Category: Lifting Voices

I don’t know how to even contain my excitement over this song. It feels like its spilling over and I just cannot.

This song is the epitome of a perfect pop song reflecting Malaysia by showcasing essential representation of Malaysian people. We see motorbike guys, termed ‘Mat Rempit’ and even though these sub group of people are a somewhat nuisance, here we see them celebrating their culture, togetherness and brotherhood they strive to achieve through riding bikes at night, speeding along highways. We also see different groups of races here, namely the Malays and Chinese. The Indian people are also represented through the elegant Indian dance moves.

My words are not able to convey how fascinating the video is and how Yuna really is an underrated Malaysian pop star staying true to her roots. She symbolizes hope, unity and faith for her people, something unheard of these days.

(Also its on Spotify/what are you waiting for go listen and watch the video!)

Since I started preparing for my junior recital a few months ago, I have become increasingly interested in contemporary music for viola. It’s an awkward instrument, or at least that’s what society says. You’re far more likely to recognize the name of a famous violinist or cellist than a famous violist. They aren’t considered solo instruments, and I think in many ways that has shaped the way I view myself as a musician. I have always seen myself as a supporting musician rather than at the forefront of a performance, but that’s not a very helpful thing to envision for myself. Why shouldn’t I be a soloist? Why shouldn’t I be a leader? At the very least, why shouldn’t I strive for that level?

I enjoy contemporary music– I feel like it represents my beliefs about music and I believe in its future. It gives me the opportunity to play music by people who are living now. It gives me the opportunity to commission pieces from composers.  It’s different and weird, but to me, those are good things.

In my quest for contemporary viola music, I came across Nadia Sirota. She’s a violist who commissions new works, plays on recordings for people like Sufjan Stevens, and works as a Creative Partner for the New York Philharmonic. For the past few years, Nadia has hosted a few podcasts based on contemporary music. Finding her website was a revelation for me. A female violist, not violinist, making waves in the music world in more than just one way. She has a solid performing and recording career, but she is also active in the arts leadership community. If she can do it, I can too.

What’s most attractive to me about this solo-viola-contemporary-world is that I might be able to achieve a sense of individuality with my career. In music school they tend to produce the same type of players with the same values and skills. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially when you’re playing the same pieces of classical music over and over again. Contemporary music puts value in classical skills as well as more out-of-the-box skills, and there’s more room to do things that have never been done before. There’s more room for inclusivity: of players, composers, and audiences. Not to say that we shouldn’t preserve the music of the past, but it’s about time that we pay attention to the music that is happening now.

Rainbow capitalism, also called pink capitalism or gay capitalism, is when businesses use the LGBTQ movement in order to profit off it. The rainbow color scheme and themes of queerness are incorporated in marketing materials or products. Although rainbow capitalism in theory sounds empowering and supportive within the new era stepping closer to equality, it may also be detrimental to the true goals of the movement by falsely marketing companies as LGBTQ friendly, capitalizing off of consumers.

Having attended my first two Pride events in New York City, I could definitely view the difference between now and then. Pride marches started in the 1970s after the Stonewall Riots, in which LGBTQ patrons at the Stonewall Inn protested constant mistreatment by police. Now, Pride has become more of a consumerist event that overtakes spaces meant for queer people. Corporate sponsors boast large floats of celebrities and rainbow merchandise, effectively erasing queer oppression and turning Pride into a party that ignores current issues of homophobia. While Pride can and should be celebratory for LGBTQ people, corporations have recognized the wave of allyship that is profitable and exploitable for their own purposes.

Part of the reason why rainbow capitalism has been celebrated is because it’s easy–it’s much easier to slap a rainbow sticker on your laptop than it is to address institutional problems such as the exclusion of of queer people of color from LGBTQ spaces or homeless queer youth.

So the next time Pride rolls around, I urge you to think about and educate yourself on the history of Pride and what it means. Are you supporting LGTBQ people and spaces? If you’re an ally, are you helping queer people or treating Pride just as a party? Wear your rainbows proudly, but always remember the fight for equality.