Interview with William Lane

There are a number of teachers mentioned in your biography: Jan Sedivka, Bruno Giuranna and Garth Knox. Could you please tell us more about how you came to study with these teachers? What are the things they taught you that still stay with you today? What were their teaching like?

I studied with Jan Sedivka (1917-2009), who was regarded as one of Australia’s foremost string pedagogues, at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music in Australia from 2001 to 2004. Sedivka was endlessly curious, and great at stimulating students’ interests on a personal level. He taught me countless ways of playing a single phrase, combined with rigorous exercises to complement left hand technique. He did, after all, study with Otakar Ševčík (1852 –1934), the great Czech violinist who authored important (and sometimes detested!) violin studies. He was also an amazing commissioner of new compositions, so he encouraged me to pursue this path as well.

In 2004 I moved to Italy to study for two years with Bruno Giuranna. I initially came to know him through his recordings and adored his sound. His pedagogical approach was at times the polar opposite to that of Sedivka. We never had one-to-one lessons, but always in a group class setting. Books of his fingerings of the repertoire were always at hand in the classroom. Many of his editions I continue to use and pass on to my students today.

During my times of study in Italy, I regularly travelled across to Paris to study with Garth Knox, one of my musical icons and probably the world’s foremost contemporary music specialist on the viola. For repertoire like Berio, Sciarrino, Scelsi and Grisey, there was literally no one else who could teach it and perform it like him!

What was your experience training/ studying at the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Germany?

The IEMA in Frankfurt is an intensive and super small contemporary chamber music course, under the supervision of Ensemble Modern musicians. At the same time I was working freelance with Ensemble Modern, probably Germany’s best new music group, and this was a perfect combination.

You were a prizewinner of the Valentino Bucchi Competition in Rome in 2005 – Can you tell us something about this competition, e.g. what did you go through, what pieces did you play, and what prize you received?

Honestly, I just remember meeting new friends and eating good Italian food in Rome! But I did happen to win the 3rd Prize and the Spada Special Prize for interpretation. This is one of the only prizes in Italy dedicated to contemporary music interpretation.

Could you please tell us more about Ensemble Resonanz and Ensemble Modern? E.g. when they were formed, who are the members, what had been achieved and any future plans to share with us?

Ensemble Modern is one of the most established new music groups in Germany. Ensemble Resonanz is a string group specialising in both early music and contemporary music. HKNME has brought Ensemble Resonanz to Hong Kong twice now! The first time they came, they taught at the Modern Academy (the educational arm the HKNME used to run), and upcoming we will have a big international coproduction with them, which will be presented in Hong Kong and Germany in 2021-22.

You’ve been based in HK since 2008, how did you make that decision?

There wasn’t a new music ensemble here, so I formed one. I loved the city and its fervent and non-stop energy. I also felt that there was a good potential audience here for experimental music, after a regional tour to southern China just before the 2008 Olympics. I was looking for a place with government support of the arts, and with an open-minded and curious audience base.

HKNME’s website mentioned Opera Collaborations – would you like to share with us what those are about?

The Hong Kong New Music Ensemble has been involved in many contemporary operas over the past years. We toured in New York City and San Francisco last December for the last one that we were involved in called “Mila”. We were involved in the opera from almost the very beginning of its creation. Commissioned by Asia Society Hong Kong Center, the opera sheds light on Hong Kong’s pressure-cooker social environment, examining the territory’s tensions in a 70-minute intersection of home life and the workplace. Sung in Cantonese, English, and Tagalog, “Mila” explores the challenges and relationships within a Hong Kong family: an American husband, his Hong Kong wife and their son, and their domestic helper Mila from the Philippines.

It seems that the Modern Academy is focusing on education outreach and research projects? What are these projects?

The Modern Academy ran from 2014 to 2018, bringing together young musicians and composers from the region, and working together with esteemed international artists.

How did new music inspire you to do what you are doing?

New music is both my muse and worst enemy. But I do love interacting with living composers and this gives me inspiration to continue to make music.

COVID-19 has affected music/concert performance but has that somehow altered the way you will do these in the future?

Indeed, COVID-19 has affected everything in the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble’s short-term planning. In 2019, 80% of the HKNME’s productions focused on international and domestic touring (to Taiwan, Korea, Macau, USA, Thailand and Mainland China). Earlier this year we had to cancel or postpone concert appearances in New York City and Taipei because of COVID. So for our 2020-21 season we need to re-focus and “localise” our output. Since several of our members live overseas and a lot of guest international artists cannot reach us, we have had to adjust our musician line-ups and programmes. Moving forward, we are focusing on recording projects, online engagement initiatives and our local concert series.