Meet Laura Fan | Composer, Producer, Arranger, Instrumentalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Fan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
In school, there was an intense belief that you have to be at the bottom indefinitely until you catch your big break. So many professors, guest speakers, and students would talk about how you must work under big names to maybe get a chance at making it big; you have to do work for free or little pay, you have to stay at the studio until 5am while everyone goes home, you won’t have time for your friends and family, et cetera. There were students bragging about how little they ate, how little sleep they got, and showing overlapping meetings on their calendars. While there’s a time and place for “the grind,” I truly don’t think it’s sustainable. Once COVID hit, I realized that these habits and mindsets didn’t work for me, and that I needed to balance work and play so I can have the energy to reach my goals. Otherwise, I might burn out to the point where I don’t even want to think about music. I’ve even had friends and professors warn me to take care of myself. There’s a lot of people that follow a formula that’s handed to us, but I don’t find many people going against the grain and asking themselves what they really want, and why they’re doing what they’re doing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I mostly work on scoring projects, but also love to work with other musicians to create our own music! Chinese music has such a big influence on me, even if it’s not so apparent at times. I love to create music that is motif based while having countermelodies wrapping around the main theme. I graduated from Berklee College of Music in August 2022, and I don’t think I’d be where I am if I studied somewhere else. I went into college thinking I would just focus on classical composition, but film scoring and music production took me to places I never imagined. It was a lot of work (and sleepless nights) to pursue a double major, but pushing myself was definitely worth it! When imposter syndrome made me lose my sense of self, I had to remember how much time I’ve put in to my art and the goals I had set out for the future. There was no point in comparing myself to others because people had different goals than I did. Why would I want to be someone else if I didn’t want the same things?

A project I’m extremely proud of is a commission from the Cape Symphony and The Moth to compose a live underscore for Wang Ping’s story, “The Book War,” a story about how Ping and her friends created a secret book club while growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It was such an amazing experience to work closely with conductor and creative director Jung-Ho Pak, Wang Ping, and Meg Bowles and Sarah Jane Johnson from The Moth. It was so inspiring to see and talk to a Chinese woman about art, and it was such an honor to see the Cape Symphony end their season with an amazing program.

For me, it’s so important to prioritize happiness, which entails working with like-minded people, working on projects that I’m genuinely excited about, having safe spaces for queer people of color such as myself, et cetera. As a queer Chinese-American, it’s so easy to feel tokenized, especially when so many people above me had told me to “embrace my Chinese-ness,” that I should “post more pictures with my Chinese instruments,” and that I should actually tokenize myself. I think artists should be able to be authentic without having to pander to others, and being respected and comfortable is non-negotiable. I aim to work with people from marginalized communities so that we can uplift each other and create art that is authentically beautiful.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In New York, there’s an endless amount of places to go to! My favorite spots to eat in Chinatown are Yin Ji Cheung Fun (a rice noodle and congee shop in Chinatown), Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and Buddah Bodai (a vegan Chinese restaurant). I love taking people to museums like the Museum of Natural History, the MoMA, the Whitney, and the Tenement Museum. In Queens, where I live, I would take you to Ocean Bay in Elmhurst for dim sum – my mom and grandparents have been loyal customers since they immigrated here and it was called Ping’s! In Astoria, there’s an amazing deli and restaurant called Astoria Bier & Cheese that I like to if I’m going to the movies there. To relax, there’s a nice Korean spa in K-Town and I would totally get Korean barbecue after the spa before going to karaoke in the area! There’s so many endless possibilities in New York, which I really enjoy.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not be where I am today without Music From China, a non-profit organization based in New York City. I owe so much of my journey to director Susan Cheng and conductor Wang Guowei. Growing up in small town, I struggled a lot with my identity as a Chinese-American. When I was 3 years old, my two older siblings joined Music From China’s summer program after Susan and Wang Guowei demonstrated Chinese instruments to Chinese schools in New Jersey. Eventually, the summer program turned into a year-round youth orchestra, and I was immersed in traditional Chinese music since. Susan was the first person to teach me liuqin and zhongruan, while Wang Guowei hand-transcribed arrangements for the whole orchestra to play. I realized how selfless it was for them to dedicate each Saturday to come to the suburbs of New Jersey to teach a bunch of kids Chinese music and the stories behind each piece we played, even though Wang Guowei was a world class erhu virtuoso. Years of studying Chinese music inspired and influenced me; Chinese music is so picturesque and melodic. I don’t think I would have even dreamed of a career in music if it wasn’t for Music From China, let alone create art that takes elements from Chinese and Western music.

Website: https://play.reelcrafter.com/laurafan/demos

Instagram: @laura.fan

Image Credits
Brooke Alyse Northrup Chris Fong Chew Allan Fan Kara Fan