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Adventist Music - Psalms 119 & Memorizing Scripture Through Song — Lady Abigail Imperio · Adventist Podcast Network

0:00
I wanted to memorize texts, like scripture texts,
0:02
and I believe in the power of music. So I just
0:05
kind of like pulled these things together and
0:07
said, well, I wanted to memorize my Bible verses
0:12
and I can put some music to it. So now I actually
0:15
could say that I've memorized fairly a large
0:19
amount of texts from Psalms 119 because of practicing
0:22
and recording and writing and producing. Hey,
0:30
welcome to the Adventist music podcast This is
0:33
the show that talks about the stories of Adventist
0:35
musicians one song story at a time I'm your host
0:39
Khan and on today's show. We are talking with
0:42
I am talking with Lady lady is a musician that
0:47
has got a lot of experience in teaching So we're
0:51
going to be exploring some of her tracks that
0:53
she has made so stick around for that Welcome
0:57
to the show lady Thank you, Ken, for having me.
1:03
It's a blessing to be here. Yeah, it's a blessing
1:06
for me to have you on. So thank you so much for
1:08
joining. So why don't we just jump right into
1:10
it, lady? Okay. Can you tell us a time where
1:13
you felt inspired to be a musician? Wow, that
1:17
was a long time ago. I think it started when
1:20
I was a little kid, about eight or nine years
1:24
old. But before that, my family's always been
1:28
exposed to music. My dad's a pastor, so we sing
1:30
a lot in different churches. So I've always been
1:34
singing as a kid. I think the first time, though,
1:39
that I really been, you know, I felt that you
1:42
know, music is something that I want to pursue.
1:46
It was an accident, actually. I had like a literal
1:49
accident. I fell from a swing and I broke my
1:52
arm. So my two bones here, my radius and ulna
1:57
was broken. And so I was in a cast for about
2:02
a month. And I remember Oh no. Yeah, I was singing
2:07
for a church worship, our worship, and I was
2:11
in a cast. And I started crying after that because
2:15
I saw all these people in a church with two arms
2:19
and I was like, I don't have two arms. And after
2:23
that, I told my dad, dad, please. asked God to
2:27
heal me because if he heals me, I'm going to
2:30
dedicate my hand to him my whole life. And after
2:33
a month, he enrolled me in piano lesson. It's
2:36
just God's providence too because we couldn't
2:39
afford piano lessons during that time. But a
2:42
family friend from California. Her name is Corazon
2:47
Ku and she's a musician too. So she was the one
2:50
who sponsored me all throughout my elementary
2:52
years for piano. And then her son, Jonathan Ku,
2:58
became my professor in college. And he took me
3:02
in as a student, as a scholar. So that's all
3:07
God's providence. But yeah, it's... one event
3:10
after another, but I think that event of an accident
3:14
was probably what I would say the point where
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I decided like, you know, I need to do something
3:21
with my hands because when I'm healed, I'm going
3:24
to give it to God. So yeah, that's the story.
3:29
Nice, nice. That's really cool. So tell us more
3:32
about your music. Where can people listen to
3:34
your music? Well, right now I'm starting to,
3:38
you know, get into composing and writing music
3:42
and I'm just starting to put it out in YouTube.
3:46
They can listen to it in my Instagram page, Musical
3:49
Devotions, but they could just find me in my
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YouTube channel, Lady Abigail Imperio and...
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I post my songs there one at a time. Yeah. Nice.
4:02
I want to go back a bit with you to that time
4:04
where you had that accident and you started singing
4:10
in church and things. How did that impact your
4:14
life and who were the people who inspired you?
4:17
Yeah. Well, prior to that, this was in Northern
4:20
Luzon, Adventist College in Pangasinan. It's
4:23
Northern Philippines. There is a lady who plays
4:26
the piano in church and I've always admired her.
