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Violinist has the world on a string
By Beth Loechler
The Grand Rapids Press
Sunday, April 30, 2006
When Christina Fong was 10 or 11, a pencil slipped into a grand piano while
her fingers danced across the keys.
"It sounded funny," she recalls, "like another instrument altogether."
Seizing the moment, her piano teacher explained that a famous composer named
John Cage intentionally put objects inside the piano to produce different
sounds.
So they tried a paper clip, then a glass vase. The put a roll of masking
tape in the piano and laid nails in between the strings.
The reverberations were exhilarating. Unforgettable.
They triggered a love for unique sounds and experimental music that blooms
and thrives still, three decades later.
A violinist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, 41-year-old Fong's musical
passions continue to tend more toward John Cage than Johann Sebastian Bach.
Not that she doesn't appreciate the classics.
"There's nothing ever bad about playing Mozart. There's nothing ever bad
about playing Tchaikovsky. It's great stuff. That's why it has lasted this
long," she says.
But she's looking for a bit more adventure.
That's why, in 1996, when she played American composer Philip Glass at the
Grand Rapids Art Museum, earplugs were offered to audience members.
"It's industrial rock on violin," she says. "The music is intended to be
loud. It has to be in your face."
A bit like Fong herself: unpredictable, unrelenting, unwilling to sit
quietly amid the status quo.
New music
Fong is a runner, a war protester, an activist for freeing Tibet from
Chinese occupation and, most ardently, a believer in "new music," which she
defines as composed pieces written in the past 50 years or so.
In addition to her full-time job with the symphony, she's an expert in new
music and advocates playing it, listening to it and spreading it around as
much as she can.
Fong and her violin -- and on rare occasions, her viola -- have made seven
CDs of new music, including the works of Americans John Cage and Morton
Feldman, whom she counts among the most important composers of the 20th
century.
Her husband of 18 years, percussionist Glenn Freeman, has produced her
recordings and one of his own on his OgreOgress classical recording label.
The work is "remarkable," says fellow violinist Chris Martin, who has joined
the couple on some of the pieces. "She and Glenn aren't getting any grant
money or anything. They are just totally doing this on their own."
Do they make money? A little, says Freeman, 41, who also works with Tibetan
Buddhist monks, recording their chants when they tour in West Michigan and
donating copies of the CDs to their monasteries.
"My recordings make me feel as if I've done something useful for art," says
Fong, who also has premiered some of the works. "In my mind, there's no
reason for a symphony to ever record another Beethoven or Mahler."
Twenty years ago, orchestras had their own flavor, Fong says as she wades
into her gripe about the conservative nature of symphonies. "Now, 90-some
percent could easily swap programs and no one would notice. I wish they'd be
a little more adventuresome.
"They're beiging out, sort of like the landscape of America is beiging out.
You go on 28th Street, and it looks like you could be anywhere."
Fong and Freeman live in a rented one-bedroom loft apartment in the heart of
downtown Grand Rapids. Their bedroom doubles as Fong's rehearsal space and
Freeman's office, where he runs his production company. The same space was
home to the A.R. Killiger Violin Shop about 80 years ago, Fong says.
By choice, they don't own much furniture. No wooden dressers or armoires;
not even a mattress and box springs, only a futon on the floor.
"I try not to think that material things are important," she says. "Before
you know it, the things that are supposed to make you happy just don't."
Tight quarters
They store their belongings, including Freeman's bass drum, in the lofty
open spaces just below the ceiling and keep a ladder in the bedroom for easy
access.
A high-definition television and a couple of extra-large Foofs, which are
fancy beanbag chairs, fill the living room. Hundreds of compact discs and
DVDs line the narrow hallway.
"Houses take on a life of their own," Fong explains her aversion to home
ownership. "I love old houses and their sense of history, but I'd rather not
spend my time calling the plumber."
She and Freeman like kids, too, she says, but haven't the time to raise
their own. They have an 18-year-old cat, Mau Mau, which is Cantonese for
"kitty cat."
Her indulgences are food and movies. They collect DVDs, which explains the
deluxe TV.
