First music

Today I asked myself a question about music. I wonder what was the FIRST music that I listen to in life? Well it's most probably a lullaby my mum sang for me when I was a baby. Or maybe a song my mum was listening to either on the radio or TV. I often wonder though, what is the first proper song that I listen to when I was young? That made me love music so much.

I do remember that I love to listen to lots of instrumental music as my parents love it too. One of the earliest musicians I know of is Richard Clayderman. I listened to his music a lot when I was young in my dad's car as we were driving around my hometown. Also thanks to my late aunt, who introduced me to more classical music as she loved to play the piano at her home. I discovered Tchaikovsky through her, as we played Swan Lake together on a duet!

Actually to be honest it was after I went to Singapore to study that I discovered more music. For example I get to know Enya from my Anklung and Kulintang Ensemble instructor, Ms Ho as we played a lot of her songs in the ensemble. Through music classes I discovered more classical composers like Chopin and Bach. Then I discovered more artists like Sarah Brightman, Kitaro, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and through them, my love for music grow more and more.

I discovered a lot of music by buying CDs at HMV. I still remember spending my money on CDs after every semester in primary school. My sister would bring me to HMV and I would just go to the Classical music section and see what I can get with my hard-saved money. I bought a compilation of classical music once and my whole music dictionary expanded a lot.

And then I joined band in secondary school, and I also met the internet, and boom, my world of music just exploded really. Sometimes it feels pretty cool to realise that all of these events sort of link to one another and made me who I am today, musically. But then, still, I couldn't find that one music which sparked my interest in music. Is it Richard Clayderman songs? Or Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky? I still couldn't find that one song yet. And perhaps, I won't find it.

I do remember musical moments that changed my life forever. The first was my first Angklung performance at St Margaret Secondary School for some award ceremony. It was my first time playing in front of a huge crowd in an ensemble. We played Only If and Hua Xin, and the feeling was really wonderful! And then my second performance with TSMB at SPCC during Arts @ Tanglin in 2006. Playing in an auditorium in a band, wow the feeling was just great. It's a dream come true for me because I've always wanted to perform in a band.

And last but not least my performance with SPSB at Esplenade. For my first MD and for my last. Whenever I go to Esplenade to watch a concert, I always dreamed of performing there one day. So to play there for my first MD is one of the greatest achievements in my musical journey. And yes, it definitely has changed my life forever. I will never forget that moment.

I never regard myself as a musician. I am just someone who truly and deeply loves music. Someone who can't live without music. Someone who enjoys listening to it as much as making it! And I want to keep it that way. Because I knew that I most probably won't make music my sole career. But  definitely want to live alongside with music for the rest of my life.