Finding the 'Joy' in Music
Musician Joy Chen recently performed at Murray Edwards. We caught up with her during a recording session to find out what music means to her.
On 28 May, Joy Chen performed at the Murray Edwards ‘Informal Post-Formal’ concert series.
Joy, a PGCE primary student at Churchill College said she thought the concert series was an ‘amazing’ platform for musicians in Cambridge, and a great opportunity to introduce her instrument to a new audience.
Joy plays the Guzheng – a traditional Chinese string instrument with 21 strings and removable bridges. She began playing at the age of four, when her parents suggested that learning a musical instrument might help her to deal with her recently diagnosed ADHD. Joy found that practising the Guzheng made a noticeable impact on her quality of learning: ‘It really, really helped me to focus on one thing for a longer time’.
Playing a musical instrument has also helped her with her studies at Cambridge. Joy told us that her course can be ‘quite stressful… and intense’ but that practising and listening to music calms her down. Overall, she says, the Guzheng is ‘beneficial to my health and wellbeing’.
However, this wasn’t always the case. Early on, Joy felt that she got stuck in the routines of music exams, and this limited her enjoyment of the instrument. She recalls playing ‘so many pieces of music’ but regrets that her performances were ‘all about passing exams’. Later, she rediscovered a passion for the Guzheng outside of formal examinations, and that, she claims, is when she began to play for herself and for her inner peace.
This shift is reflected in the pieces that Joy now chooses to perform. Her favourite, at the moment, is called ‘Awakening Lotus in the Evening’. Joy commented that this piece was important to her because, symbolically, the lotus in China conveys purity and resilience, which resonates with her journey alongside the Guzheng. The piece is a duet, and Joy has loved working on shaping and performing this piece with her friend who plays piano.
Joy also composes her own music. Click the YouTube video below to hear her original composition ‘Echoes of Spring’ (2024).
Although she is a student at Churchill, Joy was invited to perform at Â鶹ƵµÀ by Ewan Campbell, Director of Studies in Music at both colleges. Our close connection with Churchill means that students with an interest in music are able to access a much wider musical community. Some of our joint projects include the Inter Alios Choir and The Orchestra on the Hill. These ensembles offer our students an easy way to meet and socialise with friends outside of their colleges, and foster a spirit of collaboration which is so essential to music-making.
Anyone can sign up for our post-Formal concerts, and Ewan makes sure to organise nights that cover a wide range of genres – from Open-Mic Jazz Karaoke to New-Composition Musical Theatre performances, there is something for everyone!