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I was like, oh, I wanted to be that person who
4:32
plays the piano in church. So I think that's
4:35
one of my earliest role models. My parents don't
4:39
play piano. My dad is a guitar player. I actually
4:42
learned guitar first, and then I learned the
4:44
ukulele and then piano. But I think she was my
4:50
first role model. We don't have classical music
4:53
at home. We've always just been singing. We even
4:57
don't have a piano at home. There's like no classical
5:02
background whatsoever. I even had to beg my mom
5:06
to buy me a piano for like years, like seven
5:09
years. And during family worship, that was the
5:12
first thing I wanted, like a piano. But definitely...
5:18
people who really just supported me. My piano
5:22
teacher, my first classical piano teacher, I
5:24
was under Suzuki method. She just took me in
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and she was like, you know, I see a potential
5:31
in her. I'm gonna take her as my student. If
5:34
you are willing, told my mom, my mom doesn't
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have any idea what classical music is, what piano
5:40
learning is. But she was like, you know, I see
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a potential in her. And I would just like, teach
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her. And then, of course, my sponsor from California,
5:53
she's also a musician. She very well known in
5:57
the Adventist music in the Philippines. And she
6:01
continued my education. So I look up to her too,
6:04
because everybody knows her. So yeah, those are
6:07
the people in my life that I would say that really
6:10
inspired me. Yeah, yeah. So you grew up in Pangasin
6:15
over in the Philippines and then you're now in
6:19
the United States. How did you end up studying
6:21
in South Carolina? Because I understand you got
6:23
a doctor of musical arts from the University
6:27
of South Carolina. Can you explain how that transition
6:30
took place? Yeah, that's a very interesting and
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a blessed journey, I would say a long journey.
6:39
When I was studying in the Philippines at Adventist
6:44
University of the Philippines, I actually wanted
6:47
to take psychology. Like that was my first choice.
6:50
I wanted to be a psychologist. But we went, my
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mom and I went to the psychology department and
6:56
of all things that would close, it was the psychology
7:00
that was closed. So we're like, oh, well. let's
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try music just to see. I don't even know what
7:07
the audition is like. So we went there and the
7:10
dean during that time, Mamron Killio, she was
7:14
like, oh, play something. And I don't have any
7:16
classical pieces ready. I just played like a
7:18
church piece, my tribute. And I didn't know that
7:21
it wasn't accepted. Like, oh, no, that's not
7:24
accepted as an edition piece. But, you know,
7:27
we can take the exam, like the written exam.
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And I didn't know anything about exams, too.
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So But I got in and I was like, okay, maybe this
7:38
is God's way of telling me that I could be a
7:42
musician, but I also love music already. And
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then during my college years, Jonathan Kuh, he
7:50
was my piano professor. He was actually the one
7:53
that prepared me to audition from day one, from
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my first piano lesson with him in my freshman
7:59
year. He was like, we're gonna audition and we're
8:02
gonna prepare for you to study abroad for your
8:05
masters. And I also had an auntie who studied
8:10
at Andrews University. And I look up to her and
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I was like, I wanted to study at Andrews University
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too. um her name is irene gavis i don't know
8:19
if you know her she took organ yeah she took
8:23
organ yeah she's him for worship yes yeah so
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when i was in high school like you know i always
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look up to her and i say well if she can go to
8:32
andrew's i would pray to god and i would you
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know pray a lot so that i could go there too
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um yeah and i kind of just you know like did
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what ever pieces my teacher told me he would
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give me this really weird 20th century pieces
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really complex prokofiev pieces and i don't understand
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but eventually that helped me to get into the
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program because they're looking for you know
9:02
like newer pieces or it sounds complex or whatever
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but um the Dean or no, the conductor from Andrews
9:15
University Orchestra went to the Philippines
9:18
in General Santos that was in Mindanao and I
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was working during that time at Central Philippine
9:27
Adventist College and I met him and I told him
9:31
my interest in studying at Andrews and he said,
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oh yeah, just send your resume, your audition
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and by that time I already had like my audition
9:40
recital tape. because my teacher prepared me
9:43
to do like a recital CD. So yeah, just submit
