Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Siobhan Plouffe & Calvin Wong & Jade Deatherage & Bonson Lee

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Siobhan Plouffe & Calvin Wong & Jade Deatherage & Bonson Lee. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Siobhan & Calvin & Jade & Bonson, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Calvin – On a slow morning, I like to put on some music on the turntable while I hand pour some coffee.

Jade – Truthfully it’s a scramble to get out of bed and headed to work but if I have an open morning, I like to get some stretching, reading, and plenty of coffee in. Sometimes, if I’ve got the time, I like to bake bread.

Siobhan – I’ve been training for a half marathon so most mornings include a longer run before it gets too hot outside!

Bonson – Typically it is spent getting ready for the day, making myself espresso, and then driving 40 minutes to GCC where I am the saxophone professor!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We are Kodachrome, a saxophone quartet based in Phoenix, Arizona. Like our namesake, we believe in showcasing colorful and vibrant pieces of music through storytelling. We formed four years ago as graduate students at Arizona State University and have gone on to win first place in several national and international competitions such as the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, to name a few. Currently, we are working on new compositions that we have commissioned and are also working on growing a community here in Phoenix, as well as in other locations we have traveled to as a quartet.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
Calvin – Even though my mom isn’t a professional musician, she taught me the most about communication, work ethics, and professionalism.

Jade – My teammates, coworkers, and collaborators over the years have taught me the most about work. There’s nothing like working hard together towards a common goal.

Siobhan – My mom also taught me the most about work and work ethic. She was always pushing herself to aim for a high standard and encouraged me to do the same! She taught me that the journey is often more valuable than the end result.

Bonson – My parents taught me the most through their work ethic in their jobs and hobbies.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
It has been very difficult at times to continue working as a “long distance” group, if you will! We now have to work harder to coordinate our schedules to find time to rehearse, delegate more money towards travel in our budget, and consider what performances are most important for us and what we want this group to look like 5, 10 years down the line. However, when we rehearse and perform together, it is always clear that we absolutely love making music together and that we don’t want this group to change so we do what we can to keep going!

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, I would say so! As musicians, it wouldn’t be odd if we had a “stage personality” as many famous musicians do, however we believe that it is really important that people watch and get to know the real us. The way we are on stage, online and in person is the way we are in our everyday lives, and I hope that gives audiences a sense that they really understand us and our passions and mission.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
We are doing what we were born to do! If we were doing what we were told to do, I think we would all have much less interesting careers. Obviously, pursuing music as a profession can be quite challenging, but we have all found a way to pursue many different aspects of music while earning a living for ourselves and finding time to create art we feel passionate about. Careers in music can look like many different things, and I think pursuing this quartet as a business and growing it into something bigger than any of us thought was possible is us working extremely hard to pursue the impossible dreams we all had as kids. We all work incredibly hard to maintain and grow this quartet and I think that is because we know deep down that we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else doing anything else. This was always the dream!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kodachromequartet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kodachromequartet/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kodachromequartet
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KodachromeQuartet
• Other: We will be on Spotify and Apple Music soon!

Image Credits
Brittany Lee