The parts that don’t fit on a résumé.

The sanxian is a three‑stringed Chinese lute with a snakeskin‑covered body and no frets. I have played it since I was a kid, and it has followed me to every city I have lived in.

At the Toronto Dragon Festival I played a solo at Nathan Phillips Square, in front of a few thousand people: traditional melodies with some contemporary edges, which is what the instrument does best. On 14 October 2023 I performed with the Toronto Artist Symphony Orchestra at George Weston Recital Hall, Meridian Arts Centre, folding the sanxian into an orchestral programme. After the festival the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Canada gave me an Outstanding Cultural Contribution award for it.

A year of rehearsals that ended in a live production. Acting was new to me; what stayed was the discipline of a group of people refining one thing together for months and then doing it once, in front of everyone, with no second take.

Jiu‑jitsu, four times a week. Badminton since high school in Singapore. Both are the same lesson as the rehearsal room: small technique, repeated until it stops needing thought.