Meet Addison Teng

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Addison Teng. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Addison below.

Addison, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My work ethic has been constantly in development. I started playing the violin when I was 7. My parents weren’t musicians and didn’t know how much they should push me to practice. When I was 16, I realized I loved music so much that I wanted to make it my career. But the teachers and professionals I met at the time told me that it was too late for me because I was not well-trained enough and didn’t have enough discipline.
But I was undeterred. I applied for the Meadowmount School of Music that summer and was at the bottom of the waitlist. I called every day until they finally admitted me, telling me that this was my chance to show them that I truly wanted to learn. I took that to heart! Something from within me drove me forward. I practiced extra and took notes constantly. That summer I learned what it takes to come from behind – everyone at the camp was better than me! But my teacher there, Amy Barlowe, actually encouraged me to be a musician. She told me that success is 99% work and only 1% talent, and that work involves working harder and smarter, developing emotional awareness and self-control, and becoming more detailed.
My next teacher was Sally Thomas. She taught me that making an impact on the world is not about being famous or being the best, and you don’t need to be given ALL the opportunities in the world in order to succeed. But she did give me the opportunity to be her Teaching Assistant at Meadowmount and in New York City even while I was pursuing my undergraduate degree at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. I was a lot less advanced of a player than most of her students, but she wanted to push me to have an iron work ethic, to develop a presence in a room, to work harder and more efficiently than others, and to learn to believe in myself. She taught me to see that I could connect everything around me to music in order to see things from different perspectives and to find multiple ways to get at the same point.
My other influential teacher was Joey Corpus, who I took lessons from in New York City. One of my biggest lessons from him was that no one way is the “right” way. Efficiency is important, but it is also necessary to develop the flexibility to try different approaches. He also emphasized the importance and responsibility of being a role model as a pedagogue and a human. He reminded me that balance in life is key, and just because you’re working hard doesn’t mean you will automatically see results. You have to be kind to yourself, especially because musicians often are not.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

In 2020, I founded the nonprofit Fulton Music Society to transform what music means in the 21st century by nurturing thoughtful, well-rounded students through dedicated music study. We are working to connect the dots between student life and the professional world by emphasizing skills and experiences that translate beyond their instruments, such as discipline, perseverance, and open-mindedness. Through our programs, young musicians will be ready to lead their generation in any field they choose.
Our flagship program, the Fulton Summer Music Academy, was born during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has grown into a 4-week intensive training program for serious string and piano players taught by world-class faculty. Students range from pre-college to pre-professional and are looking for a focused experience regardless of career plans. Faculty take select FSMA students on national and international tours through Fulton In Residence, where students get a taste of the professional musician’s life and experience the power of music to connect across cultural boundaries. FSMA faculty and guest artists perform chamber music concerts as the Fulton Chamber Players, bringing the highest quality performances to all audiences and inspiring the next generation of musicians. Our newest program, the Fulton Conservatory of Music, was formed to expand the unique philosophy and goals of FSMA to a year-round setting. Students studying with select FSMA-affiliated teachers will have access to exciting masterclasses and local performance opportunities, and their individual instrument study will be augmented by regular studio classes, juries, journaling, and optional chamber music.
All of our programs hold events for the public throughout the year. Our masterclasses at Fulton Summer Music Academy and Fulton Conservatory of Music are broadcast via Zoom so that people around the world can tune in. The Fulton Chamber Players have a full season of concerts and masterclasses across the US and the world – check out our website and social media to see where we’ll be next! And our Fulton In Residence program always involves collaboration concerts with our hosts abroad.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Patience
Don’t expect the instant gratifications of getting the answers right away. Learn to listen better to other people. Try new ideas without rejecting them first.

Persistence
Constantly seek out knowledge. Find ways to better yourself, both on the inside and in your endeavors. Remember what Ms. Barlowe told me – success is 1% talent and 99% hard work.

Flexibility
Be open-minded. Try new things, new ideas, new concepts. Try them in different ways, too! Come up with creative ideas. Involve many other aspects of life into your work, applying what you learn to situations outside their primary sources.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Students of all ages and abilities can find a place amongst our programs. The students who best flourish in our educational programs are those who are open-minded. They are the ones willing to forgo the short road in favor of the long road, which may take a longer path to success but that success will be more solid and lasting. They are hungry to work on themselves technically, musically, and also emotionally. They value substance over flash, realizing that life is not about the accolades you collect but the impact that you have on the world.
We are always also looking for fellow educators and performers interested in working with us. The Fulton In Residence tours are planned in partnership with our hosts to ensure a meaningful musical and cross-cultural experience for all of the students involved in the masterclasses, rehearsals, and performances. Our Fulton Chamber Players ensembles often pair concerts with masterclasses and workshops at schools and universities both in the US and abroad, and we especially love combining forces with our peers in the cities we visit.
None of these educational programs or performance opportunities would be possible without the generous support of our many donors. Not only is their financial assistance invaluable, but it shows us that people believe in our mission of nurturing the whole musician, not just the musical technician. These are people who believe in the potential of the next generation. They know that the skills developed through music – patience, persistence, flexibility, attention to detail, open-mindedness – are the skills that they themselves have worked to cultivate in themselves. Our donors believe in the power of music to inspire us to be our better selves, and believe that everyone deserves the incredible gift of music. It’s thanks to their generosity that we were able to offer over sixty-five thousand dollars in merit and need-based scholarship to the students accepted to FSMA 2024. We are forever grateful for their support!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fultonmusicsociety.org, www.addisonteng.com
• Instagram: @fultonmusicsociety, @addisontengviolin
• Facebook: @fultonmusicsociety, @addison.teng
• Linkedin: @fulton-music-society, @addison-teng-112b7721a
• Twitter: @fultonmusicsoc, @addisonteng