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it, just submit your requirements. And I'm going
9:50
to put in a good word for you because I worked
9:52
with him in a music camp. I was teaching the
9:55
kids how to play recorder and choir. And I worked
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alongside with him because he was teaching the
10:01
orchestra and the choir. So yeah, it was again,
10:06
I think God putting me with people who would
10:11
eventually helped me to get into Andrews. And
10:15
I think it started there. And from then on, it
10:19
was one event after another where sometimes I
10:22
would feel like, oh, this is the end. I'm going
10:24
to give up. I'm going to go home. But then God
10:27
will impress me to stay and just continue one
10:31
step at a time. It must've been hard, yeah, because
10:35
you're very far from home. Yeah. I also spent
10:39
some time in the United States studying. I got
10:41
a degree from Heartland College. And yeah, many
10:45
times we feel like when you're in that process,
10:48
like, oh, I could just give up right now and
10:49
go home. Yeah, a lot of times I think my faith
10:54
was really tested all these years. first of all,
10:59
Providence, like financial, where do I get the
11:02
money to pay for my tuition fee? It's always
11:05
a question. And as an international student,
11:07
we couldn't get loans or all these things that
11:10
American citizens have. So I would need to rely
11:14
on scholarships and assistantships and teaching
11:17
assistantships and working for Sunday churches
11:20
or having gigs, you know, to play for this event
11:25
or to accompany. students in school, so all the
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different gigs that you need to pull together.
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And definitely I could say that, you know, God
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has helped me through all those things. That's
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really nice. I really want to talk with you some
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more about one of your new songs on the podcast.
11:45
Like you said before, you have a YouTube channel
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and you are releasing music on the regular, your
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singles, right? And one of the songs that I really
11:56
liked was called How Can a Young Man Cleanse
11:59
His Way. Would you like to tell us a bit about
12:03
that song? Take us back to the time when you
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started to write the song. Yeah. Well, this was
12:09
during the time that I just graduated from my
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doctorate. This is probably two years ago. So,
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you know, I was in that time of my life where
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I was like, what next? Was it boredom? Was it
12:24
like, I don't know what I'm doing with my time
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because now I'm working as a full -time teacher
12:30
and my hours are in the afternoon because it's
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after school hours. And in the morning, I would
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just be like, what am I going to do with my time?
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But I've always liked I've always had this thought
12:44
maybe three to four years ago that I really wanted
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to make scripture songs. That has always been
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my passion because I think the first scripture
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song that I wrote was when I was like nine years
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old. I wrote a song from Jeremiah 29, 11. And
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then once in a while I would write scripture
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songs. That was also the time when I was really
13:08
wanting to know God in a deeper, meaningful way,
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in my own creative way. Because sometimes, you
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know, as artists, as musicians, sometimes getting
13:19
into the word or like language texts sometimes
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would like make me distracted or like I couldn't
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really connect to it. But once I put music, then
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boom that's there's a connection um i remember
13:36
my exam in my comps i couldn't memorize anything
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i couldn't memorize so what i did i took out
13:42
my flashcards and wrote like put tunes in that
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like even him tunes and. During the exam, I would
13:50
be humming the tunes in my head while writing.
13:54
So I wanted to write. I wanted to memorize texts
14:00
like scripture texts, and I believe in the power
14:03
of music. So I just kind of like pull these things
14:06
together and said, well, I wanted to memorize
14:09
my Bible verses and I can put some music to it.
14:14
So now I actually could say that I've memorized
14:17
fairly a large amount of texts from Psalms 119
14:21
because of practicing and recording and writing
14:24
and producing. So, yeah. Yeah, that was during
14:31
that time when I was just... wanting to know
14:34
what God wants me to do with my with my life.
14:36
And I've always been like, you know, performing
14:40
music, teaching music. But there's more to my
14:46
training that I could express better. And composition
14:50
is not my major. Like I haven't had any composition
14:55
classes except for one in my undergrad at AUP.
