Robert Schumann for a new generation: Pianist Tiffany Poon on the great composer | Music Documentary

What makes Robert Schumann so special? Tiffany Poon has thought a lot about that question. The 26-year old New York pianist has spent years studying the great German Romantic composer and in her opinion: he’s extraordinary. Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wasn’t only a great composer, pianist and conductor – he was also a writer, publisher and musical visionary. We met Tiffany Poon at her concert at the Dresden Music Festival 2023, where she performed works by Robert Schumann at the Grand Garden Palace, including Kinderszenen Op. 15, Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6 and Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22.

In this video we accompany Tiffany Poon as she rehearses and show excerpts from the highly-acclaimed concert. But despite her star status, she still has her feet on the ground. She’s an approachable artist who’s always looking to connect with people. The evening before the concert she organized a pop-up event in a café in Dresden. And after the concert she chatted to her fans offstage, as always. Tiffany Poon talks about her relationship with Robert Schumann, his life and works. We also find out more about the young pianist, who – just like Robert Schumann – does a lot besides music. Tiffany Poon is also a philosopher, vlogger and founder of the non-profit organization “Together with Classical”. Her mission, above all, is to demystify classical music and inspire a wider audience. Tiffany Poon has just recorded an album with works by Robert Schumann: “Diaries: Schumann” will be available from 9 February 2024.

At a glance:
00:00 Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, 1. Lebhaft (excerpt)
00:27 The beginning of Tiffany Poon’s interest in Schumann
01:00 Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, 3. Etwas hahnbüchen (excerpt)
01:27 Schumann’s personality and his episodes of mania and depression
01:58 Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, 5. Einfach (excerpt)
02:37 Schumann’s secret society “Davidsbündler” and his philosophical mission
03:20 Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, 13. Wild und lustig (excerpt)
03:55 The characters Florestan and Eusebius – pseudonyms for Robert Schumann
04:53 Rehearsals before the concert at the Dresden Music Festival (part 1)
05:20 How Tiffany Poon approaches a work
06:12 Rehearsals (part 2)
06:52 How to de-mystify classical music
07:31 Pop-up event in a Dresden café
08:00 Tiffany Poon on her first pop-up event
08:14 Fans play a boogie-woogie on the piano
08:57 A fan plays Franz Schubert’s Impromptu in A flat major, Op. 90, No. 4 (excerpt)
09:26 Her goal of bringing people together with classical music
09:50 Tiffany’s debut concert at just 10 years of age
10:14 Tiffany Poon on her first keyboard instrument, when she was two years old
10:46 Early recordings of Tiffany playing Mozart’s Fantasy in D Minor
11:14 Tiffany Poon on the first steps in her career
12:14 Other early recordings
12:49 Tiffany Poon on her philosophy degree
13:20 Excerpts from Tiffany’s YouTube videos
13:51 How to show the human side of classical music on YouTube
14:34 Excerpts from Classical Chats for the charity Together with Classical
14:56 Tiffany Poon on the beginnings of Together with Classical
16:02 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, 1. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (excerpt)
16:32 A good idea outside a toy store at Heathrow Airport
16:46 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, 3. Hasche-Mann (excerpt)
17:12 Tiffany reflecting on her childhood
17:55 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, 7. Träumerei (excerpt)
18:30 How does Tiffany Poon see her future?
19:04 Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, IV. Presto (excerpt)
19:37 Why Tiffany is never satisfied
20:04 Meet and greet after the concert
20:30 Tiffany Poon on the wonderful connection with her fans
20:53 Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82, 7. Vogel als Prophet (excerpt)

Tiffany Poon was born in Hong Kong in 1996. She started piano lessons when she was four. At age nine she moved to New York, where she attended the Juilliard School Pre-College program. Tiffany Poon made her concert debut at age 10. She graduated from high school in 2014 and continued her piano studies as part of the exchange program between Columbia University and The Juilliard School. She also studied philosophy and in 2018 graduated from Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts. Today she performs around the world, sometimes with an orchestra, sometimes solo. In 2017 she started a new project with the help of YouTube – to present her more human side, as well as her classical music. She has a great social media presence, with 320,000 followers on YouTube alone. And she also engages with the community. Tiffany Poon’s non-profit charity “Together with Classical” supports musicians in their training and brings together classical music lovers from all over the world.

