Transcript of interview with John Sharpley (conducted by Gavin Lee) via Skype on 20 Nov 2016, 2 pm.
John Sharpley is a freelance composer from America. He has lived in Singapore and travelled around Asia since 1986, and his works have been informed and influenced by this. One of his works, the Zheng Concerto was commissioned by a woman who wanted to tell her personal story of leaving her homeland China, and then returning again much later. John considers the three works, Zheng Concerto (2001), Kong (Emptiness, 2002), and The Wild Child (2003) to share the same musical language – one simply does not change musical language at a whim. John thinks that Singaporean music has come a long way from when he first arrived in Singapore. He observed that in the past, most Singaporeans were not interested in music as their main concern is in making a living. However, that changed when the two tertiary arts institutions – LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts – were set up in Singapore. John observed that the youth of Singapore – those born in the 80s and 90s – have a different notion of life and are willing to explore more than the previous generations. He feels that the emerging body of experimental works created by youth tends to be experimental and does not always reflect as much depth as it could. Therefore, John thinks that Singaporean music still has some way to go before it can match standards set by other cities like Hong Kong, Paris and Shanghai. John thinks that music should not be simply for entertainment or something for us to profit by, but a way of bringing profound changes to people at a spiritual and emotional level. John thinks that Singaporeans do not share this notion of music for a higher and better quality of life, as most of them chase after materialistic and commodified goals instead. John thinks that music students should not restrict themselves to learning about music only. He thinks that one needs to gain a holistic outlook by focusing on current events and subjects outside one’s area of interest. He thinks that one should master other things as well – be it a language or skill – so that one can evolve and see the inner connectivity in everything.
“The Zheng Concerto was also a very personal story and I spent quite a bit of time with Han Mei during the two visits to Vancouver I made to learn about her life. And it’s a bit of a biography of her.”
“So all three works [Zheng Concerto, Kong, The Wild Child] have different, yet very personal stories behind them. I think they all share the same musical language; I don’t really change that willy-nilly. To me, a vocabulary is quite important. If you learn a language, it’s like a mother tongue – you speak it. You don’t keep changing your language.”
“When I arrived in Singapore, in general society was so concerned with trying to make its way and to create an identity, or even – at the individual level – just to earn a living. And the idea of writing music seemed to most people to be quite superfluous and unnecessary.”
“I think we still have a long way to go if you want to compare [the Singaporean music scene] to maybe similar kinds of standards in comparable big cities. Even Hong Kong, or Sydney, or Paris, or Shanghai. I think it’s still maybe lacking sometimes, and it tends to be for young people very experimental, and it doesn’t often go beyond experimental.”
“I think that in Singapore the search for identity – political identity, social identity – there has been a lot of encouragement from NAC [National Arts Council], from the government to try to find somehow that identity through music. And I think it’s good and bad.”
“[I think we should create] music that can actually bring profound changes to us and can impact us at different levels, at spiritual levels, emotional levels. And can bring a better – higher quality of life, a higher dimension in ourselves. And to make that the focal point, not to build their career around it.”
“I think Singapore is a particularly materialist world, where people define themselves by profoundly material ideals. And nature has virtually nothing to do with it. If anything, nature is to be controlled – it’s a commodity. It’s another commodity. Like Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, or something. It’s a commodity that you have.”
“So my plea is to look deeply within ourselves and to connect to nature. And the planet. See it more cosmologically, and see in ourselves – not individuals – so much as sentient beings who are connected to everything who are inter-connected with other sentient beings. That’s my feeling.”
“But I would say to [the piano student in London]: search the inner connectivity of all things whilst in London. Attend lectures on quantum mechanics, and learn about anthropology and archaeology, and open your mind to the universe, and do not restrict yourself to music. Because if you do, you probably won’t really understand music if that’s all you think about.”
“You can’t do everything at one time. I think mastery of one thing is really critical for all of us. To have at least one language that we are a master of. That is, we understand its grammar, its poetry.”
“So for a young person, I think he may need that time to specialize and to focus on the mastery of something. But that’s certainly not the end point – that’s barely a beginning point.”
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