Modern Luxuria Vol 42 November 2023

Strike a Chord

Violist Clayton Leung builds community connections over his decade with the ESO

WORDS BY MATTHEW STEPANIC PHOTOGRAPHY STEVEN HOPE

Based only on appearance, you wouldn’t expect the youthful Clayton Leung to be celebrating his 10th anniversary playing viola with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO). Also passionate about team sports, Leung once baffled his soccer team when he made a comment about how tough it is to keep up with all of these 25-year-olds. “They kept guessing my age,” he explains, “and I was like, ‘I appreciate this, but I could be your dad.’” Leung is 40, and when you listen to him discuss his passion for music, you realize there’s plenty of experience and wisdom beneath the boyish handsomeness.

Leung got his start performing music at the age of three, thanks to his encouraging mother. A music teacher herself, she guided Leung and his two younger brothers to perform at seniors’ homes and weddings. (Equally supportive, Leung’s dad helped by chauffeuring the family band and carrying the instruments.) He began his musical journey with the violin, but needed a change as a young adult so picked up the viola. “If you’re a decent violinist, you’ll be an even better violist,” Leung jokes; but then sincerely adds, “In a string quartet, I was playing violin and remember thinking, ‘Oh I’d love to try that [the viola’s] part. I’d love to be that voice: that low, underlying rich texture.’ You’re always playing that beautiful centre harmony. I wanted more of that.”

He went to the University of Victoria to “feel [his] way through music,” where he met and worked with many musicians, perhaps the most influential being the Lafayette String Quartet—an all-women ensemble that has been performing together for over three decades. “They inspired me,” he says. “I could see myself making a career of music based on how they approached it.” He still keeps in touch with the quartet and recently joined them for an Alberta tour.

He’s not looking for attention in his career, but rather, connection with his fellow performers and audience. (He’s among the very small minority that doesn’t maintain any public social media.) Although one of his most memorable experiences with the ESO is a solo performance of Mozart’s ‘Sinfonia Concertante,’ he prefers the comradery of performing with the rest of the orchestra. The ESO’s exceptional teamwork may be why he doesn’t get nervous before performances and thrives in that rare, magical space where you’re neither under- nor over-rehearsed. “Sometimes you definitely feel like things will be more spontaneous,” Leung says. “If dress rehearsal doesn’t go great, that can make for a really exciting concert because we’re all at the edge of our seats.”

Outside of his work with the ESO, Leung teaches and mentors people of all ages in the violin and viola. He regularly keeps in touch with former students—and their moms, who are usually the ones to report that their child is pursuing music and owe that decision to Leung. “I like to see people progress in their love for music,” he says. “I hope to bring some joy to their daily lives.”

www.winspearcentre.com