Watch more portraits of classical musicians:

Subscribe to DW Classical Music:
https://www.youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic

#tiffanypoon #pianist #robertschumann

A major performance for Tiffany Poon at the 2023 Dresden Music Festival Works by Robert Schumann, presented in the Grand Garden Palace One of the highlights: the seldom-performed “Davidsbündlertänze” Schumann is dear to the heart of the pianist I think it started when I was a teenager.

I played a lot of other pieces, but I think with Schuman in particular, he has a certain imagination that I think it’s rare, the fact that he has multiple characters in his music. And then recently I started to think about what I stand for as a musician, as an artist,

What I’d like to do for, yeah, my time here on this earth, and just what my relationship to classical music is. Schumann figures amongst the key Romantic composers, considered by many a musical visionary His work unites a sensuality with intellectual rigor His later life was beset with crises,

Including episodes of mania and depression I think he was a very idealistic person, if anything. I mean, yes, he did end up in an asylum, but no, I think he was anything but morbid. I think when you’re morbid and melancholic, you kind of don’t have hope.

And I think he had a lot of hope for kind of the extent of music and what values he had. I mean, if he was really melancholic and morbid, he would be sitting, I think, alone, you know, not doing anything. And I think he was really the opposite of that.

Schumann was versatile and extremely imaginative In 1833, he invented the artist group “Davidsbündler”, named after the biblical David, who defeated the giant Goliath The fictitious secret society consisted of living and dead artists Schumann thus rose up against mediocrity and empty virtuosity The group inspired the name for his “Davidsbündlertänze”

I really was fascinated that he had this mission “Davidsbündler”, this artist group that he had with people like Mendelssohn with Clara Wieck and also a couple of other artists and composers. They were very driven to really bring the new generation of musicians right about the state of music,

The state of art at their times, and they would publish articles under pseudonyms. And I just like that he had a philosophical mission of bringing the arts and certain quality and arts also, and really was against sensationalism. So many, many reasons why I think I gravitated towards Robert Schumann. The “Davidsbündlertänze” cycle is

Demanding for the best pianists It consists of 18 character pieces In the titles of the first edition, the characters Florestan and Eusebius keep appearing They are widely understood to be pseudonyms for Robert Schumann I think Robert took this story or this dual spirit from an author called Jean Paul.

And in that book it’s about these twins who write autobiographical, but also they are contrasting characters. And even I think, yeah, they were just so similar. It’s these twins. One of them is dreamy, doesn’t know anything about the world and the business

And it’s kind of up in the trees or in the sky, rather thinking. And then the other twin is much more street smart and savvy and intelligent in that way. And I think that is Florestan and then the dreamy one is Eusebius. Because I think Robert read these books when he was,

I think, a teenager and really loved his (Jean Pauls) books. And I think he was very inspired by that. And I think that’s a huge part of where Eusebius and Florestan came in. Rehearsals for the Dresden concert Tiffany Poon has played these works by Robert Schumann many times

Still, she hones her interpretation to the last How does she work on a piece? In general, I like to go in blind and just learn the music from the music notes themselves first. I think there is something very innocent that way. I really get to know the music for itself,

Not influenced by historical or biographical information. It’s always a philosophical question of what counts as part of music interpretation. You know. How much does it matter? But because I knew that I was going to make a record, I wanted something more and really try to find pieces

That also align with me as a whole. So, I’m not only a pianist, but I also had a strange background of studying philosophy. Which is not usual I think for many musicians, and so I wanted to find something that would connect me that way as well, and I found it through “Davidsbündler” somehow.

