By Dottie Ashley of the Post and Courier
(Reprinted with permission of the Post and Courier)
Visitors to Singapore see a large billboard at the airport bearing the image of violinist Lee-Chin Siow.
Letters mailed from the island nation bear stamps with the image of Siow with her violin held close to
her face.
The telegenic young musician has appeared on the CBS-TV "Sunday Morning" show and performed
for the Literary Lions benefit for the New York Public Library. Her photos have adorned magazine
ads in Marie Claire, Scientific American and Business Week.
She performs with orchestras around the world - orchestras as prestigious as the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra of London. Yet on most days, she can be found in her office in the music
department at the College of Charleston. That's where
she assumed the chairmanship of the burgeoning
strings program in fall 2001.
"I love just playing the violin and consider it my
significant other - my soul mate," she says. "And I also
get a thrill from magically connecting with an
audience."
Because of her successful career, Siow was asked to
be an unofficial arts ambassador for her native
Singapore, a former British colony in southern Malaysia that became independent in 1965.
Lowcountry residents will have a chance to experience some of Siow's megawatt star power when
she makes her debut with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. Friday at the Sottile
Theatre. With the CSO conducted by David Stahl, Siow will perform Max Bruch's Concerto in G
minor, Op. 26, for violin and orchestra.
Siow, 34, took over the new strings program in the music department after having taught for two
years as a faculty replacement at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. After more than a decade of
traveling the globe, Siow now wants a modicum of stability in her life. "I want to be able to say I can
go to dinner next Saturday and not have to always worry about whether I'll be in town," she says.
But the convenience of not having to constantly travel is only part of the equation. The fact is, she
has found that teaching is her first love.
"I never thought I wanted to teach violin, but now I know the tremendous joy and satisfaction it brings
and I'm so excited," she says one recent afternoon during a break between classes.
"I know now that teaching is in my karma, and that I would be teaching something, whether or not it
was music." The violinist also feels she has partially made the transition between primarily working
as a performer and focusing upon her role as assistant professor.
"When you teach, you are always putting the student first, and how he or she is taking in what you
are saying or demonstrating for them," she says. "But when you perform you are always thinking of
yourself - how you feel, how will an audience accept you. It's always me, me, me! Very narcissistic
and self-centered."
One of her students, Geronimo Oyenard, says of Siow: "She is a really a wonderful teacher, but also
very, very demanding of you. She sees your potential and she pushes you, but she is also a very
warm person, easy to talk with after class."
Oyenard was especially thrilled that Siow encouraged him to attend the prestigious Weatherfield
Music Festival in Vermont for six weeks last summer. He participated in master classes with the best
and took part in student concerts.
Balancing her teaching and performing, Siow considers herself lucky to have the best of both worlds,
and it appears her timing to make the transition was impeccable.
The New York Times recently reported: "In a difficult economic climate, orchestras and presenters
hire fewer soloists, increasingly relying on a handful of guaranteed best sellers."
Siow's manager still has her booked for appearances with orchestras six or seven times a year. On
Nov. 15 and 17, she will be a soloist with the State Orchestra of Mexico, where she will perform a
Brahms Violin Concerto. Other appearances are in the offing for next year.
page 1 of 3 | next page
)
Siow, with colleague and pianist Enrique Graf at
the College of Charleston
© 2009 Siow Lee Chin
MY STORY
She knows how to seduce
listeners, drawing them into
her world with just a few
notes... This is artistry of the
highest level.
- Fanfare Magazine
