Jean Foo, Music

Music Magic

Jean Foo

Jean Y. Foo has accomplished a lot in twenty-five years.  A native of Singapore, the music she’s composed has been played in Japan, Egypt and the United States and she has lectured in, to name a few, Berlin, Germany and Beijing, China.  In 2006, Foo was the first and only Singaporean chosen to be part of “Global Interplay,” a program which brings together young composers from around the world, and that same year she received an offer for her music to be played permanently on Germany’s Freies Radio für Stuttgart (FRS).  

But while these achievements are impressive, Foo accomplished something even more noteworthy last year.  As a volunteer with the Magic Hospital, an international organization which works on behalf of underprivileged children, she helped bring the gift of music to children living in remote parts of China.

“When I joined the Magic Hospital, they didn’t have a music program,” says Foo, a new music composition graduate student currently under the tutelage of Associate Professor John McDonald.  “So, I created a program which was aimed at sharing music with these children.”

The program Foo developed benefited the sons and daughters of migrant workers living in rural China.  Due to lack of funds, the migrant schools these children attend do not have the resources necessary to pay for music teachers or instruments for that matter.  As part of her work with the hospital, Foo brought instruments and fellow volunteers who, like her, had musical backgrounds to these schools.

Foo at the university's new Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center.

“When we were at the schools, we would provide basic music appreciation,” says Foo.   “We would have the kids do things like sing songs and play instruments.  At one school we visited, we played some compact discs of different music and the children just sat in their chairs staring into space. We couldn’t understand why they were doing this.  I tried to connect with them by asking what they thought of the music, but I soon realized that many of the children hadn’t heard music before.”

In Foo’s experience, what she saw wasn’t unique as many children living in Chinese villages experience little in the way of music education.  She also noted, during a recent interview, that things are different in Chinese cities like Beijing where a priority is placed on music education.

“The villages these children live in are far from cities and, because of this, necessities like food are taken care of first,” says Foo, who was working full-time as a writer and translator for Gramophone Magazine (China) while she was volunteering with the Magic Hospital.  “I remember going to one school where the children had milk for the first time a few weeks before we arrived.  Because of this focus on primary needs, the spiritual needs of these children are often overlooked and they are not exposed to things like music.”

Through her work with the Magic Hospital, though, Foo was able to provide the musical experiences these children so desperately needed. 

And she also got something back herself.

“I felt blessed every time that I got to share music with someone for the first time, and it was amazing to see how people from different backgrounds could connect with each other through music.” she says. 

While Foo is no longer visiting schools in China on behalf of the Magic Hospital, she is still involved with the organization, helping it with proposals, grant applications, and referrals on an occasional basis.  Foo plans to pursue volunteer opportunities while she is a graduate student, primarily through the China Care program, which matches orphans from China with families in the United States, and the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership.   

As a graduate student, Foo hopes to take advantage of the diverse opportunities presented by the music department.  She cites its strong cultural music program as one of the reasons she decided to pursue graduate studies at Tufts, and looks forward to composing music for a variety of different instruments, including, to name a few, the shakuhachi (a Japanese wind instrument) and various African and Brazilian percussion instruments.

Once she completes her graduate studies, Foo hopes to carve out a successful career as a composer and researcher.  She also hopes to continue the work she started with the Magic Hospital.

“Other than composing and lecturing, a major long-term goal of mine is to design and implement differentiated music curricula, especially that which can be used on a large scale for underprivileged children and those from traumatic backgrounds,” says Foo.  “I have a passion for music and humanitarian work, and maybe one day I’ll be the music program designer for a global humanitarian network like the United Nations or Doctors Without Borders.”

To learn more about the Magic Hospital, go to www.magichospital.org.

More information on the China Care program can be found at http://www.chinacare.org.

Profile written by Robert Bochnak, G07, Tufts University Office of Graduate Studies

Photos by Melody Ko