Tiffany Poon has rigorously explored this piano piece’s story to identify her own personal points of connection with it, and to understand the essence of Schumann’s work Her goal is to de-mystify classical music I think there are a lot of labels about what classical music is. Especially from people who might not

Be inside the professional world of classical music. I think a lot of times people think oh, it’s just elitist, stodgy, very distanced. And I think sometimes yes, sometimes no, and I would like to bring more people into classical music just by sharing the music and my passion for it,

My interest in it and the everyday life aspect through what I do. And, somehow it seems to be working. Hi, so thank you for coming. I’m Tiffany. This is a new pop-up idea to play classical music in unusual places. One day before the concert, Tiffany Poon organized

A pop-up event in a Dresden café She invited her fans on her social media channels The idea is to bring classical music to more people than what you usually think, you know, and just make it more casual and something that everyone can enjoy.

Because I think, yeah, just like any other types of music, I think classical music also can be anywhere. Or somebody come up and play. How about that? Hey, you guys, one of you play now? You want to play something? A boogie-woogie – Tiffany Poon and her fans are open to all music genres

The event was filmed for her nonprofit Together with Classical Do you know anything classical? Yes. The stage is yours! Supported by Tiffany, this volunteer played a piano classic by Franz Schubert I think, it’s more, it’s again, just being humans, I think means a lot.

You know, I think there are so many things that separate us as people, you know, from each other and to experience, you know, each other’s presence as human beings. I think that’s kind of what’s wonderful about classical music in my life and how it’s, you know, been able to

Bring so many people together in that way, so… Recordings of her debut concert at just 10 years of age She played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19 in a New Jersey church Tiffany Poon was born in Hong Kong in 1996 She became interested in keyboard instruments from an early age

My mom gave me a yellow toy piano when I was two. I was obsessed with it. My father was an audiophile, played all kinds of music, and I would try to match the four notes on the yellow toy piano with the music. It was only CEGC or FACF,

Because apparently I found out two years ago that I, or maybe a year ago, that I actually have two yellow toy pianos, because I played on one of them so much that it started to get rusty and so my mom bought another one and they’re in different chords. It’s only four notes.

That’s how it started: toy piano. When she was nine, Tiffany Poon and her mother moved to New York City She was accepted into the Juilliard School’s pre-college program She gave concert after concert Here, she’s playing Mozart’s Fantasy in D Minor So how did I become a pianist?

As a miracle, somehow just I kept playing. I liked to play things with my fingers. I Iiked to rip pieces of paper a part, press elevator buttons. So it’s just that, for me, growing up and somehow when I was seven, I auditioned for Juilliard. Why? Because, not that I knew what that meant.

You know, obviously my parents just thought, if I’m going to pursue music, maybe somewhere outside of Hong Kong. So Juilliard? I knew that I was nervous. I remember, you know, scratching my head on the steps up to Juilliard to audition, when I went for the live audition at 8.

Somehow I got in, full scholarship, failed English exam. Took a year off, learned English. From 9, I’ve been in New York. So, yeah, that’s kind of just how it started and how it’s going. It’s just cluelessly somehow I like to play the piano.

And I was very lucky to have the support somehow, even now. Tiffany Poon studied piano at the Juilliard School for eight years She then transferred to Columbia University But her life doesn’t only revolve around music She’s highly driven, and has a thirst for knowledge She started studying philosophy next to playing the piano

Then I got a full scholarship to Columbia University. That’s when I decided to major in philosophy and that’s when I really expanded, I think, my thinking. So I thought I would study English at first, but then I took a class very first day of college.

