Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Tang.
Hi Jeff, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m an LA-based creative producer and composer working in opera, theater, live events, and podcasts. I had a cultural upbringing that centered the avoidance of mistakes, so chose the safest road to a creative career I could tolerate: a music degree with a dual-major in political science “just in case;” an MFA, and then a day job as a college administrator while writing music at night.
Then, life-changing advice came from a former actor-turned-career administrator while I was working full-time at NYU after grad school. He pulled me into his office with a warning: don’t get too comfy or financially committed to your day job; get out and live your life as an artist while you’re young. I quit my job that summer and moved to Madrid, traveling and teaching, and learning an important lesson – the value of discomfort. The willingness not to bail when it’s uncomfortable is usually the door between stasis and growth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My career shifted dramatically almost by accident. I started out producing at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014 and, along the way, I met and befriended the bassist/composer/vocalist Esperanza Spalding. We were having drinks one night and she just kinda drops that she and the great saxophonist-composer Wayne Shorter are writing an opera that he’d started when he was 19, but had never finished. At the time, Wayne was 84 and in dire health – when I went out to LA to meet him and his wife, Carolina, he was on oxygen, she was caregiving around the clock, and it was a clear race against time. I decided Mozart and Verdi didn’t need my help, but here was one of the true living musical giants of the 20th century who did. Esperanza and I created Real Magic, a company to produce their opera, “…(Iphigenia),” independently. It was one of those crazy things you do when you’re not fully aware of how very hard it will be.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of Wayne’s favorite mottos was “resistance is a necessary force.” He loved to point out that airplanes need resistance to take off and fly.
The imposter syndrome was crippling. So many people made major sacrifices to help make this thing happen. The stakes felt so high and the exposure so public, and I was learning everything from the ground up from how to create an LLC to fundraising to contract negotiations to production elements to talking to the press. I was convinced I was constantly making a fool of myself. While I was smart enough to work with Cath Brittan and Mara Isaacs, two brilliant and experienced producing partners, I felt like an incredible fraud because I had been conditioned to attempt things I knew I could do well, which is sort of the antithesis of living a truly artistic life. It boggled my mind that Wayne Shorter would entrust what would become his final creative work to someone like me. But Wayne, a devout Buddhist, had this faith that the musicians he tapped to play with him on the bandstand would evolve and realize their potential, and I understood that faith extended to me. Being trusted like that by one of your most respected elders is a deeply profound and vulnerable act, and it imbues you with a sense of mission.
Finally, in 2022, and against all odds and his doctor’s orders, Wayne and Carolina flew out to the Kennedy Center to watch his opera, more than 60 years after he’d started it. He passed away last March, but the memory of wheeling him on-stage to a standing ovation from a sold-out audience will stay with me forever.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the COVID-19 crisis?
Don’t wait to try something. And it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: jefftang.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/soyjeff
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jeffctang
Image Credits
Jeff Tang
Elena Park
