Tracy Wong: The PIVODIO Interview

Tracy Wong is a classically trained pianist who has performed with the Saint Petersburg State Symphony, the Louisville Symphony, and the Chicago Ars Viva Symphony. As a soloist, Tracy has performed at Lincoln Center, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, and Carnegie Hall. Check out Tracy’s full profile on her PIVODIO page.

Music has sort of been your main thing since a very early age. You performed with the Saint Petersburg State Symphony when you were nine years old! Do you remember when it clicked for you that music was going to be your professional path?

I think there’s a lot of different paths to becoming a musician. And even becoming a professional musician, that could mean hundreds of different things for different people. I wasn’t sure I was going to go into music until my senior year of high school. I was trying to make a decision between auditioning for conservatory or applying to colleges.

I did the National YoungArts Foundation program and it culminates for the finalists in a week-long festival environment in Miami, and it was my first time doing something interdisciplinary. So there were musicians, writers, dancers, actors (side note, the year I did it was the same year that Timothée Chalamet did it. I still remember his monologue). It was a really cool event, and the moment it clicked for me was on a bus going to one of the events. Someone pulled out a guitar and people started singing along, clapping along, more musicians joined; and the entire bus was vibing together. It was so organic and not at all what I was trained in classically, but it just felt more real than anything I prepared to do on stage. It was at that moment I thought “oh this is why we do this at a high level. We do this so when we meet others in the wild, we’re able to collaborate, put what’s in our heads out there.”

And that’s what it means to be an artist. Being able to communicate something and have a vision, and use your medium with the help of others to create this new thing to communicate with others. At that point I pulled all the applications to colleges and decided to go to conservatory.

When the layperson thinks of classical piano and the landscape of jobs that exist for the genre, it feels limited. Is that correct? What’s the modern landscape for a classical pianist?

I think there’s definitely a place for what people think of for classical piano. The concert pianist. You win competitions on a global stage. But if we’re being honest, that’s like 0.0001% of all pianists, all musicians. Very few people make it to that level.

The modern classical musician is more like a portfolio career. Most of the people I know teach, they hold faculty positions at a university, they research musicology, music performance, history, theory; anything that’s your niche topic. People gig, people play with ensembles. For me, I’m starting a duo right now with a friend and we’re going to compete and perform.

You take on projects that speak to you. I’m very much interested in the music business. One of the concentrations in the degree I’m doing right now is with the business school. I’m interested in the intersection of how we take this thing that we’re told can only be one thing – being a concert artist – and we turn it into answering the basic question of “why are you a musician?” And we can find a place for you. You can create your own narrative of the type of artist you want to be.

If you want to be the traditional pianist, you can do that. But if you want to mix media, champion causes, you can do all that too. It’s just about whether you have the skills and network to make that happen. That’s what I’m passionate about: helping other artists realize they are able to do whatever it is they’re wanting to do.

That dovetails into PIVODIO’s mission to help polished artists round out the skills they need, sometimes on the business side, to make it in the industry. So what are the other skills that young musicians really need to know to make their way in a career?

I think there are hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills like knowing how to record, the technology you use, how to interface on social media, how to network, how to join professional networks, how to audition, how to apply, creating a resume.

I’m passionate about the soft skills of knowing your own mission statement and knowing your own elevator pitch. A lot of times you’ll find yourself in a position where someone could help you open a door, but you may only get five minutes with that person to make an impression. So you need to know what you’re about. How can you explain yourself, and differentiate yourself from some other musician who also wants to make it happen?

It’s about knowing yourself and doing those deep dives into what it is you bring, what it is you deserve, and going after those things. People are attracted to confidence, mission, conviction; so if you have those things, you’ve already won half the battle.

What’s a tip you have for musicians to find that focus and hone into who they are?

Well for young musicians, do everything. Don’t be close minded, especially if you’re in the classical arts (but I imagine this would be true for anyone in the music industry). When you have mentors, you’re often told “this is the way to do it.” Because that’s the way it’s always been done. But we’ve evolved past that.

Be open to everything. If you pull me onto a comedy stage tonight, I’d probably suck but I’d learn something. It’s impossible to do something and not take something away from it. For younger musicians trying to break in, you just have to be open to everything. You never know what’s going to bring you something.

I’ve heard other music professionals say that talent can only get you so far, the harder stuff is promoting yourself and sort of running yourself as a small business. How true is that statement to you?

I think it’s absolutely important but I also think more so than that, it’s about integrity and being consistent. If you have a reputation for honoring your commitments, for showing up, for being passionate about the music; I think people respond well to authenticity. When you do things with integrity, and you know the why of what you’re doing, even if you make mistakes, that garners you more than even if you did everything right.

