How this real estate broker found second wind in his jazz music career
As a young boy, Peter Ng'southward parents made him accept classical piano classes. Having this structure forced upon him made Ng not feel any particular affinity toward music throughout his babyhood. Non until the age of 16 when he began little with the piano again, did Ng experience that spark. "A friend asked me to be the stand-in pianist in his ring," recalled Ng. "That was the moment."
Ng taught himself jazz and pop through experimentation, and at the historic period of xviii, started earning his proceed by making his way around the local gig circuit. Inside a decade, Ng found himself improvising on the ivories while revered songbirds of his generation – the likes of Frances Yip and Anita Sarawak – belted out their most popular tunes in Singapore'southward top live music institutions. Think the iconic Tiara Supper Club in Shangri-La Hotel and the Westin'southward glamorous Palm Grill.
Ng recounts these magical evenings with a joyful glint in his middle. He wasn't under any pressure level. He was just a boy having fun doing what he loved – "with no 'A' Level cert or university degree!" he added.
SELLING OUT
That was in the 1970s and 1980s. Ng, now 64, sports a crown of grey but withal walks with a spring in his step.
"After playing in all the top [music venues], I sat down one day and thought to myself: 'I need a stable job'," Ng disclosed. After trying his paw selling advertising for magazines and trading bolt, Ng institute his calling as a real estate agent for HRL Properties selling shophouses in Emerald Loma, Mohamed Sultan and Telok Ayer.
He liked that this was a niche market, and how at the time, shophouses were undervalued. Studying market cycles and taking reward of them made Ng a pretty penny. "You could purchase [a shophouse] in Emerald Hill for S$200,000. Mohamed Sultan shophouses were going for effectually the same [price]." This knack for calling the market brought him success not only in Singapore just too in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia.
The early on 1990s saw Ng relocate to London. Arriving at an opportune time with a market ripe for picking, Ng joined the firm Michael Elliott and chop-chop managed to broker the sale of a refurbished hotel. After, the house was awarded sole agency for a sizeable residential property, Kensington Green.
Ng soon became known equally the go-to guy for London property dealings amongst some of Singapore'due south elite. Across the British capital, Ng also brokered the sale of Hong Kong's JIA – Asia'due south first Philippe Starck-designed boutique hotel – which went on to form the stepping stones of Singaporean restaurateur Yenn Wong's legacy.
BUYING IN
In 2010, having made a decent profit from selling a building in Farringdon, central London, Ng decided to treat himself. He purchased what he had dreamed of owning for a long time: A Steinway & Sons piano, which he promptly shipped dorsum to his home in Singapore.
Having developed a taste for the good life in London's individual members' clubs such as 5 Hertford Street and The Arts Club, Ng yearned to recreate a similar experience in Singapore – an unpretentious atmosphere with just the correct amount of exclusivity, where deals are fabricated, secrets traded and cigars and fine whisky indulged in. This led him to gear up Robusto, a individual cigar bar in Orchard Road, which just passed its start decade mark.
DOUBLE OR Zilch
In 2019, Ng was presented with the opportunity to take over the floor above all-solar day French bistro atout in Dempsey Loma. Faced with a blank canvas, Ng dreamed of creating a tranquil, sophisticated jazz bar and listening lounge.
It'south intriguing that an acute trader would start a business with an uncertain turnover in a high rent district. "Many jazz bars fail," Ng stated candidly. "But when I saw the beautiful setting in [Dempsey Loma] and imagined classical music playing within, I knew I wanted this."
Artists needed an audience, Ng reasoned, and businessmen needed places to concur meetings. Many jazz musicians whom he had performed aslope rallied behind his jazz bar thought.
On its opening weekend, the likes of Jeremy Monteiro, Joanna Dong, Alemay Fernandez and a litany of other celebrated local musicians sang and played their hearts out at Maduro, a Castilian word that ways maturity and refers to the sophistication that comes with age.
ENCORE
Shuttling back and forth between London and Singapore every two months – he runs Michael Elliott Asia here – Ng's vision is for Maduro to be a venue for both high-stakes negotiations and laid-back jam sessions.
What about the fateful Steinway, the acquisition that led to the second resurgence of his musical career?
"Information technology's not here [in Maduro], but yous can come to my house to run across it," Ng laughed. "I wouldn't leave it here to let anyone and everyone bang on information technology." Instead, he leads us to a Yamaha piano that has been played by the who's who of the local jazz scene.
Ng starts playing Memory from Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber'southward Cats on the Yamaha. But instead of belting out its accompanying lyrics, he serves up a few anecdotes of wisdom. In summary: You can play beautiful music with just two fingers if you tin can sing the tune; if you lot brand a mistake, pretend you meant it every bit a jazz note and but become with it; know when to sustain, lighten and weight your deportment. "When people expect something, like for yous to return to a detail note, play something slightly different instead. This leaves a lasting impression, similar the lingering awareness in your mouth afterwards a spicy meal."
Ng also just finished recording a seven-track album, titled Journey with my Friends. "My friend and Gilded Horse Laurels-winning producer Ricky Ho happened to be gratuitous at the time, and so we sought out to tape a thank you note to all my friends." He gave out the CD to his friends and associates, asking for a donation to charity in return.
One particularly memorable track from the anthology is Ng's rendition of Fiddler On The Roof, in which he sprinkles several jazzy accidentals, before transcending into the very jovial, contemporary pop-sounding and universally recognisable major scale notes of If I Were A Rich Homo (written by Zero Mostel, but made a household tune by Gwen Stefani). He shared that the song is dedicated to his hardworking Jewish business partners in London, with whom he has broken bread in their homes.
Another song from the album, which Ng dedicated to no one in particular, is Cinema Paradiso. "It's a cute flick. I like this moving picture and this song very much because it's about a boy who makes information technology on his own and eventually comes dorsum to the movie theater he once frequented," he explained.
In a sense, it's very much a metaphor for his ain experience.
READ> How Johann Pachelbel'southward 'Canon in D Major' became the classic nuptials song
bernsteinwitheauted.blogspot.com
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/peter-ng-maduro-239796
0 Response to "How this real estate broker found second wind in his jazz music career"
Post a Comment