Finding Balance In Music And Life
An impossible dream became a reality when ShanRong’s mother felt that she had a musical gift and was even possibly a prodigy. How can you tell you may be living in the limelight when you are just ten years old? As a child, we can dream, but what does it take to make it happen?
Practice, Practice, and more Practice…
Even though starting the violin at ten was considered late in China, her mother was determined to give her daughter as much opportunity as possible, beginning by tutoring ShanRong herself! Encouraging and coaching her daughter, the dream became a reality with a lot of work and help from mentors. Her perseverance paid off, as within just four years of training, ShanRong was accepted into the Conservatory Talent Program at her high school and subsequently completed her undergraduate education at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Mr. Zuo Jun, her tutor, and Mr. Alexander Souptel, former Concert Master of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, both encouraged her to use her gifts and GO FOR IT…
Good Fortune and Being Noticed
ShanRong’s talents and hard work were noticed.
She was given a full scholarship to the Carnegie Mellon School of Music in Pittsburg, USA, where she obtained her Masters Degree and studied with Mr. Cyrus Forough, a pupil of legendary violinist David Oistrakh.
Listen to ShanRong on YouTube.
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: “Winter”
Find more on Dr. ShanRong Janicijevic-Tuo’s YouTube Page
Life, Love, and Music in New York City
ShanRong now lives in New York City, where she fell in love, married, and has two young children. She talks about her life as a musician, wife, and mother of two toddlers—a hefty role for anyone.
Finding the energy and outlet for her music was difficult. Like almost every new mother with a blossoming career, you can look up one day and nearly think yourself lost. You love your life and your kids, but who are you now? As an artist, how do you manage it all and keep that spark of creativity alive within?
ShanRong shared her challenges and triumphs: “I had always worked hard for my career, but now I had a private violin studio and a household to look after. I found it really hard caring for a newborn and an eighteen-month-old toddler.” ShanRong felt like her career had shifted entirely. She found it hard to find time and energy to practice and nearly impossible to schedule rehearsals and concerts.
“I started panicking and becoming anxious about my career. My life was planned around my kids. I started going on new mothers and kids playdates, making friends with other new mums. Spending time with my old friends was non-existent since most of them don’t have kids or are still single. They were busy in their careers still.”
It was time to do something about it!
“I did not want to lose myself. I was desperate to share my music with people. One day I decided to just take my violin to the playground, and started to play for kids.”
Dr. ShanRong Janicijevic-Tuo
As you can see in the photograph below, ShanRong and friends decided to share their music with moms and kids and found a new, very appreciative audience! It is never too early to introduce children to all kinds of great music through classical harmonies, and moms need an enriching time in their lives, too.
From Stage to Playground and back again.
Sharing her music through teaching is one of the joys that ShanRong engages in these days, and lessons can happen anywhere, from a community center to a park. She feels it is the best of all worlds to be a mom, interact and share music with her own and other children, and appear on the concert stage now and then. It is a busy musical life again!
In New York City, surrounded by the activities of her new life, ShanRong found that other mums were also desperately looking for activities for their little ones. After starting to play in the parks with her children, in a short time, she found she had many new audiences. She started The Little Mozart Violin Play-Date in her neighborhood.
A balancing act…
ShanRong finds that just as notes rise and fall, living life is always a balancing act from one moment to another. We never get it perfect, but that is okay. It is about sharing, doing our best, and having a little fun along the way.
ShanRong continues to intersperse music with her life. She now gives regular concerts while being a mum. Like all of us who are or have raised a family, we find our balance, the Ying Yang and Energy, to create a life and a career somehow!
Opera America Concert
Marc A. Scorca Hall
330 7th Ave. 7th Floor
New York City, N.Y. 10001
December 13, 2024
8:00 pm to 9:40 pm.
“I’m always grateful to the people who have believed in me and helped along the way.”
Dr. ShanRong Janicijevic-Tuo
ShanRong Janicijevic-Tuo… an amazing career bio!
ShanRong Janicijevic-Tuo is an accomplished concert violinist. She gives recitals and performs as a soloist in the USA, Singapore, Israel, and China. She has appeared in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Esplanade Music Hall, Victoria Concert Hall, the Great Hall at the Franz Liszt Academy in Hungary, and Xi’an Concert Hall in China. One of her notable performances includes playing Vivaldi’s Winter as a soloist with the CMU Philharmonic during the 2013 CMU Annual Holiday Concert at Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, which was broadcast on WQED.
As an active chamber musician, Ms. Tuo has collaborated with esteemed artists such as Jennifer Frautschi and members of the Emerson String Quartet at various music festivals, including the Stony Brook Chamber Music Festival, Starry Nights Concert Series, and Art of Violin Series.
Ms. Tuo holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from Stony Brook University, where she studied under the guidance of Jennifer Frautschi, Philip Setzer, and Hagai Shaham. She earned her Master’s degree and Artist Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University as a full scholarship recipient, studying violin performance and orchestra studies with Cyrus Forough, a student of David Oistrakh. Before her studies in the USA, she completed her undergraduate degree at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, studying with Alexander Souptel, former concertmaster of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Images in this article courtesy Concert Violinist ShanRong Janicijevic-Tuo. The author created the collage from these images.
Please note: The author of this post has received no financial remuneration for mentions of creative people, books, products, places, or businesses mentioned in this post.
