Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Jenny Chen
Helen Sung didn’t plan on being a jazz musician when she started playing the piano at five years old. Sung began playing piano and as a self-described “Asian American perfectionist” she restricted her self practicing to classical pieces.
“My teacher wouldn’t let me play anything else,” Sung said.
That all changed in her final year as an undergraduate student at University of Texas at Austin. A friend invited Sung to a Harry Connick, Jr. concert and it was the first time Sung had heard jazz improv on the piano.
“The music was so alive it grabbed me in a way that no other music ever has…he’s doing things I’ve been taught all my life not to do!” Sung said.
After that, Sung began exploring jazz and has never looked back since. Sung has performed all over the world including a treehouse at the Shisha Jazz Cafe in India. She’s released 5 albums and her latest album Anthem is what Sung feels like, a testament to her coming into her own as a jazz artist. “I started late and before that I kept feeling like I was behind, I had to catch up…now I finally feel like I’m treading water.”
How is jazz different from classical music? “In classical music you don’t step on stage until you’ve perfected it but as a jazz musician you work it out on stage!” Sung said. “You are trusting 3, 4, or 5 other people sometimes and it’s all these souls coming together to create something beautiful.”
To aspiring musicians, Sung advises ambition with a healthy dose of practicality. “Everything you go through is so hard – if you weren’t meant to do it, it’s very hard to stay in it…it’s not for the faint of heart.”
Sung’s own parents wanted her to become a doctor.
“But if you want to study it – go for it. Even if you don’t end up doing it for a living, it touches all aspects of your life,” Sung said.