Is social media useful for your genre of music?

I think there is a budding community. I don’t think we are the hippest [laughs]. But social media, like any tool, it’s what we make of it. I choose to focus on how it can be a tool for good.

I know people who use social media to promote. For me, it’s an avenue for creativity. Because the classical arts can feel very controlled, especially at an institution. It can be very perfection-based. So social media started as a place to just be creative, to make mistakes.

No one talks about the stress of practice or the 17 cups of coffee you drink. They just see the perfected package you see on stage. So it’s a chance for me to let loose, challenge myself to be the authentic version of me that I want to be. It’s a reminder that you can have fun with this. I wish I could have seen that in my field as a teenager, so why not walk that walk as an adult? To show that you can still have fun, that you can be intelligent but still be silly.

How do you find your audience?

Typically you gig, you put on recitals, you cold email agents and showrunners. “Hey here’s a reel of myself, I’d love to be a part of your show.” All of that works, but now more than ever, what classical musicians can offer is that they are very highly trained in their craft. Not to say mainstream musicians are not, I’m not saying that at all, but professional classical musicians have probably 20-30 years doing this thing and they have a mastery over their instrument or voice. What that means is that you can add layers of dexterity and complexity for projects.

Some of the students I teach are pop musicians. They don’t have any interest in going classical, but they have the technique to add that extra something to whatever they want to do.

A lot of the time to gain attention is leveraging interdisciplinary arts. Working with dancers to do an installation. Working with light engineers to do projections. Mixing all these media together and collaborating with others to create something completely new.

What’s a common trait that prevents musicians in your field from taking that next step into becoming a professional?

I think it’s the belief that it’s all or nothing. For example, if you’re a pianist, you think you have to be the top of the top… or nothing. The thought that you want a 401k and health insurance. So the drop-off is not feeling secure in this path, so you stop pursuing it.

But I think for someone who truly wants to be in this, because they can’t imagine NOT doing this, there are a million ways to get it done. You find a back door, a side door, a window; there are so many ways to build a career. And sometimes, it’s preferable to first build a foundation.

I always thought I was going to be a performer. That’s what everyone who goes into conservatory thinks. But it hit me that it’s not always what it’s amped up to be. Because when someone calls you about a gig, you don’t necessarily get to pick what you perform. They tell you to play Beethoven, and that’s what you play.

But your musical impact could be just as great if you became the executive director for an arts organization, or if you became a professor at a university and got to teach generations of students, or if you started your own company or co-op of artists. There are a million different ways to fulfill that fire of “I want to be an artist.”

So to think that only “this is it, or nothing,” that’s really heartbreaking. There’s so many different ways to have influence and do the things you love.

That is really great advice. I think musicians need to keep hearing that there isn’t just one path. Alright, some quick hits for you. What’s the song that reminds you of your childhood?

Anything by the Carpenters. I took a lot of road trips and for some reason we only had the Carpenters’ Gold album. It always gets me nostalgic.

What’s the most romantic song of all time?

Because I just went to her tour, Timeless by Taylor Swift. That’s what comes up for me.

Not a classical piece?

I know it’s taboo to say but classical music isn’t romantic to me. It’s almost like a love song to music.

What’s a song you can listen to a thousand times and never get sick of it?

There’s a piece by Maurice Ravel called “Pavane for a Dead Princess.” It was one of the first classical pieces that I remember having an impact on me. It’s so deeply sad, even though it’s not meant to be. He just chose that title because it rhymes in French, he just liked how it sounded. It’s not meant to be sad. But I thought of it as deeply sad, when I was a pre-teen and I’d feel and cry when I hear it.

What song takes you back to a very important moment in your life?

The cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel [Kamakawiwo’ole] was playing in the background during a low moment. I auditioned for Curtis Institute of Music when I was a teenager, and that’s a premiere conservatory. I got cut at the first round of auditions and I was ready to leave it all.

I was crying in the bathtub and it was playing on the radio. If you can’t tell, I’m prone to overdramatization, and I was bawling my eyes out. That song cut through all the noise of that moment and I was able to stop and listen. I thought at that moment, “ok, the world hasn’t ended. What’s next?” So when I hear that song, I remember that moment.

For more of Tracy Wong, check out her Instagram (@artist.at.play) and connect with her on PIVODIO for advice on classical piano and the music industry.

About the Author:

Robert Woo has been in marketing for 15+ years, creating content for tech startups in various industries. He’s also written and performed comedy for decades, with stints at Nickelodeon, NBC, HBO, and more. While he is probably the least musically inclined of the PIVODIO team, he is excited to be part of this note-worthy (pun) company. He also takes a multivitamin every day.