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George Wong
Flute
The second half of my life has changed completely thanks to music. Retirement is just another beginning of life.
Thanks to a mistake I made in my younger age, I am lucky enough to encounter the flute. Our relationship however was not smooth nor easy – we were separated because of one failure I encountered. We met again 25 years later. My youth might have gone, but my passion for flute remained. I joined E Major Ensemble as a flutist, and since then my life of a routine office worker has turned into one that is filled with art and awe.
Influenced by my father and brother, I grew fond of music since a young age. During school years, I teamed up with classmates to perform Peter Paul & Mary’s “There is a Ship” in a singing contest. I fell in love with the flute accompany in the original version the first time I listened to it. I even begged my father to sponsor my flute classes. The funny thing is, I later found out that it was a recorder accompany in the original song, not flute. Yet I am grateful for this beautiful mistake, crossed my path with the flute.
Youth is reckless, so as how my flute journey starts and ends. In the second year of flute learning, I failed an exam and quit. And as time slips pass, in 2000, I was invited by the church to play the flute. It had been 25 years since I last played the instrument. The flute was still in good condition, but my skills had become rusty. The thought of picking it up again grew stronger every day. Finally my passion relighted and motivated me to learn playing the flute again, seriously this time. For a long period of time, all I wanted to do every day after work was to go home immediately, have a quick dinner and devote the night to flute practice. In 2009 when I officially retired, I had more time to practice. At the age of 50, not only was I able to fulfill my childhood dream, but also had the chance to join E Major Ensemble and perform on stage.
Since I joined E Major Ensemble last year, I was charmed and shocked by being part of an orchestra. Playing in an orchestra requires cooperation and harmony of the team, an experience so different from performing solo. Apart from the flute, I also developed an interest in photography after retirement. The idea of combining photography with music suddenly popped into mind. I specialize in concert photography, apply my unique sense of music as a photographer and present music in a visual form by capturing the movement and emotions of the performers. As a flutist, I can look into the audience and present them genuine, moving performances with all my heart. There are limitless possibilities in life, and life after retirement has opened up my journey of exploring these possibilities.
Before I retired, working as an administrative staff in art had provided me many opportunities to work with world-class artistic units and performers, and grow in the world of art. After retirement, I became one of the performers to play flute for the orchestra, as well as a photographer to take photos for the orchestra, musicians and artists. My work experience laid a foundation for me to become a musician and a photographer, and opened up an exciting adventure in my middle age life.
I gave up the flute because of one failure when I was young. Now I have become more mature, I have learned not to be discouraged by exam grades and scores. On the contrary, my life experience helps me inject more emotions into my music. I now focus more on how to perform emotional precisely, touching music instead of the technical skills. With the right songs, I believe I can deliver hearts-moving performances. And I did, mostly in funerals and farewell ceremonies. I am always invited to perform in these occasions. I believe it is an honor no less to comfort the heartbroken souls who have lost their loved ones with my music. Thanks to music and photography, the second half of my life has changed completely. Retirement is not the end of one’s life, but another beginning to a wonderful journey.