Meet Jason Lo | Music Professor and Freelance Concert Pianist

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

Hi Jason, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Integrity. I got the Integrity award in 3rd grade.

Integrity is defined as being honest and high moral upkeep. As I type that, it sounds pious, but I’m not pious. I always felt that I needed to be honest with my qualities, my work, my strengths, and most importantly, myself. I don’t feel comfortable broadcasting a version of myself, because I shouldn’t have to be anyone other than myself. I feel like this translates in my work, as I give honest products. I just don’t want to get myself into a job that I’m not confident doing. As I say in my dating profiles, being a freelance concert pianist provides me with a “meager, but honest living.”

Maybe I’m too honest though. My therapist says I’m modest, and some say it’s borderline self-sabotage. I don’t know. I have severe imposter syndrome, so I sometimes don’t understand the accolades I receive. I’m just not very good at lying because I’m too stupid to keep track of my own lies. I’ve gotten trapped in my own lies before, for example when I was 6 and my mother was at work, I told her that I practiced piano, but after she asked my grandmother if I’d practiced, of course I didn’t. Now, if I don’t practice, I lose potential revenue. I know how this life works.

So, why lie if I can be myself? I’m objectively cute, fun(ny), and talented. It’s not going to last forever, so I need to enjoy it while I can.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After I finished my DMA (Doctorate of Musical Arts) in Piano Performance from USC’s Thornton School of Music, I somehow made a living as a freelance concert pianist. I still consider myself as such. I am literally living the dream. Despite what my mother thought I could be, I was performing lower-end gigs, A-list gigs, and making connections and friends I never thought possible. I admit, a lot of this work is seasonal — a lot of my work comes from music students hiring me to play for their degree recitals (for example, the last one I did, was at Cal Lutheran University, I played for a fellow’s Senior Saxophone Recital for his music degree). I have a lot of clients in Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego, and sometimes even way up in San Jose. If you meet my rate, I’ll play.

A difficult part of working like this, is the use of the word “accompanist,” as it implies that your pianist is subordinate to the other instrument. This word is heavily stigmatized, so just call me your pianist. One time, I was rehearsing, and the instructor told the student, pointing at me, “he’s JUST the accompanist, make him find you, he’s not important.” How dare you. I didn’t go to music school for 10 years for you to belittle and emasculate me. I didn’t play the London 2012 Olympics, Carnegie Hall 3 times, and the International Trombone Festival for you to reduce me to a jukebox. I don’t want to come off as arrogant, but, respect me, and I’ll respect you. Confucius said “reciprocate.”

The journey to now was not easy. My mother vehemently opposed me majoring in music. Being a Chinese mother, her primary concern is “how is my child going to make money, surely not the ARTS.” She was supportive in her incredibly unsupportive way. There must be deep resentment inside me that just needed to succeed to prove her incorrect. Maybe her reverse psychology worked.

I love the piano. It is one of the few things in my life that makes sense to me. Give me a responsive piano and a stage, and I will make you love me. I will lure you into my underwater castle and become my betrothed (Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit). I will take you through Hell with additive Balkan rhythms using every key of the keyboard and break some strings along the way (Ligeti – Étude No. 13 “L’escalier du diable”). I will gleefully assault your ears with a flurry of modern jazz and voracious technique (Kapustin – Toccatina). The notes line up on the page, my hands take shape, and there’s no other place I’d rather be, no other thrill, no drug like this ecstasy, of being on stage.

They say, that if you find something you love, then you never work a day in your life. False. Anything you love, you work hard at. Art, relationships, scheduling, difficult people, everything requires work. I work very hard to make my life work, and I take my Art very seriously. Unfortunately, those who question me and my integrity towards my Art, make my life a slog.

My life takes me on wickedly awesome journeys. The Asian Hall of Fame has even hired me as a performer! I’ve definitely gawked at Adele Lim from afar.

One of my more fascinating gigs is being the music director for a concert for Los Angeles Leather Pride the last few years. This tradition is stolen from Berlin’s “Classic Meets Fetish,” where performers are in leather gear on stage, playing classical music, but since we’re LA, we make it movie/tv/video game themed. I wear a lot of hats (well, maybe just one leather hat) for that concert — I have to recruit a chamber ensemble, I’m the liaison for the ensemble, I program the music, I arrange the music, I play piano, I sing, I conduct, I’m the MC, all in a harness (I work out and flaunt my dadbod; no one seems to mind). It’s good fun, and it’s for a non-profit.