Fong and Freeman love to cook and are vegetarians. Both of them swore off
all meat in the mid-1990s, Fong for personal health and because she's
opposed to killing animals for food. Freeman's vegetarianism coincided with
his conversion to Buddhism, which was triggered by his interest in the
monks' music.
"I do meditation in morning, read scripture and take it to heart, which
includes not killing animals or people," Freeman says.
Fong's desire to push the limits stretches beyond her career in music. She's
a runner and has completed five marathons. It shows. Her petite frame is
perfectly toned. She looks at least a decade younger than her 41 years. Most
mornings she runs six miles. Once a week, she tallies 10 to 20 miles.
"I'm not particularly good at running, I'm not very fast. But it's one of
the few exercises I actually enjoy," she says. Her best marathon time is 4
hours and 26 minutes.
The exercise is good for every other thing she does, Fong says. "It gives me
endurance. It gives me perspective. When I'm feeling overloaded. I think,
'Whatever I'm doing isn't as bad as the last two miles of a marathon.' "
Fong's parents -- Joyce was born in Hong Kong and Arthur, who died following
open heart surgery five years ago, was born in southern China but grew up in
the Philippines -- met during college in the United States.
They settled in the Chicago area and, despite their degrees in mathematics,
opened two restaurants in the 1970s. One of them, China Chef, is still in
business in Morton Grove. Joyce Fong continues to work there part-time.
The Fongs bought a used piano and started lessons for Christina when she was
3. A downstairs neighbor complained about the noise of Christina's little
feet running nonstop over his head, so her mom figured she needed something
to do.
Younger sister, Patty, took up the violin about five years later.
"I liked the way it sounded," recalls Christina. "By the time I was 10, I
wished I had played the alto sax instead. But my mom said, 'Enough.' "
Christina played both violin and piano through high school. She favored the
violin, but she knew piano skills would come in handy as she pursued a
college degree.
"My dad didn't care what I majored in, but not going to college was not an
option," says Christina.
College years
She attended Northwestern University, which is where she met Freeman, who
has played percussion as an extra with the Grand Rapids Symphony. Fong
earned a bachelor's degree in 1986 and a master's in 1987, both in applied
violin.
Their first jobs were with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in Fort
Lauderdale, Freeman's hometown. A year later, in 1988, Fong successfully
auditioned for the position of section violinist in Grand Rapids. In 1996,
she secured the job of associate concertmaster, which means she plays the
second chair in the first section of violinists. She earns about $40,000 a
year.
"I have an instrument in my hands at least four hours a day, often more,"
she says of her rehearsal schedule, which includes practice sessions at home
and in DeVos Hall.
The concert season is similar to a school year -- she gets most of the
summer off -- "except we have to work a lot of weekends," she says.
One part of the job she particularly enjoys is visiting elementary schools
with fellow musicians to introduce orchestra music to young ears. "I love
the energy level of kids," she says. "Music affects them the same way as the
older crowd, but because of the complete inhibitions of children, they'll
scream, they'll laugh."
Fong taught violin at Grand Valley State University for 12 years and now has
three students she teaches at her home on Thursday afternoons.
"I prefer performing and practicing," she says. "With teaching, I've found
that what you inflict upon your teachers -- like not practicing -- comes
back to haunt you."
Peace should prevail
On Fong and Freeman's home computer is a picture of the late Pope John Paul
II and the Dalai Lama. The men are from different places and practiced
different religions, but both struggled with oppression, says Fong. "They
are people who are sincere in solving things in a peaceful way."
She and Freeman are peace activists, too. They're both active in the "Free
Tibet" movement, which demands an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Their work may have helped free a young man imprisoned there. Ngawang
Choephel, a music student in the United States, returned to his homeland of
Tibet for a film project in 1995. He was arrested by the Chinese, tried,
convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for espionage.
Fong and Freeman met with U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, who agreed in 1997 to
co-sponsor a resolution calling for the Chinese to release him. Choephel was
paroled three years later.
"Things that seem totally hopeless and actions which seem so useless always
have potential," Fong says.
That's why she and Freeman spend an hour every Monday afternoon at the
corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue in Grand Rapids, where they
rally for peace.
