Earlier this year, we received an invitation from our alumna, Angel Lam, to watch June Lovers, a new full-length original musical production composed by her for the Hong Kong Arts Festival 2012. We were delighted to reconnect with her and learn more about her journey since graduating from the American International School. Angel now resides in New York City and returned to Hong Kong this month for the staging and rehearsals of June Lovers.
During her visit, we were able to conduct a personal interview with Angel, who generously shared her experiences and offered words of encouragement to some of our music students.
How is your musical production June Lovers different from your previous works?
My previous works have mainly been written for orchestras and chamber ensembles, but I almost always find myself telling a musical story. It was natural for me to move into theatre. For June Lovers, I wrote the original script, libretto, and music; it took almost two years to conceptualize and complete. Together with mood and scene/costume design, I experimented with writing in different musical and vocal styles—including rap and rock—to tell a 21st-century story about marriage attitudes and love.
The characters were inspired by my friends, and friends of friends, who are also metropolitan city dwellers with transnational cultural backgrounds.
You combined Cantonese and Mandarin in some of your songs. Is there a reason you chose this special lyrical style?
The 2012 Hong Kong Arts Festival commissioned the musical production, so I knew it was aimed at a Chinese audience. When composing, I believe the music should come before the lyrics, though the poetry and meaning of the text are also very important. When choosing the language, I select the sounds that best suit the music, and sometimes that leads to using both Mandarin and Cantonese. Mandarin is closer to the Romance languages (such as Italian or Latin) in terms of flexibility for operatic singing.
In general, the songs influenced by Eastern literature (sung by men) are in Cantonese, while those influenced by Western literature (sung by women) are in Mandarin.
From living abroad and my love of travel, I’ve come to understand that as individuals—and as artists—we stand against the world. Our competitors are vast and diverse. When I present my works internationally, I am seen as a Hong Kong–born Chinese composer. So, when I composed June Lovers, I intended it for a greater Chinese audience—there is a message there—and I believe the rest of the world would also be interested in learning something unique to us at this moment in time.
In the Hong Kong Arts Festival promotional video, you were shown writing music in a secluded house in a forest. Could you tell us more about that place?
The place is located on Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, in the northeastern United States. It has hosted many famous artists and writers in the past, such as Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein (composer of West Side Story), and even China’s Eileen Chang. I was very fortunate to be invited to stay there for two months after receiving an award, during which I completed the writing of June Lovers.
Who or what has inspired you in your pursuit of becoming a composer?
I was interested in the arts from a young age. My father was probably my first inspiration—he was very artistic and even worked as a stage director in his youth, winning many theatre awards for his school and college. He is also very knowledgeable in history and science. I must have inherited his creative genes!
My academic experience at Yale and my performing experience with Yo-Yo Ma and his ensemble both broadened my horizons. Yo-Yo inspired me to reach out to a wider audience, setting aside artistic boundaries and cultural limitations in pursuit of musical and artistic excellence.
What do you remember from your time studying at the California International School (now known as the American International School)?
I was there for my last two years of high school. At that time, I was very focused on academics and preparing for university. My memories of those two important years remain very vivid.
CIS was a unique place that contributed to my multinational experience; I made friends without cultural boundaries! In my first year at CIS, my close friends were from Hungary, Mainland China, and New York; in my second year, they were from Japan, Korea, and Venezuela. Speaking of cross-cultural musical identities, while studying at CIS, we lived in a cosmopolitan city and grew up as world citizens. I feel this even more strongly now, living in Manhattan.
After graduation, while studying music at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, I brought a brass and string ensemble from the Academy to perform some of my compositions at AIS for the students. I look forward to staying in touch—perhaps we can plan a musical performance at AIS in the near future!
Middle Row: Takeshi S., Madoka T., Annie K., Wing Sze L., Swire H., Akito K., Philip Y., Gordon A., Mr. Williamson
Front Row: Katsuyuki H., Asami M., Angel L., Janetta L., Elsie L., Lily L., Fumi Y., Mika E., Brian T.