15:00
And But I've always, um, you know, like kind
15:05
of pulled my knowledge in piano and voice. In
15:09
fact, I think this whole Sam 119, um, songs is
15:15
more pianistic and the piano part is harder than
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the vocal part. Right. So, so from what I understand,
15:22
um, your doctorate is mainly in performing arts.
15:26
It's in piano pedagogy. So mostly in teaching.
15:29
Oh, I see. Okay. Most in teaching, right? Yeah.
15:33
So you've used your skills still, and I guess
15:36
your understanding of the piano sounds like the
15:38
arrangement was quite a bit of work for you.
15:41
Can you take us through that process? Yeah, so
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the process is because I'm not a composition
15:48
major and I don't have any experience with composition
15:51
is actually like a learning process for me too.
15:54
It's like a hit or miss. It's also trial and
15:58
error. So I finished all the songs, all the 22
16:02
songs probably like last year and I'm starting
16:06
to produce this year. But the composition process
16:09
last year is fairly simple. I would take out
16:12
my my phone with a voice recorder, and I would
16:16
just, you know, take out my Bible, and this is
16:19
the Bible that I use, and I would just go through
16:22
the new King James version, and I would hum tunes,
16:25
I would try it out. I was like, oh, it doesn't
16:27
sound that good. Sometimes I would sit on the
16:30
piano and hum some tunes and record it. And then
16:33
after that, like if I'm happy with what it...
16:38
what it is, probably like 30 minutes or like
16:42
an hour, I would try out some of those things.
16:45
I would go to a coffee shop and notate it because
16:48
I like working outside. So I would notate the
16:53
songs, which is numbers, actually just the melody.
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So, for example, one, two, three, two, one. And
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the tune is that. So I would write. with numbers.
17:03
And then I would write it in like a staff paper.
17:08
I was very old fashioned. Then I learned about
17:12
Sybilus because I said there's probably a way
17:15
to make this faster. So I downloaded Sybilus
17:19
and just bought some how to learn the technologies.
17:23
I bought like pads like this and then my mouse.
17:27
I learned how to connect it with my computer
17:30
so it's faster. That's probably the longest learning
17:34
curve or the hardest learning curve. It took
17:36
me probably like a week or two to figure that
17:39
out. And then I learned Logic Pro. So sometimes
17:44
now I was recording Logic Pro and then listen
17:48
to it and then transcribe it. Do you have like
17:52
a MIDI keyboard that you use to link up to my
17:55
logic? Yeah. And I also had to learn how to connect
17:57
all those things, the cables, um, watch YouTube
18:01
videos. Um, that was like the hurdle. I was like,
18:04
oh, this is, this is so hard, but I really wanted
18:07
to print this because I want to share this to
18:10
musicians and pianists and vocalists, you know.
18:15
That's awesome. Good for you. I'm so happy to
18:17
hear that and it sounds like a good learning
18:19
process for you and the composition of the song.
18:24
Yeah. And that's only the writing part because
18:27
the recording part also is... a lot of learning
18:31
because I had to learn microphone, what microphone
18:34
to use, the H6 Zoom, what audio interface. I
18:40
don't even know what that word means before,
18:42
but I had to learn that. Yeah, I would love for
18:49
our listeners when and had it had a listen to
18:52
your tracks Be inspired by these compositions
18:56
that you have made what message and feeling would
18:59
you like them to get from the song? Honestly,
19:03
um, you know music is very subjective When you
19:07
listen to music I couldn't dictate What you should
19:11
feel but the message that I wanted to put to
19:16
you know, in part is the beauty of God's Word.
19:20
That's probably just the main message because
19:22
I wanted to portray the nuances, the expression,
19:28
the pathos and the power of God's Word. The Psalms
19:32
is beautiful poetry and beautiful rhythm. I think
19:35
it's my favorite book in the Bible. Maybe as
19:38
an artist and as a musician, we can relate that
19:41
when I read, you know, when you read to it, David
19:44
uses a lot of metaphors. David uses a lot of
19:47
pictures. So I wanted to impart a message that
19:53
every scripture is inspired by God and it can
19:56
speak to any profession, whether you're a musician
20:01
or whether you are a scientist or a doctor or
20:05
a nurse or an engineer. So with this particular
20:09
work though, my target audience are like, you
20:12
know, musicians, vocalists, soloists, pianists,
20:16
because some of the songs are actually technically
20:19
harder in piano. Even me, I had to practice it.
