[Main visual] Lopeno Ovung Queah
Brand Stories

Lopeno Ovung Queah

Music teacher, Artist

We sat down with Lopeno Ovung Queah to discuss her career so far and thoughts around music and education.

We would like to know about you and your journey experience into Music.

I am Lopeno Ovung Queah. I was born and raised in Kohima, Nagaland (situated in north-eastern part of India) and I was introduced to music from an early age through hymns and chorus singing in the church. My parents are not musicians but their love for music encouraged and supported me towards picking music as my profession. The first musical instrument that I owned was an acoustic guitar, I learnt a chord when I was 10 years old and that hooked me to music.

I was introduced to Drums, rock and metal music in high school through some of my classmates, In my formative years, there wasn’t any music schools providing drum lessons, nor the facility of the internet, so I picked up drumming mostly by ear through listening to cassettes on a tape recorder. I started playing drums when I was 15.

In 2002 I started teaching drums in Nagaland, I was gigging and couldn’t commit full time but my experience as a student at Yamaha Music School Singapore, in 2004, changed my perspective on Music education, which steered me towards taking up teaching full time.

[Photo] Lopeno Ovung Queah

How would you describe your relationship with Music?

I love challenges and Music is a beautiful subject which I intend to listen, play, and study till my last breath. In 1996 I formed a female band which was not heard of in India at that time. Nagaland used to be one of the highly disturbed areas back then and sometimes situations were not favourable to hang out with the male band members or to perform late night with them, so I formed an all-female band as well to overcome this situation and we enjoyed our time together. Unfortunately, when we moved to different colleges for studies we had to disband, however my conviction and passion for Music only grew stronger.

[Photo] Lopeno Ovung Queah

How do you describe your relationship with music education?

The joy of sharing knowledge is the core reason why I enjoy teaching. In 2007 when I started teaching in New Delhi, I had an unusual experience, before this I had never seen any parent who wanted to enrol their kid in a music school requesting and audition of the teacher, it is always the other way round, but since drumming industry is dominated by males, I believe they wanted to make sure I can teach. I was surprised but not vexed, and I was happy that I got the opportunity to introduce a wonderful instrument such as drums and drumming to children.

As a music teacher, we must understand that every child is different, so I always make sure all the resources are ready for a smooth running of the class and keep a tab of the progress and the regression of all my students, I celebrate their achievements as it is important to understand each child’s shortcomings and help them in overcoming them, which further instils confidence. Apart from imparting the skill to play an instrument, I also get the chance to instil self-discipline, compassion, patience, and honesty. I know that not every student of mine is going to choose music as their profession, but I believe that one day they will grow up to be responsible adults and music would help them in continuing their journey with positive humane values.

[Photo] Lopeno Ovung Queah

What changes are required to empower more women and girls in the field of music?

In my opinion not only piano and singing, but exposure to different musical instruments from an early age, in a girl child friendly environment will have a tremendous effect. Equal opportunity and support to make a career in music is vital to empowering more girls and women in the field of music.

Please share your message for next generation.

Always have a dream, big or small it doesn’t matter. Be true to yourself and work towards achieving it. Music is a universal language, and one can communicate and understand different cultures and be a part of them. It is a language that everyone must experience.

View Dr. Nadia's Journey