Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Listeners of the Tron podcast, I have a very special guest today, and I have to kind of catch myself right now that I'm even getting a chance to carve out some of her time today for my show. Dr. Angeline Chang World claimed pianist, Grammy Award winner, professor, and highly acclaimed musician. Thank you very much.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much, Rashad. It's such a pleasure to be here.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I had to kind of catch myself when you, when people have Wikipedia pages, it kind of stops me in my tracks a little bit that I get a chance to talk to these people. Right. Because it's not supposed to happen for me.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Oh, no, no, no. You're awesome. You're terrific.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Thank you, thank you. You know, first of all, you know, I got to be honest with you. There's one thing that sues people and brings people in a great mood. It's music, and good music in particular. And you've mastered it worldwide. Please tell us your story and how you became the acclaimed Grammy Award winner that you are.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Well, it started from humble beginnings, really. And my parents are musicians or anything like that. But really, if you really want the beginning, I'll start from the very beginning.
How I, I actually got into music, very first beginning would be, I would say when I was around 4 years old.
And so my parents or family, the family was invited to a dinner, a formal dinner. And I was being a four year old and just precocious, running around the, the whole house. Not. Yeah, I was like, where are these adults talking about, Forget this. And then I stumbled upon this room that had this. Really things I've never seen before, one of which was this grand piano, you know, this. What is that? And so the, the. The one of the, the host. The host. The, the. I don't know what you would say now. The.
Was a, A composer, musician, teacher, played the piano, sat me down and did a little something. And I was like totally mesmerized by that.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: The rest of the night I was such an angel. You know, that's the wishful thinking on my parents part by naming me Angeline. But actually I wasn't there. Oh, this is what she was looking for. And I was good. And so that's, that's what, that's what it started it all. And I really was, I was so taken by, whoa, what is this? And I think to this day I'm still have that spark of curiosity, wanting to know more and how we can. How we can.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it played out like a mo. Like a movie almost like you see it and you just gravitated towards it. Right. And here it is as a four year old and you don't know, you know, all you know is what you saw. Right. And for people who are from the non Internet era, you know, you're a kid seeing a piano, right?
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: Now it's, it's a common thing now like you can YouTube things, you can do all that but for you to be in that room and you just like, I need to know what this is. Right. So did it start with lessons from there? Where did it come from? From the being a curious 4 year old to where you're at now and still will be?
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then, then lessons and in school, public school did music and all that. And there was a time period where I was thinking, I'm not going to be a musician. This is when I was rather young too.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: And it's like, this is great, this is fun, I love it. But yeah, even as, yeah, well the.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Difference is, is you have music. I was playing sports and you could take music, life, sports. I peaked at 5, 8. My athletic career was sadly the same.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: But you know, you can always have that within you. And I think one of the things that happened, I do have to think my parents, I almost don't tell people usually now I can tell people, I guess because I, I'm a professional. But I almost quit, you know, because. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought, well, like I said, I didn't think I was going to become a musician and like I, I mentioned, I come from humble beginnings and it's, it's, it's a, I, I knew it was, it was not the, it wasn't cheap to have some. Oh my gosh, you know, and so, you know, so. But somehow my parents knew that I enjoyed music. They never made me practice, it was just my thing and I, I would do it. The most I would do is to get out of dishwashing after dinner. But so yeah, my dad took me to a piano recital by this concert pianist who was also teaching on, on the faculty at the local university. And so I was like, again, like when I was four years old, taken by. That's like, whoa, this is really a different world. And I, you know, that was really interesting. That's fascinating. And so my dad said, well, you know, is this the type of music that you like to do?
Would you like to maybe even study with this person? It's like, well, I'd love to but you know, thinking whatever, you know, so.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: For sure, yeah.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: So he arranged, you know, just an evaluation and the rest is history. That the person took me. I was the first child student that person had in the university.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: Unbelievable.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And I just loved something about classical music. Was it really engaged. Engaged my senses, you know, because sometimes we have a tendency to think that, oh, you give children easy stuff. They'll, you know, what? If it's really easy, then they'll take to it. No, that's not true. As an educator. I know. It can't be too easy. It can't be too hard. Has to be just on the cusp of being challenging without. And so they can see the light to the end of the tunnel.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: Oh, for sure.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: That range. So it's like, you know, so they can see it within reach.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: You know, I think I was. I had repertoire that was way too easy. That was. I wasn't practicing. I was practicing other things and just being able to understand that even kids can enjoy, like, hardcore music. That's complicated, especially these days. It's easy to understand.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: You know, music is. Even if you listen to any type of pop tune or whatever it might be, there are layers. It's very complex. It's not just one line at a time. Yeah.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: What I find fascinating about music is to your point, like, you know, you don't have to give them just Mary had a Little Lamb. Right. Obviously, there's good to have a very beginning structure, but sometimes you can use their age as a deterrent to where they're actually at musically. Right, exactly. So. Right. And so, you know, you know, we. And I say to me that. Say this as a father, because my oldest daughter plays the violin. Right. And, you know. Oh, I mean, you know, and it's just like, you've already surpassed any skill set that I didn't have at all. Right. Like, you know, God bless my parents, too, because it's not like they didn't try. My mom put me in piano lessons, but I was playing basketball and doing, you know, know, that wasn't cool for me to do. Right.
