Jaena Kim is a classical flutist, former program coordinator at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and now a Canadian law student. I had the pleasure of interviewing her via Zoom from across the ocean in the Netherlands.

Our conversation, next to taking my mind off of COVID, opened my eyes to the challenges classical musicians face when building their careers. What stood out to me was that if you want to be a classical music performer and chase that dream, you will need to accept the fact that you will have to have a few other side jobs to pay your bills while you wait for your performance opportunities.

Jaena started her journey in music when she was six. Her family had just migrated from South Korea to Winnipeg, Canada. The language and culture were different in Canada; so, to get a feel of familiarity, her parents enrolled her in music. She picked up the flute and it came very naturally to her. Eventually, she studied flute performance and music entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Montreal. Since graduation, she has played at various concerts and taken on the program coordinator role at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

When I asked her to share a project she remembers fondly, she mentioned working together with a colleague on a project called Bach for Babes where they played for children. The children could run and play during the concert as it goes against their nature to sit still. By playing for them, they brought classical music to a community where it was not as prevalent before. What she came to realize was that after a couple of minutes of running around and expressing themselves, the children would reach a point where they had intense focus on the music. This showed her the power of arts to connect people not only to each other, but to the present moment.

As an aspiring musician myself with some rather lackluster days in terms of practice, I wanted to know what kept her motivated. She started out by telling about her parents and their financial investments in her and the praise of her fellow students that kept her extrinsically motivated until the second year of university when she realized that it would be really hard to find a job and succeed as a musician. This led to another realization: you have to do this for yourself because otherwise, there is going to be no longevity in you playing the flute. She realized she had to practice for herself, which became her primary motivation to practice.

I feel very fortunate to have had such an inspiring interview with this wonderful person, and I certainly will be putting the takeaways from our conversation to good use in my own journey.

Highlights from the interview:

Can you start by telling us what you do for a living?

I started working at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, a learning organization for artistic and creative development, after graduating from McGill University and the University of Montreal with a major in flute performance and minor in music entrepreneurship. Prior to COVID, I was a program coordinator. We offered post-secondary programs to professional artists, music students, and leaders in the community, like government officials and CEOs. We would invite facilitators to teach them some qualities that they could take back to their own workplace. My role was overseeing the facilitation of the program. I worked closely with the program manager, and whatever they wanted to offer, it was my job to make that happen. At first, it was quite new to me because I did not study arts administration. But, my music background definitely helped because as a musician, you always have to think on your feet and be prepared.

How were you raised as a child to get a job in the arts? What was it like for you growing up?

My family and I immigrated from South Korea to Canada when I was six. As a six-year-old, I had to learn a new language and a new culture so my parents enrolled me in music early on to give me a sense of familiarity. So, I started playing the flute when I was six. I was very fortunate that playing the flute came very natural to me. Once my parents and teachers heard me play, they decided for me that this was something I had to continue pursuing. After I started, I rose to predominance quickly in Winnipeg under the guidance of very wise teachers. My career could not have been possible without the support of some great teachers, mentors, and of course my parents, because when you are six, seven, you don’t want to practice every day. You want to go outside and play with your friends. They would sit me down and tell me I couldn’t do anything until I practiced for an hour, two hours, and they would slowly increase the practice times. That helped me make my solo debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestraat age 13, which made it clear that music was something viable for me as a career. Around that age, I started entering national and international competitions. These competitions provided me a lot of opportunities to travel and attend summer music programs. Through those opportunities, I met professors from esteemed universities, like the Juilliard School and Yale University. I carried on with music until I reached grade 12. Then I had to decide whether I wanted to do this as a career and study in university. And it was financially affordable because music was something I excelled at; so, the universities would offer me scholarships. But when I started at McGill, I realized that studying music was not setting students up for the greatest success upon graduation. Maybe 10–20 years ago, when classical music was more popular, there was more demand and more funding from private or government institutions. There were more opportunities for musicians to find a job in performance. But today, I realized that the graduates were struggling to continue with music and find jobs. That quickly made me realize that music itself was not going to be enough to excel through the rest of my career, although ironically, from 6 to 16–17 years of age, music was my entire life. Yet, I am extremely grateful that from that early age until university, I was able to solely focus on making music and discover myself as a musician because I think that really unlocks creative and imaginative qualities that you don’t necessarily get if you don’t receive an artistic education growing up.

