Why “Skye”? I have been asked many times. Well, at first, “Sky” was simply a nickname given by a dear high school friend. It held a certain endearment, a most pure and innocent kind of sweetness, tenderness, youth - it was an incantation that cherished and stood guard over that 14-year-old me, pixie-cut hair, thick-framed glasses, t-shirt and jeans, skipping class to go to West Edmonton Mall to read manga and drink bubble tea. 

“I wanted to take the challenge to explore a much more humble and intimate side of my playing. These late Sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert are lifelong dream pieces of mine to perform - they’re incredibly profound, touching, and poetic. But precisely because they’re not flashy, they demand even more refinement, nuance, and poise. A lifetime feels not enough to explore the depth of these masterworks, but I’m very glad nonetheless to share them with you now.”

“Towards the Flame” is a program that is incredibly personal. The emotions, stories, and gravitas of these pieces span a decade of ups and downs - from deep despair, grief, and pain to moments of tenderness, courage, warmth, and ultimately: if not tiny triumphs, then, a constantly renewing vulnerability, resilience, and hope. That’s what the flame is in this program. It’s the light within us when the darkness sets in.

However, this is not a concert that simply praises love and light. It also praises the dark. It witnesses pain and grief. 

I like the cold. And I like the dark. Or rather, perhaps, I learn to need them. I need the void and emptiness and silence just as much as I need the heat and fire and luminous light. These places are profoundly necessary for us to turn inwards, to rest, to find solace and solidarity. Darkness is necessary for light. Silence is necessary for music.  

During these dark, cold winter months - I hope to share the power of this music to simply emote us, to allow us to feel just what we feel, and to move through these emotions together. That’s the power of collective experience - to connect us to ourselves, to each other, and the world around us. To have our struggles feel heard, understood, and shared.

“Darkness isn't just absence but a vital space for healing, creativity, navigation, and finding inner strength, making light more profound when it appears.”