No disrespect to your profession, obviously.
Yeah, exactly. And I thought what was interesting about your trajectory is you're a professor and. And how. And you talk about teaching people from injuries because people sometimes don't equate injuries with music, even though it's a very repetitious endeavor. And people don't really. Injuries are sports. People see, like, oh, I twisted an ankle. Gentleman, woman broke her leg, tore their acl. But you do this with music, too, as well when it comes to your teaching as well.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you're absolutely the nail right on there.
And it's like a lot of times people will see that in sports because it's more obvious. Right. With a lot of musicians, it's, it's, we're working with fine motor skills a lot of the time and what they're feeling, it's like, it's not like necessarily obvious. Sometimes it is.
I came from the time period where it was a badge of honor to tape up your fingers because you practice so much from bleeding and blistering. Seriously? Yeah.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: Oh my goodness.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: Wings. You know, I went to some big music schools and, and they were like, yeah, I had a great day of practice. Oh, I'm hurting all over.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: It's like, whoa, this can't be good too long term for your career though, if you want to actually reach the next. Not at all.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: You're right. It cut those careers short. These really super talented peers I had, you know, they're, they're going up the chain of the degrees they're getting, you know, doing, getting gigs and suddenly cut short, they're going into some totally unrelated field, not because they don't want to, but because they couldn't. So that's where it really sparked this, this I think, I think inner drive for me to find a solution and to, to help musicians really achieve optimal performance without that pain, fatigue and injuries, performance related injuries that do happen not just because of repetition, but how they're playing. You know, you can, you can play for a very, very long time if you're with proper alignment, you have balance, you have understanding of coordination, you know, like sports too. I mean, why do some just all of a sudden they're like me, I would probably like play for not even two minutes and you know, twist my ankle or something, you know. But it's not because of, not just because of lack of fitness or anything like that.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: It's posture, position.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: That's right. Understanding, understanding your body and mind, body, spirit, the whole thing.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Understand the, the game you're not going to be able to play. Yeah.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: It's funny when you talk about, you know, people blistering fingers, like I just think of the movie Whiplash, right. And that's the dark side. You know what I mean? Like, and it's a great movie. It's a phenomenal, phenomenal movie. Obviously I would like to hope it's fictitious. Right. Like in my mind. Right. You know, I'm sure there's some people.
Right. Like this is the part where I'm going to plead ignorance to the musical, you know, culture of that regard. Right. But like, I just keep thinking of, you know, Miles Teller, like after that car accident, trying to play the drums and, you know, arious, and you're just like, oh, my gosh. And then you have the great J.K. simmons, you know, Oscar winning performance speaks for itself. So I'm like, yeah, that could, I guess that could go sideways real quick, you know.
Yeah, it's great movie too, so it's phenomenal. You're the first Grammy women winning American pianist. I want to correct this too. In addition to the first of Asian descent. So very great. Congratulations to you.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: How did that come about? Like, how did, where, where did, like the awards and the nominations and the acclaim start coming from? I know you were in Paris learning as well too.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: France.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Excuse me? I don't know if it was Paris direct.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yes. So I am the first American woman, possibly honest, to win Grammy. And I was just so, so astonished actually, to learn.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: It's amazing.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: And I'd have to say in many ways, it's, it's all an accident. Right. So it's like you do what you love and you get recognized for it. That's, that's over the top and that's really, really what happened. So I have to tell you a little bit of the backstory, of course, happened. Right. So it's, it's not just the understanding. It's not about achieve. For me, it wasn' achieving a Grammy. Some, some people have that goal of, oh, I'm going to win a Grammy. Well, that's great. But it wasn't like that. It was about doing the best one could with making music.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Right.
