YPAW 18: Daniel Yiau

You Play A What?

My first dealings with Daniel was definitely a case of his reputation preceding him. I have never performed or worked with Daniel closely until 2017 for the performance of The Queen Symphony featuring Orchestra Collective and The Graduate Singers. The prior meeting with him was at a hotel lobby in Chiayi City in Taiwan where we were there at the World Association of Symphonic Band and Ensemble (WASBE) Conference representing different ensembles. Everything else that I have heard about this man has been hearsay from the experience of others and they do not paint him in the best light. I have heard that he is angsty, short-fused, and able to weaponize his words to inflict serious damage...

Fast forward to February of 2018 I find myself on a flight to Amsterdam from Manchester to perform for Master's recital which included Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, Mashima's Le Trois Notes du Japon and some new commissions. Bearing in mind, at this point in time, I still did not know Daniel very well so I really did not know what to expect. Turns out he was a fantastic host and showed some of the warmest hospitality that anyone would for a fellow Singaporean visiting him. Out of rehearsals, he went to craft beer tap rooms, endless amounts of specialty coffee cafes (even thought he is not a coffee drinker), Indonesian food, fantastic frites, herring sandwiches and copious amount of home cooked food by him. What I experienced certainly goes against what I have heard about him. It certainly has been an interesting few years knowing him. Now, we are working together in a quartet, is there disagreement? Of course, but nothing that can't be solved through a proper discussion!

Check out Daniel's YouTube Channel below:

Daniel's YouTube Channel

Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the podcast! You can get in touch with me through https://www.youplayawhat.com . Subscribe and share this podcast with your friends if you enjoyed the episode. Feel free to leave a rating and review on which ever platform you choose to listen to your podcast!