20:22
I was like, this is hard. But for musicians,
20:27
I want a message, like a challenge to integrate
20:31
music in their study of the scriptures. Because
20:34
as a musician, sometimes I find it hard to focus
20:37
on the words or if there's a long sermon, it's
20:40
easy to get lost. But with music, you can probably
20:43
get a connection with your emotion because it
20:45
touches our brain in that way. I'm going to ask
20:49
you some rapid fire Christians now in the last
20:53
part of our episode as we're wrapping up for
20:55
today. All right. So first of all, who is your
20:59
favorite Bible character apart from Jesus? David.
21:03
David, why? He's a musician and he was called
21:07
a man after God's own heart because he has committed
21:12
a great sin, but he's also very repentant and
21:15
humble to accept his mistakes. And what's your
21:20
favorite potluck dish? You know what? Definitely
21:23
not haystack. I don't like haystacks. Oh, you
21:28
poor thing. But I think anything with tofu. Okay,
21:32
good choice, good choice. You got lots to select
21:35
from there. Yeah. If you could choose one Ellen
21:40
White book to read, your favorite, what would
21:43
it be? Desire of Ages. Desire of Ages. Why would
21:49
it be Desire of Ages? I've read it maybe twice
21:52
or three times and every time, you know, I'm
21:56
really touched, especially with the last scenes
21:59
of Jesus' life. But also just the way that Alan
22:03
White portrays the beginning of Jesus' life.
22:06
And it's so vivid to me and it makes me want
22:10
to read the Gospels more and to just be closer
22:14
to reading God's word more whenever I read it.
22:19
So next question. Sabbath afternoon activity.
22:22
What is your favorite Sabbath afternoon activity?
22:25
Ooh, that's a lot. It changes from Sabbath to
22:30
Sabbath. Some Sabbaths I like to hike and kayak.
22:34
Some Sabbaths I like to sit in my room and make
22:37
some scripture songs. And some Sabbaths I like
22:39
to hang out with some of the church members and
22:44
my friends in church. Yeah. Awesome. Are you
22:47
an early bird or a night owl? Early bird. Yeah,
22:51
I wake up today. I woke up at like maybe five
22:54
sometimes, but usually I would wake up at six.
22:57
In the morning, what's the first thing you have?
22:59
Tea, coffee, Milo or water? Tea. I was going
23:06
to say water, but that would be lying. Ideally,
23:11
you should be water, but tea. Okay, okay. You
23:15
like to sip tea while you read the Bible or something?
23:18
Yes, I like roast tea. Yeah, I'm actually okay.
23:23
So this is a fact, fun fact about me. I'm a tea
23:27
connoisseur. You call that like, you know, like
23:30
you're really passionate about tea. I am very
23:33
passionate about tea, roast tea, jasmine. I even
23:36
have like a list of tea that I wanted to take
23:38
in the morning so that I don't forget to take
23:41
some of those teas. that I buy. Oh, wow. And
23:44
I buy from farmers markets, from my travels and
23:49
from online. Yeah. Wow, that's awesome. So it
23:54
sounds like you had like a schedule, like Monday,
23:56
you're having this too. Yeah, yeah. Wow. You
24:00
really are a tico. So that is interesting. OK,
24:05
here is another question for you. What is a hidden
24:09
talent that no one knows about you? Ooh, I'm
24:14
an open book. Um, I don't know if this is a talent.
24:19
I can camp alone. I don't know. Is that a talent
24:23
or is it just... I guess so. Not many ladies
24:28
can do that, right? I can do like wilderness
24:31
camp, like primitive camp. Where did you learn
24:34
that from? Who taught you how to do that? Nothing.