[00:10:32] Speaker B: And that particular work, that was that, that one. I was stunned. Sure I was. But afterwards, after winning and understanding behind the scenes, it's like, oh, they really did listen to it.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
As opposed to just. Okay.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Take it seriously. In the Grammys, actually. Surprisingly.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: But yeah.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: Anyway, that, that work, particular work was actually, and you mentioned Paris, it happened to be a work by this legendary musician, composer named Olivier Messian, who was one of the big composers, recognized composers of the 20th past century.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: And his wife were actually my teachers, my mentors when I was.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: That's wonderful.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: So looking back, it's like, well, yeah, that makes sense. And for me, it was really about making the best music I could and paying tribute to, to my, my, my mentors, my teachers, the people that we stand on the shoulders of. So it was fascinating because during the acceptance speech, I That's all I could think about. It's like, oh, I'm paying tribute to, to somebody who's given so much to me. Those who have. And I mentioned that, that we all stand on the shoulders of others, especially music educators. And you know what that got us standing at the Grand.
Wow. You know, we all felt the same way. But for the folks who have helped us along, guess what?
They heard that. So the following year, I'm so proud of this and still happening to this day, there's an award by the Grammys called the Music Educators Award.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: Oh, beautiful.
[00:12:05] Speaker B: Music educators. So I'm just so thrilled about that. I really am.
So.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Because you don't, you know, at the end of the day, I think that, you know, if a, you know, if a parent particularly if, if there's no previous success story in something like music and then they decide their child wants to be a musician, well, you really can't say, well, no, just this is, it's an unknown to the parents. So, like, can you make a living off that? That's the first thought that goes through any parent's mind. Like you're going to be, you know, in a loft, you know, writing songs and on a corner street corner, you know, no disrespect to anybody who does that, by the way, but thoughts come in the head. Are you really going to be able to sustain a lifestyle off of making music? Obviously people do, but when you hear your kids say that, then you, you don't have that structured lifestyle to say, okay, follow this and this will happen. Your kid really has to go out and learn it along the way on their own, so to speak.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we all do. And it's very interesting because my mom did bring that up, like I just mentioned.
[00:13:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: You might be. What if you're a poor musician? Blah, blah, blah.
Yeah. And she remembers me saying as a kid, but I'll be rich on the inside.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. Yeah.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: And then.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: So she couldn't. She still remembered that to, you know, till, you know, later on to like, you know, even a couple years ago she was mentioning this.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: So it's wonderful.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And it happens. And that, you know, there is truth to, I think that that saying where if you, you do what you love, you don't. You don't really so called work.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: In your life.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: It's. Yeah, of course it's work. It is, it's. It can be really bad. It gets you through it, you know.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it's. And more importantly, you followed your heart and your passion, you found it out at a young age.
So one thing I was really curious about. You were the first artist in residence at the Kennedy Center. What was that like?
[00:13:54] Speaker B: Well, that was amazing. And that also combined my interest in not just performance, but also education.
So that was basically at the turn of the century. So it was a long while ago. But it's also another thing I'm very, very proud of because it's still sustaining to this day since its establishment. And so as a first artist in residence, we found different ways to use the Kennedy Center. But back then, even when I went in the first time, it's like I felt like a very cold place where, you know, if go in, they're like long hallways, nobody there, and then if somebody asks you, like, may I help you? It's more like, what are you doing here? Type of thing. Versus.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: And so it's interrogation, so to speak, right? Yeah.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: So to make it more warm and inviting, because there is an issue that. Oh, well, what about audience development or what can they do? People are buying high ticket prices, but even then, it's like they're standing around beforehand not doing anything.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: It's a cold place.
[00:14:55] Speaker B: Cold place. That's right. So what we did, because it was a large. I don't know if you've ever been there, but the hallway is huge. And so what we ended up doing is experimenting to see can we put another stage somewhere where it would. It would, you know, interact with audiences. And that's what we did.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Things called the Millennium Stage.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: And then what. What happens now to this day is like, there are free performances every day at 6pm okay. Time. That was great. So that people could avoid rush hour. And it's right before. Before the ticketed items so that people would have something before they go to the other. Whatever they paid for in the. The auditoriums. And it would be a place that people could actually mix, mingle, and also enjoy the arts without that feeling of coldness. So it really is something that really took off, and I'm really proud about that. But it was filled with different types of educational programs where I would even talk about pieces that I'm playing because you don't know what the audience is like. And we had people who were just coming off the street, some people who were coming from work, some kids, all sorts of peoples from all walks of life. And, you know, so it. I think it really was something that was needed, still needed to this day in different forms. So anyway, to make a short story.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Long, that's what well, you know, I don't think anything about your story is. Is. Is justified in a short amount of time because, you know, when I went to your page and I was able to look up your accomplishments, they're very lengthy and very detailed. And coming from somebody from a non musical background, I can appreciate accomplishments and exc.
