International Women’s Day, which was celebrated globally this year on March 8, is still fresh on my mind as I write this article casting the spotlight on two inspirational, in-demand and industrious musicians, celebrated for their contributions to Canadian music: virtuoso pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico and award-winning composer Alice Ping Yee Ho. My first encounters with each of them occurred during the early stages of my career – Christina, through the Christina and Louis Quilico Awards Vocal competition and Alice, through being cast in her opera The Lesson of Da Ji. They joined artistic forces in 2023, and released the album Blaze, featuring solo pieces for piano. And we re
Many composers over the years have declared Christina Petrowska Quilico as their “dream” pianist, including composer Frank Horvat. In early February of this year, Petrowska Quilico and Horvat celebrated the launch of their collaborative album More Rivers at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto. Horvat composed this suite of solo piano pieces, evoking the flow of water, as a tribute to composer Ann Southam and her seminal work Rivers, also championed and performed by Christina.
I was a lucky member of the audience that evening, witnessing Christina’s fingers flowing effortlessly across the keyboard. Listeners were immersed in the overlapping and looping textures of Frank’s water music. Based on my own personal experience and on what I gleaned both from the surrounding silence during the performance and the audience chatter after, the music induced a trance-like state. It calmed and cleansed the mind, providing a much needed reprieve from the everyday chaos of the world.
Just as composers dream of an ideal performer to bring their works to life, performers share an equal desire to work with a composer who understands their instrument, and offers repertoire that rewards both demonstrates both technical mastery and musical depth. With numerous commissions in the works and premieres all over the world, it is clear that Alice Ho is one such composer. She has been praised for her ability to combine the tonal textures of Eastern and Western instruments, especially evident in the scoring of her operas. Her children’s opera The Monkiest King is being remounted by the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, and will run from May 30 to June 1 at Harbourfront Centre. Her ever-growing list of awards now includes the 2025 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, for her 2024 composition Femme de Glace. In addition, the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council have granted funding for her to record a second piano album with Christina Petrowska Quilico.
Both of this issue’s featured artists have reached the mastery level of expertise in their disciplines over the course of years of mindful cultivation of their musical skills – developing a deeper sense of self-awareness and a better understanding of how they function best. They think clearly, plan steps, and follow their creative instincts. Thanks to both of them for taking the time to comment on the three key aspects of mindfulness this interview series seeks to elucidate: 1) calming the mind, 2) organized thinking, and 3) the state of FLOW (a balanced mind-body connection, resulting in effortless performance).
What follows in this article are summarized comments extracted from each artist’s interview. The full interviews, as always, are available on the YouTube channel Vania Chan Music.
Christina Petrowska Quilico
Calming the Mind: I like to paint … I write poetry … and when I sit backstage, I like to read mysteries … keep my mind off myself. One of my teachers always used to say “Get over yourself! It’s not about you, it’s about the music.” I always calm myself down by thinking – it’s not my ego, it’s not vanity, it’s doing service to the art form. We’re the interpreters; we have to give the composer their voice. I want to give something to the audience that’s important … so it’s not worth getting too nervous about.
Organizing Thoughts: I usually visualize the tonal colour, the sound first, and then the technique will come. I think … where does the fluidity and the energy come from? It’s the fingertips, because we touch the keys. We tend to resonate like a tuning fork to certain sounds … especially voice; you can feel it resonate through your body right into your fingertips. So I often try to think of myself singing at the piano. You need to have a balance of being calm and energized at the same time, like an equal balance in nature. I change tempos when I’m practicing. So slow music I’ll play faster and fast music I’ll play slower, just to start balancing myself.
FLOW: When I’m recording, and it’s going really well, the producer (will say) “Oh, you’ve been in the zone!” It’s kind of a still point at which a time shift occurs, and your nervous tension is used as direction. Music is not written in stone, it’s of the moment. You get into that moment; don’t think about anything else – how you’ve played it before, where you’ve played it before. We have to feel the flow. We have to feel spontaneous in our music making. Sometimes I think we live, as performers, too much glued to performance practice. To stay interested in the music is the most important thing.
Alice Ho
Calming the Mind: I function the best in the morning. I think for any creative person, the criterion is good health … a good rest. I feel my mind is much clearer after a restful night … I feel calm. My routine – I get up, I make myself Hong Kong style tea, which I enjoy a lot … with plenty of sugar and Carnation milk. After that, I go to the computer and work on my projects.
Organizing Thoughts: It depends on the kind of piece I’m creating. I don’t enclose myself in a certain style or approach. It depends on the purpose of the work. The three operas that I wrote so far all tie with Chinese culture. I have to write for Chinese instruments, and I really have to do some research – study some scores, listen to the music, and go to the performers to ask about how to execute effects. I like to develop a gesture or an element that is unique, that is interesting. It could be a colour, an unusual effect, a melody, or a harmonic treatment that excites me.
FLOW: During the creative process, once I start an idea, I start to shape it like a sculptor or painter. The more I shape it, the more exciting it gets. Sometimes I can hit a wall, but then I always try to find solutions to turn it around. I’m guided by my ears … by listening, and by my conscience … that I have to write from my heart. Not writing something just to impress or to make a big impact. I want the music to touch people. One has to believe in oneself. When I was a student … there was so much information from academics, and it can be confusing. One has to learn the craft and be disciplined … but creatively, it’s about YOU! You find yourself. If you capture the flow process in every single work…it’s a joy.
Author and creator of this series, Vania Chan is a lyric coloratura soprano, artist researcher and educator. Visit her website: www.vaniachan.com to learn more about upcoming projects.
