Obsession or Addiction or OCD?

Saigon, Vietnam

Playing with the Vietnamese-American Philharmonic Orchestra, USA

Meeting and chatting about my life as a pianist to handfuls of new people everyday is a reoccurring theme. Do I enjoy it? of course I do. I love curious minds, having one myself.

People are fascinated at the fact that piano is my occupation. That it has been able to take me around the world. How it is that I line up the projects. It's endless work. It's endless love and passion for the piano. Then I question, is it an obsession?

Sitting at coffee with two friends yesterday afternoon, I had to leave them for a  brief moment to do a TV interview in the cafe. Upon coming back, they asked me 'how do you line these things up? You only got here yesterday!'. Well, word spreads quick doesn't it! :) I had just done a 2 hour rehearsal on a monstrous 9 foot Steinway and was exhausted. They asked me about this and I found myself rattling away with energetically about how wonderful the Steinway was and the monstrous sonorities that I was trying to draw out of this instrument. I draw comparisons to how it was like a car. Big sweeping sounds was like revving a car! Divine. One of them looked stunned. 'What?'
'You're so passionate about it'.

Well, yes, yes i am.
Am I obsessed with it? YES.
Am I addicted to it? more than ever.
Am i OCD about it? YES!

The motion of practice ... it is OCD. You can't NOT be! Aiming for perfection, whatever THAT is. Geez! But in all honesty, you hone in on parts, you drill, you aim for accuracy, musicality, individuality ... then you start to over-think parts. Is it meant to be this way? or that? No wonder kids play Mozart better than adults. They just play. They just BE.

I've been listening to the Grieg Concerto umpteenth times. Rehearsing with orchestra for the first time today gives me butterflies. I've done this before but I still get jitters. To the point where I haven't been able to sleep properly because I keep running over sections of the piece, learning what instruments are playing where. But there is nothing more exhilarating than playing with an orchestra. The mass of sound that comes from behind you. The support. The intensity excites me beyond a comparable feeling. Maybe like a roller-coaster.

Some of the pictures from the La Mirada Theater performance I did earlier last month has come through and I thought i'd share them.

Much love & grace,
Van-Anh

And for the RIGHT NOWS:

Current City: Saigon

Next City: Sydney

Fav food: definitely a vietnamese papaya salad!

Missing: mum and dad! wish they were here for this upcoming performance!

Wearing: not much. it's early lol

Reading: the frickin Grieg Concerto score backwards and forwards and backwards again! 

Wishlist: Charlotte Olympia heels.