You know, and when you say that you stand on the shoulders of what people did, you know, this is. I do a art, I do martial arts. Right. I think the beauty about when somebody does something that has a history and a rich layer to it somewhere in that. In that lineage, your name is in it. You're at the top of that, obviously because of your accomplishments. But, you know, I can look back and say, hey, I did this in martial arts. My name will never be mentioned, but when I see it, I'm attached to it. And there's something inherently in your soul and your spirit that says, I know I'm attached to something bigger than me. Music has been on for centuries. Right. And it's going to continue to live long after we're both off this earth and you're in that chapter of something that is so special. And that has to be something that's just intriguing. It just got to be something that's unique to you.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Something that's unique to you that really, that really resonates with you.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: And I think some people chase being listed on whatever it might be, but really, I think it does have to come from an authentic place to really mean something.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: To the person. You know, you could have your name listed, but does it. But doesn't really mean something. You know, there are a lot of. I like to say sometimes there are a lot of. Plenty of miserable rich people.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Of course, it's not, you know, that type of thing. And absolutely. It's great if you have that, but also if we know how to. How to not just manifest it, but actually have.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Have a happy medium. Do you have this. This is an out of box question. Do you ever have anybody from a different genre who wants to collaborate with you? Do you ever have like a country music star who may want to have a piano playing or a hip hop artist, an R B artist said, I need to have something you do in my song. Do you get that?
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: I think of quite a few different things.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Just curious.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: It really is.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: There was one set I actually played. I also played like her daughter violin.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: And I started in school. That's one of my. I had a hard time choosing between the two. But I do play very, very well. And so somebody needed a violinist for a movie and. Okay, sure. So I thought, okay, you know, what do I need to practice?
[00:18:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: And I came in and then you sort of, you know, made these sounds.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And then it. And then, like, they looped it, and that's. Okay. Great. This is. This is terrific.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So it just sort of happens organically after that.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. So it's like, it's. It's. It's in a. In a movie. I think it's one of, if not the first movie that there's this actor named Fisher Stevens he directed, and it's called Just a Kiss. So it's beautiful.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Yeah. But, like, that's what I was just curious about. Right. Like, I'm like, okay, well, sometimes it's not just about performances because, you know, I mean, it's big in movies, it's big television, it's big all across multiple genres. And, you know, I mean, you have a very specialized skill set to be able to actually do what you do. So obviously, if someone needs a piano or violin composition, they're going to look for the best available. You know, whether it's. It's country, pop, R and B, hip hop. They're looking for a distinct, specific sound. And what better to get it from a Grammy Award winner? Right. So. Of course. Of course. So you're a professor as well, too, at Cleveland State University. Can you just give us a brief overview of that? Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Wow. I saw that, too. I was. I. I was pretty. Is that. Do you have a law degree or is it because. Just the law of Jesus? Of course you do. Why? Don't even ask. Right? Yeah.
That's like. You say law is my hobby. Right. Oh, my goodness. It's uncle. It's unbelievable. You know, I always. You know, like I said again, you know, your life story is not encompassed in this interview. But because for the purpose of the show, people clearly don't need me to find where you are at. I mean, you know, I'm just a guy honored enough to speak with you, but for the purpose of this show. Where can they find Dr. Angeline Chain? Yeah. And I would encourage everybody to listen to her wonderful performances as well, too. I got a chance to watch your speech that you gave on YouTube. I think it was at the. I'm going to butcher it. The EG or the ES or something like that that I saw from 2007. Okay. I wasn't too sure what that was what that was. You know what EG stood for? I'm. Like I said they could. I couldn't usher at that place because I wouldn't. I can't play a musical note. So just keeping it honest with yourself, you know, so. But I do, like I said, I think that your story, no matter how many times you tell it, to be able to actually talk to you about it is something that I, I hope listeners of this show, it can resonate with them because I'm truly honored to be able to carve out time out of my. Your busy schedule. Yeah.
I appreciate your time and look forward to seeing your continued success. Of course.