24:37
I just like adventures. I don't know, I just
24:41
like adventure. Some of my friends would tell
24:45
me, you know, that's not safe, it's dangerous,
24:48
but I probably just did it once or twice because
24:51
my friends keep telling me I shouldn't do it.
24:54
But I don't know if that's a talent. I don't
24:58
know either. I guess it's a good way to definitely
25:01
use your time. So if time is a talent. It's recreation.
25:06
Everyone needs to learn how to do it. Yeah, I
25:09
can cook different dishes from all around the
25:12
world. For example? Korean dish or Japanese or
25:17
Thai. So I love cooking. So that's probably a
25:21
talent that most people don't know because they
25:23
only see me as a musician. But I do cook. Some
25:28
people say well, but I cook decent. I like your
25:34
humility. Okay. Last question. Last question
25:40
here. If you were asked, what would you rather
25:43
do? Okay. Would you rather preach an unprepared
25:46
sermon or sing a music solo? Sing a music solo.
25:53
Yeah. Yeah. Speaking. Like, you know, it makes
25:59
me really nervous. I came here very nervous about
26:03
what I'm going to say. I had to like really write
26:06
the outline and like prepare my thoughts because
26:11
I'm not good at speaking. Did you find that helpful
26:15
for this interview? Yeah. Because this is not
26:19
a sermon, it's more relaxed, but it still gives
26:22
me some kind of anxiety. So sermon would definitely
26:26
give me a lot of anxiety. Yeah. When was the
26:30
last time you preached a sermon? Probably in
26:32
college. I did some talks here and there, you
26:35
know, like when I prepare, when I do my recitals,
26:38
I would present some lectures. But to me, it's
26:42
a little different when you're lecturing and
26:44
you're doing a sermon. because it's more interactive.
26:50
Yeah. I prefer to do teaching than preaching.
26:55
This is my style too. I find it more interactive,
26:59
more interesting. You can do fun stuff with the
27:02
people. Whereas I think that sometimes preaching
27:05
sermons Oh, it's good. And it has its place.
27:08
It's just a, it's a bit of a monologue. Yeah.
27:10
And I want it structured. Yeah. And I want, I
27:13
like sermons that are structured and I don't
27:15
think I could be like very structured if I'm
27:19
just babbling words. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True.
27:24
Well, I have learned a lot about you and this
27:27
Reprify Christian section. Thank you so much
27:29
for sharing. Thank you. Yeah. It's good to have
27:34
you on the podcast today, lady. I hope they learned
27:38
something and I hope you're blessed, inspired
27:41
somehow to create scripture songs or whatever
27:46
gifts God has given you to just use it because
27:50
we have time in our hands. And if you don't have
27:53
time to make time really to be closer to God
27:57
in whatever way we can, and He inspires us to.
28:01
Well, thank you for listening to this episode
28:03
of Adventist Music. That brings us to the end
28:06
of this episode, but it's not the end if you
28:09
would like to listen to more. We have more interviews
28:12
with musicians in the Adventist Church community.
28:16
So check us out on YouTube or on Instagram or
28:18
Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts.
28:20
If you did like this episode, make sure to give
28:22
it a share with your friends. Give us a five
28:26
-star rating wherever you listen to the podcast.
28:28
It really helps us to grow. Also, if you have
28:31
any questions, feel free to reach out to me.
28:35
You can email me at khan at BlueVineyard .com
28:38
and I will try my best to answer your questions.
28:42
Or if you have any requests for musicians to
28:45
come on the show, let me know. You can also reach
28:48
out to me on WhatsApp as well. I will put that
28:51
into the description below. Thank you for listening
28:53
to the show. Lady, I really appreciated it that
28:56
you took the time today to talk with me and hopefully
28:59
we can do it again soon. Thank you. No problem
29:02
at all. And next time, maybe when you when you're
29:06
releasing your next album on Psalms 120, give
29:10
me a call. Yeah, I know, but but when you when
29:12
you create the sequel, the new the next. OK,
29:15
got it.