The warmest stranger: Notes on an encounter with Vienna Teng

Vienna Teng gave me two hugs: one upon introduction, the other upon special request. Her presence is very calming; her music more so. Her high, cherubic voice is one of the purest tones I’ve ever heard. You will never hear her run out of breath; she will not produce those unnecessary tremolos and stylistics, nor twist her body Groot-like this or that way to coax the gift out of herself.



Make no mistake about it. She’s got the gift. And she’s been sharing it with the world since the release of her debut album "Waking Hour." This year, on a successful Kickstarter campaign, Vienna is doing her very first tour of the Asia Pacific to promote her latest album "Aims"—to the endless adulation of her Filipino fans, with her two-night engagement at Ka Freddie’s in Quezon City last week sold out.

When I got the call from a friend that Vienna was doing a meet-and-greet for the avid fans who could no longer get tickets to her show, I thought it was going to be a press conference, perhaps with a bouncer or two between the fans and her, as is customary for many foreign artists who come to Manila. I was a little amazed to discover that she had actually gone to her own concert in a cab, and wore just a simple blouse, slacks, flats, and very little makeup for her gig. And no bouncer in sight.

So, no press conference, just a freewheeling M&G session with her true Filipino fans in attendance. I promptly put away the journalist tools in my bag, and there they stayed for the next two or so hours while Vienna regaled us with song, story, hugs and laughter, in between bites of sweet langka and kesong puti at Café Adarna.

Vienna felt very much at home in Manila during her brief stay. In fact, she said it felt very much like Detroit, where she is based. “Manila is like Detroit, only with more people,” she laughed.

Here are some inspirational points that I have intuited from her—tips for whole-being wellness, if you may—some from that wonderful afternoon with her, and some from Vienna-related content across the web.

1. Generosity is the milk that keeps on giving. Aside from autographing everything we handed over—from Jomel's cellphone to Mikey's acoustic guitar—Vienna played all of our requests, mostly for her previous work. She didn’t even bother talking about her latest album until one fan, Aya, brought it up (Vienna says the songs in "Aims" touch on environmental issues, which form the backbone of her current advocacy work). Plus, the M&G itself was organized because another fan, Cecille, couldn’t get a ticket to Vienna’s show. How much more generous can an artist get?

In gratitude, we all promised to help organize her next Manila concert.

2. The past must be clearly marked and named. From her debut album "Waking Hour" is "Eric’s Song," clearly a love song (although the word “love” is never mentioned, Mikey observed). All well and good, though a fan named Eric went up to her one time and insisted the song was about him. The last straw was when her friend Eric Cheng, who was never her boyfriend at all, started complaining about quality of life issues (“Are you the Eric in 'Eric’s Song'?” etc.).

Vienna has since confirmed the true identity of “Eric” so that the other Eric wouldn’t be bothered ever again.

3.  Ethnicity is something you just have, not something you play up. Although she is also Taiwanese, Vienna doesn’t write her songs in Mandarin. She might have reached a much wider audience if she did. But when she does perform a song in Mandarin, she does it out of utmost respect and love for, say, a grandmother or a parent. Plus, she honed her pure tone as a child by listening to Chinese music, which has that seamless, soaring quality.

4. If you sing and play true to your spirit, you can make friends out of the worst musical equipment. This, to me, is Vienna’s amazing gift. The acoustic piano in the restaurant, while playable, was slightly out of tune, with hard keys. It was not mic’d. The vocal mic was plugged direct to house, so she couldn’t really hear herself. Yet, she gave a stunning performance of Damien Rice’s "Cannonball" as well as her originals: "Stephen’s Cross", "Stray Italian Greyhound", "Eric’s Song" and "Gravity". Her sound was simply drop-dead gorgeous.

5. Barriers are blessings; you just don’t know it yet. Vienna was a software engineer for many years. She comes from a culture where musical and artistic pursuits, and yes, even affectionate gestures like hugs and kisses, while tolerated, are not encouraged. I can imagine all that frustration and fear welling up inside her, all that pent-up emotion in need of release.

As it turns out, the bluest flame is also the strongest, blazing a trail for Vienna’s musical career later on. And it is this kind of flame that has lit up many a passionate artist’s world and illuminated those of others—the way Vienna Teng has now illuminated mine, along with two hugs that have come a very long way. — BM, GMA News

Author's note: The warmest hug goes to Josephine Huynh, who made the meet and greet possible for Vienna's Filipino fans.

For more information on Vienna Teng, visit her website or her Facebook page.

Formerly a recording artist of Candid Records, Isha Abubakar is mainly a TV and film music composer these days. She is the musical scorer for GMA's "The Half Sisters" and "Dading". Whenever she has extra moolah from her TV work, she produces and independently releases an original song on her website. Read her essays on music at blog.isonger.com.