"In a whole hour, maybe two people will yell something at us. The majority
are supportive of what we're doing," Freeman says.
Fong's father got her interested in politics.
"My dad liked to talk politics, but he basically was a Republican. At the
same time, my mom hated to talk politics so he was stuck talking to me," she
says.
Freeman and Fong aren't Democrats or Republicans, and they don't vote for
candidates based on political labels, they say. "I favor candidates who are
not selfish and who help other people," adds Freeman.
Freeman, in particular, is no fan of The Press or other mainstream media.
"It's the media's fault we're still at war," he says.
Initially, he refused to comment for this story. He eventually agreed to
participate in an interview, but would not consent to having his picture
taken.
Persistence pays
When the Grand Rapids Symphony performs at DeVos Hall on May 12-14, Fong
will be one of four featured soloists. She'll perform -- drum roll,
please -- a Philip Glass piece.
"This will be the first time the symphony has done what I think of as the
most important composer of our time, now," she says.
Indeed, Fong's persistence has paid off, says fellow violinist Chris Martin.
He believes the Grand Rapids Symphony does a "pretty good job" of balancing
the better-known and much-revered music with the less familiar and more
modern works. And he credits Fong, at least in part, for making that happen.
"What we do here is often more impressive to me than what they are doing in
some larger cities," Martin says.
Perhaps, but Fong believes it could be a lot better. "It's just not
happening in the United States," she says.
But that's changing. The GR Symphony is planning to play more 20th century
music next season. "Christina is making an impact," Martin insists. "Though
I think she gets a little frustrated with how slowly things move."
It's true, admits Fong. "It takes a long time. But just like a marathon,
it's all about patience and not giving up."
Articles in this Issue:
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World Tibet Network NewsPublished by the Canada Tibet CommitteeSunday, April 30, 2006 |
6. Violinist has the world on a string
By Beth Loechler
The Grand Rapids Press
Sunday, April 30, 2006
When Christina Fong was 10 or 11, a pencil slipped into a grand piano while
her fingers danced across the keys.
"It sounded funny," she recalls, "like another instrument altogether."
Seizing the moment, her piano teacher explained that a famous composer named
John Cage intentionally put objects inside the piano to produce different
sounds.
So they tried a paper clip, then a glass vase. The put a roll of masking
tape in the piano and laid nails in between the strings.
The reverberations were exhilarating. Unforgettable.
They triggered a love for unique sounds and experimental music that blooms
and thrives still, three decades later.
A violinist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, 41-year-old Fong's musical
passions continue to tend more toward John Cage than Johann Sebastian Bach.
Not that she doesn't appreciate the classics.
"There's nothing ever bad about playing Mozart. There's nothing ever bad
about playing Tchaikovsky. It's great stuff. That's why it has lasted this
long," she says.
But she's looking for a bit more adventure.
That's why, in 1996, when she played American composer Philip Glass at the
Grand Rapids Art Museum, earplugs were offered to audience members.
"It's industrial rock on violin," she says. "The music is intended to be
loud. It has to be in your face."
A bit like Fong herself: unpredictable, unrelenting, unwilling to sit
quietly amid the status quo.
New music
Fong is a runner, a war protester, an activist for freeing Tibet from
Chinese occupation and, most ardently, a believer in "new music," which she
defines as composed pieces written in the past 50 years or so.
In addition to her full-time job with the symphony, she's an expert in new
music and advocates playing it, listening to it and spreading it around as
much as she can.
Fong and her violin -- and on rare occasions, her viola -- have made seven
CDs of new music, including the works of Americans John Cage and Morton
Feldman, whom she counts among the most important composers of the 20th
century.
Her husband of 18 years, percussionist Glenn Freeman, has produced her
recordings and one of his own on his OgreOgress classical recording label.
The work is "remarkable," says fellow violinist Chris Martin, who has joined
the couple on some of the pieces. "She and Glenn aren't getting any grant
money or anything. They are just totally doing this on their own."
Do they make money? A little, says Freeman, 41, who also works with Tibetan
Buddhist monks, recording their chants when they tour in West Michigan and
donating copies of the CDs to their monasteries.
