FLUTIST SABRINA MO: ON HER WIND GUIDED PATH

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Sabrina, and I came to Canada from Hong Kong in 2015 to continue my post-secondary studies in Music. I am currently in my last year of music composition program offered by Simon Fraser University (SFU). I have always considered myself as a flutist rather than a composer. Although, it wasn’t my aspiration to become a composer, but as my time and practices continued in SFU, my passion for composition flourished. A considerable amount of these desires were cultivated by the dedication and devotion demonstrated by the Professors. The contemporary realm inhibited me from my comfort zone of just being a classical flutist. In the past years in School, I was shown and proven by performers and Professors that music composition should never be a linear relation in comparison to lectures, but rather a foundation of creative processes. When I am not in school, I am a flute teacher, where I have little ones that I shared my passions with. So to sum up your question of who I am and in the order of my “priorities” would be, flutist > flute teacher > composer.

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

I don’t exactly have a real-life situation that inspired me, but rather it’s someone who most inspired me. I would say all my former professors have inspired me in many different ways, from their behavior, mindset, and attitude in music. The reason why I started to be more grounded to become a composer was because of Professor Stefan Maier. It was him that taught me contemporary compositions are more than just experimental music, and can be an engaging creative process if you found what excites and makes you crave. I have had my struggles in my identity as a musician, but it was Stefan who expressed “you don’t need to stress between Bach or Cage, but rather exploit the excerpt of academia that resonance with your belief of music”.

What makes you angry?

I would say I am one of those who can easily get heated on many things or behaviours, but at the same time I can also get over being angry quickly. I believe that like many other artists, we are very emotional, and being expressive is a way of dealing with emotions. These emotions sometime can be a reflection over our creative process. I tend to pick up my flute and play when my emotions are going through a tough time, it has become my form of therapy.

What is the most useless talent you have?

It’s funny how my parent used to find what I considered as a “talent” as an “useless talent”, and that was my love toward practicing flute. It took me years of hard work and dedication to change their perspective. Unlike those who chose piano as their priorities, I have learned to hold dear to this woodwind instrument as it was my own guided path. My flute has accompanied me through days and nights of practicing and composing, with that being said it has become a great part of me and completed who I am as an artist today.