A Solo Act

For Ouyang Nana, the 18-year-old Taiwanese cellist and actress, life is about having and making choices, and fame is just one of them.

- Guan Tan

“I WOULD SAY it’s my choice. I could definitely lead a simpler, normal life,” says a stoic Ouyang Nana as she stares straight into the mirror before her, avoiding my gaze. It’s rather awkward to hold a conversation this way, but the 18-year-old was cautious with her responses to my questions during our interview in Beijing, right after our cover shoot. Her carefully thought-through replies are perhaps a result of being constantly under the unrelenting and hawk-eyed scrutiny of the Chinese press and the public, which have, on many occasions, picked on and criticised her every move.

Ouyang was just six years old when she took up playing the cello. At 10, she performed solo, live on national television. On her 12th birthday, she held a birthday recital at the Chinese Culture University’s concert hall in Taipei, performing a slew of classical pieces for a hundred attendees. In the same month, she pulled off her first solo cello recital at Taipei’s National Concert Hall of Taiwan. It was an admirable undertaking for such a young girl, one that the local media still mention in their articles today.

Yet, such success didn’t come easy for Ouyang. Those early years were marked by unceasing practice and tenacity in spirit to give it all she had. “Everyone has a certain determination in different fields, but especially in the things that they enjoy — that is if you are able to find that one thing. And I found something that I enjoyed when I was young,” says Ouyang.