"My recordings make me feel as if I've done something useful for art," says
Fong, who also has premiered some of the works. "In my mind, there's no
reason for a symphony to ever record another Beethoven or Mahler."
Twenty years ago, orchestras had their own flavor, Fong says as she wades
into her gripe about the conservative nature of symphonies. "Now, 90-some
percent could easily swap programs and no one would notice. I wish they'd be
a little more adventuresome.
"They're beiging out, sort of like the landscape of America is beiging out.
You go on 28th Street, and it looks like you could be anywhere."
Fong and Freeman live in a rented one-bedroom loft apartment in the heart of
downtown Grand Rapids. Their bedroom doubles as Fong's rehearsal space and
Freeman's office, where he runs his production company. The same space was
home to the A.R. Killiger Violin Shop about 80 years ago, Fong says.
By choice, they don't own much furniture. No wooden dressers or armoires;
not even a mattress and box springs, only a futon on the floor.
"I try not to think that material things are important," she says. "Before
you know it, the things that are supposed to make you happy just don't."
Tight quarters
They store their belongings, including Freeman's bass drum, in the lofty
open spaces just below the ceiling and keep a ladder in the bedroom for easy
access.
A high-definition television and a couple of extra-large Foofs, which are
fancy beanbag chairs, fill the living room. Hundreds of compact discs and
DVDs line the narrow hallway.
"Houses take on a life of their own," Fong explains her aversion to home
ownership. "I love old houses and their sense of history, but I'd rather not
spend my time calling the plumber."
She and Freeman like kids, too, she says, but haven't the time to raise
their own. They have an 18-year-old cat, Mau Mau, which is Cantonese for
"kitty cat."
Her indulgences are food and movies. They collect DVDs, which explains the
deluxe TV.
Fong and Freeman love to cook and are vegetarians. Both of them swore off
all meat in the mid-1990s, Fong for personal health and because she's
opposed to killing animals for food. Freeman's vegetarianism coincided with
his conversion to Buddhism, which was triggered by his interest in the
monks' music.
"I do meditation in morning, read scripture and take it to heart, which
includes not killing animals or people," Freeman says.
Fong's desire to push the limits stretches beyond her career in music. She's
a runner and has completed five marathons. It shows. Her petite frame is
perfectly toned. She looks at least a decade younger than her 41 years. Most
mornings she runs six miles. Once a week, she tallies 10 to 20 miles.
"I'm not particularly good at running, I'm not very fast. But it's one of
the few exercises I actually enjoy," she says. Her best marathon time is 4
hours and 26 minutes.
The exercise is good for every other thing she does, Fong says. "It gives me
endurance. It gives me perspective. When I'm feeling overloaded. I think,
'Whatever I'm doing isn't as bad as the last two miles of a marathon.' "
Fong's parents -- Joyce was born in Hong Kong and Arthur, who died following
open heart surgery five years ago, was born in southern China but grew up in
the Philippines -- met during college in the United States.
They settled in the Chicago area and, despite their degrees in mathematics,
opened two restaurants in the 1970s. One of them, China Chef, is still in
business in Morton Grove. Joyce Fong continues to work there part-time.
The Fongs bought a used piano and started lessons for Christina when she was
3. A downstairs neighbor complained about the noise of Christina's little
feet running nonstop over his head, so her mom figured she needed something
to do.
Younger sister, Patty, took up the violin about five years later.
"I liked the way it sounded," recalls Christina. "By the time I was 10, I
wished I had played the alto sax instead. But my mom said, 'Enough.' "
Christina played both violin and piano through high school. She favored the
violin, but she knew piano skills would come in handy as she pursued a
college degree.
"My dad didn't care what I majored in, but not going to college was not an
option," says Christina.
College years
She attended Northwestern University, which is where she met Freeman, who
has played percussion as an extra with the Grand Rapids Symphony. Fong
earned a bachelor's degree in 1986 and a master's in 1987, both in applied
violin.
Their first jobs were with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in Fort
Lauderdale, Freeman's hometown. A year later, in 1988, Fong successfully
auditioned for the position of section violinist in Grand Rapids. In 1996,
she secured the job of associate concertmaster, which means she plays the
second chair in the first section of violinists. She earns about $40,000 a
year.
