“I told him that bloggers from Singapore Polytechnic are interested in interviewing him, but he’s not very comfortable,” Winston Chong, Mediacorp’s Corp Comms person, told me.
I almost laughed as I heard that.
“Does he know it’s me?, ” I asked, “Can I go and see him?”
“That’s a good idea,” Winston said as we moved backstage to meet him. But we cut-off by a impossibly large stream of performers going in and out of the backstage area.
We gave up trying to meet him.
I found the whole situation amusing. I met Marcus Loh and a 6-year old Kevin Loh in 2004. I was in the market for a new classical guitar and was trying a few Bernabes Marcus had on hand. As I sat in the squash court of their condominium, Kevin ran in.
He sat down as his father and I played some of the guitars.
“Does he play?” I asked with a smile, pointing at the cute young boy seated before me.
“Yes, I’ve been training him with the Suzuki Method. I try to encourage him to practice more by offering him toys if he practices,” Marcus told me.
How times have changed.
Since that encounter, I’ve listen to both Marcus and Kevin perform over the years. Kevin has grown into an excellent guitarist and a fine young man. This father and son duo share a magnificent relationship and an enviable bond.
In my opinion, Kevin is the greatest guitarist of his generation. Not just in Singapore, but possibly the world. I was excited to interview him because his performance at the President Star Charity, brought the classical guitar back to mainstream media.
As I sat in the audience and watched him turn in a flawless performance of Roland Dyen’s Fuoco, I realized I was watching the future.
As a Singaporean classical guitarist, my heart filled with pride.
I returned to watch some of the other performances. When the backstage area cleared, I went to look for them again. As I descended the stairwell, I saw Marcus and caught his eye. He greeted me with a warm smile.
Over the years I had interacted with Marcus more than Kevin. Marcus is an excellent classical guitarist in his own right and I’ve been fortunate to attend several of his performances.
“Hey guys, can I interview you for my website?” I asked cheekily.
“Of course,” they said with a smile.
Question: How did you get involved in the President Star Charity 2011?
Marcus: The people from Mediacorp got to know us through HSBC (Kevin was the recipient of the 2010 HSBC Youth Excellence Award). From there we became involved and Kevin was asked to perform.
Question: How does it feel to perform for the President’s Star Charity?
Marcus: Kevin has done quite a few performances for charity so he tries to help out where he can. He has previously performed to raise funds for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and Child Aide amongst others, so he’s no stranger to these events.
Kevin: Yeah I find it very meaningful to be able to help where I can.
Marcus:Yes, Kevin tries to perform wherever there is an opportunity and especially if there is a worthy cause worth supporting.
Question: Did you have a lot of time to rehearse?
Kevin: Not really. We only had 2 days to rehearse for this. But it’s a great experience. I got to meet Chris Medina, Gurmit Singh, Hossan Leong and all the other performers back stage. They were all friendly and approachable and it was lots of fun.
Question: What guitar and strings are you using?
Marcus: He’s using a guitar by Mikhail Robert and D’Addario EJ46 strings.
Question: Why that guitar? How did you get to know of that maker?
Marcus: Wong (from Guitar Synergy) had brought it in. It was available so we tested it and it was a good fit, so we bought it.
Question: How are you taking to studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School?
Kevin: Studying there is like being on a mini world stage. It’s not bad. It’s not very stressful and I feel like I have more space to grow. I feel some pressure, but overall I’m enjoying myself.
Question: How have you grown as an artist?
Kevin: That’s a good question…(Kevin ponders on the question carefully)
Marcus: Kevin has certainly grown to another level. He has been taught more about music expression and he is exposed to different kinds of artists. For example, right now he’s performing with cellists and violinists and that cetainly helps things.
(Kevin nods in agreement)
Question (to Marcus): Were you worried about sending him overseas?
Marcus: Initially my wife and I were worried. But we felt that he was of the right age and when we went for an audition, Kevin had a chance to stay there for 4 days and he managed to get a feel for the place before he started school. And it was a great opportunity because how often does someone get the chance to do this?
Question: How has he taken to his new fame?
Marcus: It’s still Kevin. He’s still the same down to earth person as he’s always been. And keep in mind he’s only 13 so he still likes building Gundam and watching Gundam anime.
(Kevin smiles proudly)
Question (with a smile): Yeah, I used to build Gundam when I was a kid too. Never did watch the animes though. So what’s next for Kevin? Are you worried about his National Service?
Marcus: Whenever he can, Kevin will share his playing because he’s the first Singaporean to study the classical guitar fulltime. So he’ll be performing at SJI, RI and Hwa Chong when he gets back. Actually he’ll be giving a performance in KL after this.
(As to his future)
We’re still taking things one step at a time and we’ll see what happens when the time comes.
Dedrick: Thanks for performing for the President Star Charity guys. I hope Mediacorp will have you back again next year. And thanks for representing us dude! And on national TV leh! (pats Kevin on the shoulder)
Photo Time!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ1gbkmsz84&playnext=1&list=PL5E0CB38E13393445[/youtube]
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