I wish I could tell my past self, that there’s no set way to make a living in the Arts. Sometimes, you flow with an idea, and if you want it enough, you make the life work. Have a little faith in the process. Try. I live my life by a quote from Conan O’Brien, “if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” It’s gotten me this far. I’m pretty ok with that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I didn’t have to teach in the day time, so perhaps summer vacation, and this make-believe scenario in which everything lined up, I would spoil them thusly:

On July 4th, I suggest hiking up Echo Mountain in Altadena about 3 hours before sundown. As we reach the summit, we’ll find a perch to gorge on well-deserved BBQ from Ray’s BBQ in Huntington Park. As we finish eating, people will crowd the summit, because as we approach sundown, there are fireworks in every direction, all over Greater Los Angeles. We will bring our flashlights because we’ll have to descend the mountain at night. If there so happens to be a full moon as well, I can’t imagine a more perfect hike (this sounds rather romantic actually, any single men out there?!).

Another lovely hike, and much less demanding, is the Eaton Canyon Falls trail in Pasadena. After about 30 minutes in, you literally hop along a babbling brook. This ends with a glorious, cold, beautiful waterfall, that I’m sure you don’t associate with Los Angeles.

If this is a Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and the date actually worked, I would take you to the 626 Night Market at the Santa Anita Racetrack, featuring many food vendors, art, beauty products, and more! It gets pricy, but that’s why I work so hard. Get some banana pudding, bread pudding, bulgogi tater tots, sisig tacos, boba milk tea, dim sum, brisket fries, smashburgers, birria ramen, this place has quite the spread.

Speaking of Santa Anita, my favorite mall is there, called the Santa Anita Westfield. I go there whenever I can. I love malls. I didn’t grow up with them. There’s an LA Fitness around here. I’ll get you a week pass after all the Korean BBQ and Hot Pot that I demand we visit.

I live in the San Gabriel Valley, which I lovingly call the Chinese Food Mecca. I am EXTREMELY CRITICAL of other cities that also offer dim sum (點心), beef noodle soup (牛肉麵), hot pot (火鍋), Hong Kong style cafes, and other lovely foods I love to stuff my face stupid with.

I did my undergrad at California State University Long Beach, so I do love the Long Beach area. I love going up to Signal Hill to look at the ocean. There is also a beach there that allows doggies, and the hot men that run on the beach are nice to ogle over. Laguna Beach and Malibu are rather nice, but they are far away from me.

A cute day trip idea, is a beautiful mountain town called Idyllwild. I had a summer chamber music workshop way up there. It’s so beautiful, with a nice small town vibe. I’m not so familiar with the hiking trails there, but the views over the San Jacinto Valley are…astoundingly magnificent. Maybe stop by the Morongo Casino on the way back to LA for the buffet, because you know I’m as hungry as a bear, and you know how much those big hairy gay men eat.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As a gay person, I must acknowledge my chosen family. I have so many circles of friends, and I find them all to be marvelous company. I wouldn’t be the same person without them, especially my besties today. Jordan (my nominator) and I had instant friendship chemistry when we met in college, with mutual adoration, respect, and praise in our respective expertise. I’ve known Malia since 3rd grade, as we were 2/3 Asian kids in our grade, and we love our video games and eating adventures. Jess is my Honors Algebra 2 bestie, as we triumphantly played our hearts out in high school jazz/marching band together. I deeply respect and value their opinions, as they aren’t afraid to give me a reality slap, yet praise and honor whatever endeavors I pursue.

My actual family deserves praise as well. My brother is the smartest, most level-headed person I know, who gives sound advice and knows how to deal with our tiger parents. Sometimes, my sister-in-law knows me better than I know myself, and I adore her texts of support and fun whimsies. My mother refuses to believe she was a tiger parent, but that’s a story for another time. I know it’s hard to let the youngest one escape the clutches of your nest, but thank you for letting me be me.

Some of my most important teachers were my music teachers. Thank you Ms. Perry for shaping me into a respectable and secure pianist, and more importantly, a better person. Thank you Craig for nurturing the natural, dormant talent as an undergrad. Thank you Dr. Livingston for molding my psyche on how to create and understand music and Art. Thank you Ms. Jeskey from high school band, for understanding my drive.

Website: https://jasonwlo.com

Instagram: https://panda.plays.piano

Youtube: jasonwlo

Other: https://instagram.com/the.bearded.panda

Image Credits
Motorboot Photography