What were the expectations of your parents?

My parents don’t come from a music background. So, they did not realize what it took to raise a musician and what we needed to do so that I could become successful as a musician. The strictest thing that they imposed was consistency; even if it means practicing only 10 minutes a day. So, I practiced every day without fail, and it helped me set up good habits going forward into the future. It became a routine, a way of life where I didn’t have to think about it. My mom is a very positive person. Those moments at competitions when you don’t win the first place, or when you don’t advance to the next round of an orchestral audition, are very demotivating, especially when you’re young. My mom taught me to reframe my mindset to think of it as an ongoing challenge. Just because you didn’t get it this time, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to get it next time. You just have to work much harder. There were a lot of awards and incentives like chocolate, toys, and candy. But eventually it really stuck with me and became something that I wanted to do.

Will you use the same parenting technique if you someday have children?

Yes and no. Yes, I would implement the instilling of a routine and reinforcement of a positive mindset throughout parenting. But, in terms of pushing them to pursue solely a career that they’re talented in, I now realize that it isn’t very viable. I think I would encourage them to study other things as well that may interest them.

How important were your teachers for you?

They were vital; they were the make or break of my career. I had three different teachers growing up, all at different stages of my life. It was honestly by sheer chance that we found them. We were lucky enough to enroll in a preparatory program at the University of Manitoba where we met Mary Hawn, who had a great vision and saw the potential of the children of Winnipeg growing up to be special musicians. It was through the leadership and direction of someone who had an inspiring vision for my community, I was able to find these great teachers and mentors. Without them, I would have no career.

What has been the most memorable experience that influenced you the most?

When I was young, I remember I was having a bad day at school, and then I had to go play a free performance; I volunteered to play at a senior home.  I played through my music a little bit faster than what was composed so the performance would come to an end sooner. I was young, and I didn’t really know why I was playing music just for the sake of playing music. But then at the end of that little performance, one of the seniors came up to me and said they were very thankful and grateful that I had come and shared that moment with them and played live music for them. That’s when I realized this is why I want to do what I do. This was an unforgettable moment in their lives, and it brightened their entire day. That again reinforced a positive mindset towards music. The more good events you do, the more it encourages you because now you are not only extrinsically motivated, but also intrinsically motivated. Seeing that smile on that grandfather’s face showed me the impact that I can make. That’s something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Do you have some interesting music projects you’re working on right now?

Right now, I’m just working on staying in shape, but I can highlight a very recent one. One of my co-workers in Banff is a talented violist. We co-created a series together called Bach for Babes. It was targeted towards toddlers and geared towards families who felt pressured not being able to go to classical music concerts with kids. The goal of these concerts were to perform for these children and their families in an environment where the children could run free and eat and play and sing and do whatever they felt. It was more of her idea as she is a parent herself, and I helped her cultivate it. It was quite genius in a way that you’re bringing classical music to the community where it wasn’t so prevalent nor accessible before, and you’re creating a community where the families can meet one another. There is numerous scientific research that shows the benefits of live classical music for children to hear growing up. When you give the children a chance to move and express themselves, they will eventually reach a point where they will have an intense focus and little slip; it shows the power of the arts to connect people, not only to you, but to each other, to the present moment. That is definitely something I will not take for granted, once this pandemic is over.

I imagine you still practice quite a bit. Do you just play for yourself sometimes instead of playing for the next big thing?

