Performing musician and entrepreneur Genervie Kam, 29, is one such person.
A much sought after violinist, Kam has represented Malaysia at cultural events, toured with Jacky Cheung and Stefanie Sun Yan Zi, among others, and she even has her own start-up, The Music Kampany Sdn Bhd.
The daughter of music teachers, Kam started playing the piano at four and the violin at nine, obtaining a diploma for both instruments at the same time in 1991.
It is interesting to note that Kam went through her classical orientation half-heartedly.
“I picked them up because of dad, to be honest,” she said sheepishly. “I didn’t exactly love playing music fthen – that came much later – as classical training requires one to be very disciplined.
“I felt embarrassed carrying the violin around as a child and I hated the hassle I had to go through before I could actually play. Tuning it, applying resin to the bow ... with the piano, I could just sit down and play.”
Growing fonder of music over time, Kam obtained scholarships to pursue classical music full-time but circumstances and the desire to be close to home saw her reading a degree in Music Arrangement at ICOM instead.