"I have an instrument in my hands at least four hours a day, often more,"
she says of her rehearsal schedule, which includes practice sessions at home
and in DeVos Hall.
The concert season is similar to a school year -- she gets most of the
summer off -- "except we have to work a lot of weekends," she says.
One part of the job she particularly enjoys is visiting elementary schools
with fellow musicians to introduce orchestra music to young ears. "I love
the energy level of kids," she says. "Music affects them the same way as the
older crowd, but because of the complete inhibitions of children, they'll
scream, they'll laugh."
Fong taught violin at Grand Valley State University for 12 years and now has
three students she teaches at her home on Thursday afternoons.
"I prefer performing and practicing," she says. "With teaching, I've found
that what you inflict upon your teachers -- like not practicing -- comes
back to haunt you."
Peace should prevail
On Fong and Freeman's home computer is a picture of the late Pope John Paul
II and the Dalai Lama. The men are from different places and practiced
different religions, but both struggled with oppression, says Fong. "They
are people who are sincere in solving things in a peaceful way."
She and Freeman are peace activists, too. They're both active in the "Free
Tibet" movement, which demands an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Their work may have helped free a young man imprisoned there. Ngawang
Choephel, a music student in the United States, returned to his homeland of
Tibet for a film project in 1995. He was arrested by the Chinese, tried,
convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for espionage.
Fong and Freeman met with U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, who agreed in 1997 to
co-sponsor a resolution calling for the Chinese to release him. Choephel was
paroled three years later.
"Things that seem totally hopeless and actions which seem so useless always
have potential," Fong says.
That's why she and Freeman spend an hour every Monday afternoon at the
corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue in Grand Rapids, where they
rally for peace.
"In a whole hour, maybe two people will yell something at us. The majority
are supportive of what we're doing," Freeman says.
Fong's father got her interested in politics.
"My dad liked to talk politics, but he basically was a Republican. At the
same time, my mom hated to talk politics so he was stuck talking to me," she
says.
Freeman and Fong aren't Democrats or Republicans, and they don't vote for
candidates based on political labels, they say. "I favor candidates who are
not selfish and who help other people," adds Freeman.
Freeman, in particular, is no fan of The Press or other mainstream media.
"It's the media's fault we're still at war," he says.
Initially, he refused to comment for this story. He eventually agreed to
participate in an interview, but would not consent to having his picture
taken.
Persistence pays
When the Grand Rapids Symphony performs at DeVos Hall on May 12-14, Fong
will be one of four featured soloists. She'll perform -- drum roll,
please -- a Philip Glass piece.
"This will be the first time the symphony has done what I think of as the
most important composer of our time, now," she says.
Indeed, Fong's persistence has paid off, says fellow violinist Chris Martin.
He believes the Grand Rapids Symphony does a "pretty good job" of balancing
the better-known and much-revered music with the less familiar and more
modern works. And he credits Fong, at least in part, for making that happen.
"What we do here is often more impressive to me than what they are doing in
some larger cities," Martin says.
Perhaps, but Fong believes it could be a lot better. "It's just not
happening in the United States," she says.
But that's changing. The GR Symphony is planning to play more 20th century
music next season. "Christina is making an impact," Martin insists. "Though
I think she gets a little frustrated with how slowly things move."
It's true, admits Fong. "It takes a long time. But just like a marathon,
it's all about patience and not giving up."
Articles in this Issue:
- Dalai Lama unveils Gandhi statue in Brazil
- Buddhism returns to basilica, this time at parish hall
- Kalon Tripa to Leave for Official Visit
- Lhasa, Kathmandu bus service to continue
- From Austria to Tibet, a life transformed by exploration
- Violinist has the world on a string
- Beating the tourist rush
- How to get the travel permit to Tibet?
CTC National Office 300 Leo-Pariseau, Suite 2250, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2X 4B3
T: (514) 487-0665 F: (514) 487-7825 ctcoffice@tibet.ca
T: (514) 487-0665 F: (514) 487-7825 ctcoffice@tibet.ca
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