I don’t practice as much as I did when I was in school, but I practice a lot more efficiently now. I don’t know if this has to do with unloading a burden, knowing that the flute no longer equates to the roof over my head or the food at my next meal. I now do play for myself a lot more often, which is something I never did. Last October, I played a concert with the University of Montreal Orchestra, and even leading up to hours before the concert, I picked up the flute to practice because that was something that was expected of me when I got up on that stage. After that concert, I took a break, I did not touch my flute for a couple of months. I really had to reassess the way I thought about it because it was hard for me to keep practicing and play the flute when I didn’t have anything coming for a while.  The more I revisit the fond memories that made me fall in love with the instrument, the more I reconnect with my flute. Nowadays, I don’t practice as much as I used to, but I don’t think I need to practice as much as I used to. And yet, I would argue that I sound the same, if not better, because aside from the technical qualities that you need to deliver a good performance, I think now my intricate, personal musical ideas shine through because they are 100% authentic me.

What kept you motivated to practice every day?

Up until the second year of university, it was all extrinsically motivated. It was knowing that my parents had financially invested in me and my teachers had dedicated so much time to me, and it was my colleagues looking to me for inspiration telling me “if one of us is going to make it, it’s going to be you. It has to be you.” Growing up, I was told that I was a wonder child, I make everything look so easy, I was meant to play the flute. I think hearing that daily can indeed motivate you, but maybe for the entirely wrong reasons. To me, it became essentially a second job even from a young age. That’s why I practiced the way I did. When I realized that it doesn’t look like it’ll be easy to find a job in music and to succeed, then I had a choice; I could switch my major and do something else. I think that’s when I realized that I had to do this for myself. Because the more you do this for other people, there’s going to be no longevity in you playing the flute anymore. I can’t tell you how conscious the decision was, but I realized I had to practice for myself.

Can you tell me about the way that competitions used to drive you to become a better musician?

A very renowned flutist,Jeanne Baxtresser, former principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic and the goddess of orchestral flute excerpts, gave me this piece of advice: “always find someone better than you, and then go up to them and ask to play with them.” Especially as musicians who are nurtured from a young age to be the very best, it can also interfere with building good relationships with your peers, or with musicians who are better than you. Hearing that from a young age broke that barrier for me a little bit. I no longer saw them as competition but as opportunities to learn. Where else will you find the most talented musicians? You’ll find them at competitions because they are the ones who know that you need to win major competitions to have a solo career. That is a very harsh reality. My parents and teachers recognized that and put me through many competitions. They are so essential to you as a musician, not only as a means to build a successful career, but also as learning opportunities. You see people perform better than you, and you have opportunities to connect with them because you interact with them. I use those moments to network. Some of them are now my closest friends, some of them taught me techniques that I was struggling with, and some have encouraged me to do better things with my career.

You have mentioned that many musicians cannot make a living off just the music. Do you have some tips on how to make it work?

I believe if you really want to make it work, you need to step away from your dream just for a second. Most musicians want to perform full time for a living, but that is not enough. Especially in 2021, especially with COVID. Government funding is slowly dwindling everywhere. But if you want to be a performer, you can do other things to enable you to perform some time in the future; you can do something that’s music related, whether that be teaching or playing small gigs here and there. It doesn’t have to be music related either; whatever it is that will get you to your next performance opportunity. That’s all that matters.

Did you yourself have this backup plan?

I did not. I blindly pursued being a soloist. I wanted to play with an orchestra and then fly around the world and give solo recitals. I honestly thought that is the way that the music world had worked until I entered university. Then I realized that my flute professor, who is a prominent orchestral musician and soloist, also teaches to make a living. That immediately struck me in a profound way where I realized maybe the ideals that younger musicians are raised with are not realistic. That was a cold realization and it did make me falter because I think I felt grief and anger.

Do you have any final remarks you would like to mention?

Yes, I do. I am immensely honored to be interviewed for the Longitude.site. It was important that I share my little story because I think musicians are greatly underrepresented. I have applied for law school because I want to apply my music knowledge to the field of law and help musicians. It is important to share your struggles, uplift those around you, and positively impact anyone, no matter what stage of the career they’re at, which career they’re in, or what their age is. So, I’m very grateful for this opportunity.

Interview excerpts have been lightly edited for clarity and readability and approved by the interviewee. This article only aims to share personal opinions and learnings and does not constitute the interviewee’s current or former employer(s)’ position on any of the topics discussed.