In an interview with The Macau Post Daily local pianist Zach Cheong Hoi Leong talked about music perspectives, prospects and studying piano in the United States.
The interview was conducted at the practice room of the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda on Sunday.
Cheong made his orchestral debut with the Macao Orchestra (MO) at the age of 9. On June 18 this year, Cheong, now 22, performed with the orchestra for the third time, playing Chopin’s piano concerto No. 1. He currently has a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
The Curtis Institute of Music is one of the most selective colleges of its kind in the US, with a 2.4 percent admission rate in 2020. Curtis has also produced notable alumni such as Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Lang Lang, and Yuja Wang.
Cheong has won numerous awards including First Prize in the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition in ASIA, First Prize in the 81st Steinway and Sons International Youth Piano Competition,†Gold Medal Award of the 67th Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, and several first prizes in different categories of the Macao Young Musicians Competition held by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).
Cheong has also been featured on various programmes, including Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), and Macau’s public broadcaster TDM.
A different type of music education
Studying in a US conservatory for a few years has revealed a different perspective of music learning to Cheong. “In Hong Kong and Macau, we have a very formal and rigid teaching style where teachers ‘feed’ us all the information directly with few reflections coming from the students,” he said. “This teaching style has been very beneficial, but I think that we are also wired in worrying too much about the technicality of music playing.”
Cheong said that the first two years in Curtis have been relatively challenging: “In Curtis, my blessing is my curse: no one comes to me and ‘feeds’ me information anymore. We are assumed to have good techniques, and the professors teach about styles and interpretation which also requires a lot of active thinking and our own judgment: something that I am not used to at all. We even have to think of which pieces we want to study with the professors. Initially, I was disorientated about what’s the right thing to do.
“During the pandemic outbreak, it gave me a small break to think things through. I started listening to concerts, recitals, recordings—anything that carries meaning and expressions to me. At the end of the day, music is, as clichéd as it can get, about conveying ideas and emotions to the audience. But it is very true, a thousand finger-works cannot rival a single tear shed,” Cheong said.
Playing music now and then
The young but experienced pianist is still displeased with his own work at times. “You can say that I am a pessimist, but my performance is always full of surprises, and it is very hard to best what I practised. For example, the performance [with the Macao Orchestra] in June had only a couple of rehearsals and I felt that there could be some improvements,” Cheong said, but he was quick to emphasise the importance of conveying music to the audience over performing the piece perfectly. “This is the reason why performing to audiences is so important to a musician,” he said.
Every student has to choose a career path, a destination, sooner or later, but it is not an easy task for Cheong. “I planned to study a master’s degree after my bachelor’s, but it is daunting to think about my future afterwards,” he said. Unlike lawyers or doctors, musicians have a less clear career path, according to Cheong
Nonetheless, throughout the interview, Cheong was always very enthusiastic when he talked about music, and despite some upsets during the COVID-10 pandemic, Cheong said he always looks forward to future performances – because, ultimately, that’s the only point. Cheong also noted that he has recently won the Musicus Society Young Artists Audition 2022 in Hong Kong, where he will be returning in November for recitals. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/cheonghoileongpiano.
The 9-year-old Cheong looks at the score before his first debut concert in 2009. – Photos provided by Cheong Hoi Leong
Cheong performs with the Macao Orchestra in 2009.
Cheong performs Chopin’s piano concerto No.1 with the Macao Orchestra at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) on June 18 this year.
Cheong poses with conductor Hu Yongyan after the concert on June 19.
