Jiajing Lai points out that after participating in the OFUNAM International Conducting Competition, many people from her country have listened to her name for the first time.
Andrés Otero / Francisco Medina / UNAM Global 24th Jun, 2019
Jiajing Lai, second prize of the OFUNAM International Conducting Competition, talks about how she started in the music, how she deals with difficulties and what makes a good conductor.
“When I was a child, my best friend had a piano and when I saw it, I thought it was a toy. So I went to my father and told him I want that toy too!”, laughs the guest conductor of the OFUNAM.
At 12 years old she took an examination to an affiliated school to the Xinghai Conservatory of Music at Guangzhou China. “It was my decision, something that I choose by myself. My parents told me “Piano it’s okay, but you could be a doctor or an attorney…something more traditional”. But I told them “It’s my life and I’m going to dedicate it to music.”
Points out that after participating in the OFUNAM International Conducting Competition 2018, “many people from her country listen to my name for the first time and learned about my participation through the news, particularly those at the of Performing Arts Centre, and invited me to conduct a world premiere of an opera for children in December.”
“I feel grateful for the opportunities the OFUNAM Competition had opened to initiate my career not only in Mexico but in my home country”.
Finally, Jiajing Lai suggests discipline for those who want to be involved in professional music. “You must be disciplined and very humble to dedicate yourself to music. When you’re sleepy, go to sleep. When you want to play music, play. But when you are playing, enjoy it”.
