Wang Pei-Wen (王貝文), a professional cellist, has embarked on a side career as a YouTube personality.
So far, she has uploaded 20 videos to YouTube, featuring herself interviewing A-listers of the classical music world during their visits to Taipei.
The production formula is simple: meticulous prep, gentle questions in English and a single unrehearsed and uninterrupted take. The resulting conversation has lowlights and highlights, which unfold with minimal editing.
Photo courtesy of Wang Pei-wen
“It’s an honest conversation with the world’s great masters of music and art,” she said.
NEW MEDIA STARS
Wang is joining a new group of entertainers who have turned to YouTube to broadcast original homemade content.
Photo courtesy of Wang Pei-wen
In 2007, YouTube launched its Partners program, which granted select users 55 percent of revenue from ads placed through Google AdSense. The system, which has rolled out gradually to general users, opened the gate to online entertainers like Jenna Marbles, who straight-talks and curses heavily while showing off her two dogs, and Hannah Hart (who cooks while intoxicated on the weekly series My Drunk Kitchen). And a tiny but thriving class of Taiwanese artists have taken to YouTube to build their own brand.
Arial Chen (陳沛靖), a young woman who offers health and beauty tutorials, catapulted to fame three years ago with Make Up for Break Up, a video on fixing up a wan visage.
Tsai Wei-chia (蔡緯嘉), who goes by Tsai A-ga (蔡阿嘎), is about to reach a million subscribers with his campy parodies of politicians and social trends. Some YouTube personalities sing and dance: Teng Fu-ju (鄧福如), better known as A-fu, has parlayed her celebrity as a cover artist into a record deal.
Wang is the first in Taiwan to offer regular in-depth interviews with musicians on tour.
Each episode spans 10 to 25 minutes, spotlighting one artist. The lineup includes childhood idol Christine Walevska; violinist and long-time concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Glenn Dicterow; violinist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Julian Rachlin; and Daniel Muller-Schott, a German cellist who won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1992 at age 15.
PRODIGY
Wang herself was a cello prodigy. Born in Taiwan, she trained in the Ministry of Education’s music program until her teens, when she entered Juilliard, one of the US’ top music schools, to attend its pre-college program. After completing college and graduate studies at Juilliard and Yale, she toured the world as a solo and ensemble cellist.
On the show, Wang does not play music with guests. But her know-how as a musician helps take the conversation on interesting turns, from concert hall acoustics to the poetics of piano pedaling. In addition, musicianship helps her build a quick rapport during interviews.
“Over the years, I saw the ups and downs of musicians, I know about it … how hard it is to make a living. I know how to ask questions,” she said.
Some of the guests are her old acquaintances in the music circles.
An episode that aired on Dec. 10 featured Grammy Award-nominated clarinettist David Shifrin, who teaches at Yale. Cellist Wang Jian (王健), who appeared in an Oscar-Award winning documentary featuring Isaac Stern, was her former classmate.
Since the first video aired last May, Wang’s show has attracted about 11,000 views, mainly from the US and Taiwan, but also from the UK, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan.
She is looking to expand her following: experimenting with length and breaking down a single interview into chapters. She is also working on diversifying content, bringing in not just classical musicians but also masters in jazz and other art forms.
Peiwen’s Note: Conversations with the Masters airs on her channel at www.youtube.com/peiwencello. For more information, visit www.peiwensnote.com.
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
RSS