Leona Cheung: Finding Her Path Through Collaboration
For pianist Leona Cheung, the idea of collaboration has always been in her blood — and it's a musical aspect she's continuing to build her career on.
When you go to a small child’s music recital and see a pianist in the background accompanying them, what do you think of them? Your answer is probably nothing. But their work has been tireless and often underappreciated; they’re probably keeping the kid in tempo during the performance, rehearsed with them plenty both to get ready for the performance but also teach them how to play with others, and had to deal with teachers, parents, and crying kids.
But their work goes far beyond the beginning pedagogy of music — collaborative pianists (often referred to as mere accompanists) are found at every level of music-making and play a vital role in...