In a scene during the musical comedy Starry Starry Night, which ends its Kwai Ching theatre run last Sunday, Phoebus Chan Chin-hin’s character hides his face and prays that his grand piano might swallow him whole. “I played a son who loves playing the piano and the mother hates me playing because it’s not a good way of making money. In the scene, I’m trying to hide when she comes shopping in the mall where she doesn’t know I’m playing.”
It was a case of art imitating life because Chan does in fact play the piano in malls. But there is one important distinction. “The only difference between my reality and the character that I played is that my parents are supportive,” he says. “I dropped my major in biochemistry and physics to pursue my love of the piano. Doing lectures and labs 32 hours a week was not fun, so I came to Hong Kong as an exchange student (from Canada) and majored in music.”
Originally from Hong Kong, the now 23-year-old graduate has been playing professionally since Form Four and over the years, successive gigs have cropped up. Playing on soundtracks for local movies, on radio, in theatres and even malls have kept him in touch with what he loves and does best.
“I though it would be really hard to make any money in Hong Kong as a piano player, but its turned out to be pretty good. In Canada, not including radio, when I was at university, the biggest performance I ever got was playing at the library. I couldn’t stand it. Here, every other event is a big one for me whether it’s musical theatre work, composing and arranging for radio or playing in malls, it’s been good.”
During the busiest hours at the weekend, you’ll find Chan at Harbour City, playing his favourite pieces as well as taking requests form his growing fan base. He even has a bilingual website dedicated to him and a message board on which visitors leave comments on his performances. “I get young girls who come up with challenging requests. And they keep requesting songs until I don’t know one of them and then they tell me, ‘Why are you playing here? You can’t play the piano properly. Go home!’ Well, I don’t know every single piece that’s ever been composed so I don’t get too troubled.”
On August 29 and 30, he’ll be performing fusion music at Central’s Fringe Club with some friends, mixing traditional Chinese instruments with western ones, spanning from rock to Chopin. In November, he’ll be part of another local musical production and next year, he’s heading for Malaysia, where he’ll compose the entire score for a play about Buddhism.
“Playing with an international flavour is always exciting and fun. Right now the Korean music scene is really big in Hong Kong, as are the movies, so I’m listening to everything I can. Playing French music is hard, but one of my favourites because it’s different.”
Playing music for a living does, however, have its drawbacks. It can be an all-pervading passion. “I can’t sleep with music on, my brain goes on overdrive and I can see the notes like they are on paper. Whereas, when I see music sheets, I can hear the music as I read it.”
The Harbour City performances also keep him grounded. “When I’m playing, I can hear what the others are saying around me. One time, this woman with a young boy said: ‘Look at that young man playing the piano’. I was convinced a compliment was coming, but at the end of that sentence, she said: ‘If you don’t’ study hard, you’ll end up like him.’”
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