts this competition annually but also broadcasts the competition live. It has been a pleasure to listen and watch.  And, be sure to vote for Han Chen as the Audience Favorite!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Life Investments

More often, we don’t have such an obvious heads up for when we can make a difference or impact someone else’s life.

A typical warm greeting can turn into a much needed respite to a recipient. A smile and a hug could make another’s day. A truly mindless gesture on a giver could mean a lifesaving gift to the heart of the other.

We so often plow through our day without giving it much thought. I try to be kind to everyone I meet, known and unknown. I love talking with people I don’t know and hearing their story. I have kept a list of the countries my taxi cab drivers were from for years. And, I have heard some very interesting political viewpoints from them, as well as some heart wrenching stories of war-torn countries and loved ones lost or left behind. Each of those encounters has made me grateful for who I am and where I live, and grateful they are in a much better situation, as well.

I had close friends visiting from out of town recently. We were doing a trip over to a Fort Worth restaurant known for their amazing margaritas and decided to call an Uber for the ride. Sandra soon picked us up and we were on our way!

“Well, hi Sandra. How long have you been driving for Uber? Where are you from? How long have you been in town? Where do you live then? Seriously – why did you move to Grand Prairie when you could have lived in Arlington?” [Local friends will laugh] “Why did you move to Texas? What do you want to do?”

As I am typing all the questions we asked, I would now like to apologize to all the prior cab drivers that have picked me up. But I do have an insatiable amount of curiosity and truly do believe everyone has a cool story.

Sandra has a cool story. The ride to Fort Worth was not nearly long enough but long enough to know that Sandra and I would meet again, as I gave her my card and instructed to her to call me soon! And she did.

Sandra received her Masters in Accounting then worked for the Nigerian government doing fraud audits. She is studying to sit for her CPA exam and she got excited when she heard what I did for work. Now, to be honest, not too many people get excited when they find out what I do for work. They are intrigued. They are curious. They may even be a little scared. But few are excited.

I recognized that smile - Sandra is a geek like me.

This was confirmed yesterday over coffee at Starbucks.

Born in Nigeria, but raised in the United States, she is exceptionally bright, has a thirst for learning and is strategizing her future. We covered a variety of topics in the two hours we met.

Right now, she is looking for a full time job in accounting. She had a really great interview with a company she was truly interested in but we brainstormed ideas as a backup in case.

Her husband is a builder in Nigeria who is now working on some major projects. He sounds amazing and I can't wait to meet his someday!  She is an honest, hard-worker, who blessed my day by sharing her life.

The time flew by and when we got up to leave, we felt the Starbuck's portrait on the wall said it all!

And to think I might have missed an opportunity to know Sandra if we had not asked all those thousands of questions while Ubering. Neither Sandra nor myself believes our encounter was by chance.

Because, did I mention, Sandra really does have a cool story AND is a really cool person!

Now that’s my kind of investing!

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Stickers in Lush Looking Weeds

“Ow,” I loudly exclaimed, walking across a footpath in my yard, as I had a million times before. “What the heck? Stickers?”

We have never had stickers before. Why now? Good grief.

I am mostly barefoot during the summer months. In fact, if I could figure out how to speak at conventions barefoot, I would! And today was the day I actually wished I had shoes on my bare feet.

The sticker patches that had grown while I was not watching, looked innocent enough. The deep green patch of growth blended in with the St. Augustine grass. These were not the visible, typical grass stickers. These painful stickers were hidden by the deep green growth. One did not know what prize awaited their bare feet until they stepped on the otherwise luscious looking growth.

Deceptive growth, right?

One of the summers between my college years, I pulled weeds at a nursery. That was two very long months of tedious hot and sweaty work but I learned a lot about weeds and the different kinds of weeds. Some weeds are actually quite pretty but still a weed. Some weeds spread their tentacles out and some weeds spread up. Some weeds can cause a skin reaction, while other weeds can make you sneeze. Some weeds grow deep into the earth and some weeds have roots that are barely touching the earth.

But, in the end, they are all weeds and must be removed or the weeds will consume the beauty of a yard or flower bed. Pulling weeds is one of my least favorite jobs, perhaps because of that summer, but a necessary evil if I want to maintain my property.

Upon further inspection and analysis of this particular weed patch, I determine it had to be dug up. The roots went further into the ground and spread out on a broad area. I used the appropriate tool, a trowel that I had to dust off, dug out the menacing weeds and carefully lifted then placed them into a plastic bag for tomorrow’s garbage. I wanted to ensure none of the little weed's seeds fell into the rich dirt, only to sprout again.

The night’s rain softened the ground to make the weed pulling easier. For that, I was very thankful. After working a six foot area, it was time to take a break. Pervasive in my thoughts are how to keep the culprit from growing back.

The very harsh reality is that weed seeds are most often carried by the wind. It has been very windy here the past few weeks. There may be nothing I can do to prevent the weeds but my oversight will keep them from taking deep root. Trust me – after digging out that six foot area with more to come, I will be watching for future weeds.

And I will know if the weeds are there – my feet will let me know quickly. Pain has a way to motivate us all. I could just wear shoes and ignore the weeds but these painful weeds will affect more than just me, but little bare feet as well. That compels me to take care of the problem.

You own your own interpretation, whether work or personal, but it is time to be weed free!
What will your pain points be to notify you to take action?

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Spring Cleaning Email Lists

Such a mundane activity but the afternoon has been spent culling out names of past audience participants, who have heard me speak, who no longer read the valuable emails I send. I know that someone else could perhaps do what I am doing, but the decision to remove them from the list is mine to make.

How long has it been since they opened an email from Susan Gunn Solutions? I know the lack of consistency on my part has driven down the actual open rates but I do not want to be a pest with emails. And, if they have what looks like may be an old email, then that might also explain why the email hasn't been open.

Since the cost to send an email is based on the number of those on the list, I've also began unsubscribing to the emails that I receive that are never read. I never read them so by unsubscribing NICELY, I am saving them money. My Inbox is inundated with daily emails of valuable content. I could not possibly read them all. Those I want to read are moved to a folder accessible by my ipad to read later. Most others are deleted.

What started this tedious activity? I finished writing an article to be sent out next week to the email list on Spring Cleaning. The contact list haunted me, with the words of what I had written repeating themselves throughout the morning. It was an in-my-face experience that left me resigned to go through the email list one by one. It will take weeks but there is a plan.

AND, if you receive an email next week about Spring Cleaning, then you have made the cut. If you do not, you need to sign up for newsletters on my website at susangunnsolutions.com.

After all, who wouldn't want to read my valuable content?