First class ever in college was philosophy of art and I will always remember that professor and that class because that was the reason that I studied and changed into majoring in philosophy. And so I was always about understanding what it means to be human. Tiffany Poon is constantly expanding her horizon

To document her day-to-day life, she uses social media In 2017, she began her mission of presenting more aspects of being human alongside classical music on Youtube where she regularly uploads self-made videos Today, she has more than 320,000 followers It’s to show the human aspect of classical music

As a way to bring more people into classical music and get people into composers, for example, that they did not know, like a lot of people. I am only saying this because I read messages. I’m not claiming this by any means, but some people have gotten into Schumann, for example,

Because I keep talking about him and I play his music in my videos. And I think that’s a very organic way to get into any interest. I mean, people look at people baking and then they get into baking. So I think it’s a little bit like that.

In 2020, she founded Together with Classical This charity organization supports music students around the world In Classical Chats, professional and amateur musicians share their experiences The idea started during the pandemic, Together with Classical. It was because, you know, I talk about myself way too much,

And all the time, when I am on the Internet at least. I mean, I don’t do that when I’m by myself. I don’t talk about myself to myself. But I thought it’s time to open up to the people that are watching my videos and I would love to know

What everyone’s background is with classical music. So I posted a video asking people two questions: What is classical music to you? When was the first time you experienced classical music? I had no idea. I was going to get 1,700 responses. And these were not one sentence responses.

These were paragraphs, long. People were very open, vulnerable, personal in these stories to me. And I took three weeks for me to read through every single one. And I was thinking classical music is not just what people think it is. Really, it’s in so many different people’s lives. A musical piece that has

Entered many peoples’ daily lives is “Kinderszenen” by Robert Schumann This piano cycle is also part of the program for the Dresden concert The idea came to Tiffany en passant I thought of this Dresden concert program at the Heathrow airport in front of a toy store.

And I was looking at a bunch of stuffed animals. And I thought: Kinderszenen. Today, “Kinderszenen” is one of the most popular piano pieces from the romantic period Schumann did not write it for children though, but for adults looking back at their own childhood It’s always, I think, resonates with people

When you think back on how you were as a kid, how your family and your upbringing influenced who you are today. I think in the past couple of years, especially during the pandemic, I thought a lot about myself and reflected on kind of my whole identity

And I want it to pay tribute to, yeah, parts of my childhood. Also, have a space for people to also think about all of that. Not only about their present times, and their struggles and their successes just at one period, but think more as a whole.

To Tiffany Poon, the “Kinderszenen” are like a link to her own childhood Within Robert Schumann’s oeuvre, the “Kinderszenen” represent the past whilst the “Davidsbündlertänze” look ahead to the future What does the young pianist see for her own future? Really, I don’t have too much planning. I think spontaneity is underrated sometimes

In a world where everything has to be calculated and quantified. I don’t know. I mean, I would like to play more concerts, obviously. If we’re talking about like planning, of course I would love to play more concerts, introduce classical music to more people, build up my charity Together with Classical,

Build my projects, and continue doing that. But very concretely, I know that today I have this interview. I will play the piano, tomorrow I have a concert. One day at a time. To end this concert program, she’s performing Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 2

Tiffany Poon chose this piece as it’s rich in contrast – much like the entirety of her Schumann program A successful concert, but Tiffany can be very self-critical I’m never satisfied. Why? Too many wrong notes. I mean, yeah, I I think it’s it’s always very, I mean, of course,

Wonderful experience to play in this acoustics and also in this palace. It’s really, really beautiful, special. And because of that, I think I always have very high expectations for myself. And so, yeah, I’m never satisfied. After the concert, Tiffany Poon meets with fans, fulfilling her greatest wish of giving something to others –

Both with her music, and as a human being I think just like for any musicians, it’s about connecting with humans. When you play music and the fact that they show up and they wait and they want to meet me, I think it’s a wonderful human connection there in person

Because most of my time it’s through, you know, cameras and screens. So, it’s always very special to connect in person at the same time experiencing the same thing. As an encore, Tiffany Poon plays “Vogel als Prophet” from Robert Schumann’s “Waldszenen”, Op. 82 To Tiffany, this is the perfect end

To her tribute to the great composer