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Normally, I start walking and hold the same position currently.
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I had asked for the same picture many a times.
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Welcome back to another episode of the Piano Pod where tradition meets innovation, we
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bridge the timeless beauty of the piano with the dynamic pulse of today's world. I am your friend
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and host of the show, Yukimi-san. So what did you think about the opening episodes of the season?
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Episode 1 brought us the incredible Dr. Michael Kakoff, a concert pianist who's not just a
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scrubbing expert but also a recording artist known for his interpretation of list pieces.
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And then in episode 2, I had the pleasure of chatting with the brilliant minds behind
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A Seat at the Piano, aka ASAP, Annie Zheng, Brendan Jaclyn, Evan Hines, and Susan Yang.
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ASAP is a platform to raise the voices of composers who have been less heard or historically
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excluded or underrepresented. I'm curious about your take on our recent conversations with Michael
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and the team of A Seat at the Piano and would love to hear from you. Connect with us on social
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media or leave your thoughts on our website at thepianopod.com. Remember, your insights play a
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crucial role in guiding the future of our show. For this episode, I am thrilled to introduce Mr.
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Ludovic Zamora, a Canadian-American concert pianist and recording artist known for his unique talent
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and unrivaled performances. Let me quickly highlight his career by citing his bio.
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Mr. Zamora's musical journey began under the guidance of his father, diving deep into the
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intricacies of the piano at a young age. His teenage years marked significant achievements
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as an emerging pianist, including his solo debut at the prestigious Wild Recital Hall in Carnegie
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Hall at 18. Earlier this year, he released his debut romantic era classical piano solo album
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titled Amor. This achievement propelled him to the forefront of the 2023 classical music scene.
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His journey is a testament to his unwavering dedication to music. He believes in the power
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of devotion, emphasizing that true magic happens when one is fully observed in their passion.
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Before continuing with this episode, I'd like to welcome you who is listening or watching the
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Pianopod for the first time. I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City. Whether
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you're diving deep into a piano career, working professionally in the classical music scene,
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or simply have a passion for piano tunes, this podcast is your backstage pass. In each episode,
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I interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting new ground in the classical music
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industry. Before getting started, I want to thank amazing TPP fans and listeners for tuning in.
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Please rate and review the show on your favorite podcasting platform because every rating review
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will help people find the show. Oh, before I forget, I want to apologize to you, my friends.
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During the interview session with Ludovic, I forgot to turn on my microphone, this mic
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that I usually use and turn on during the taping of the show. If you are watching this episode on
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YouTube, you will see it in front of my face, but it was not on. So the sound quality of my voice is
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not that great. So what happens is that when this external microphone is not turned on,
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the recording platform that I use automatically selects the built-in microphone on my computer
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as an input device, which captures the sound and noise in the room, not focused on my voice.
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So my vocal quality during the interview is not so great and muffled. So, oh well, after three years
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of podcasting, I still forget to turn on my microphone or something had happened. I am
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not really sure. So I apologize to you everyone. And but I promise to you that content of this
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show is amazing. Thanks to my wonderful guest Ludovic, we discussed his exciting journey as a
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concert pianist and recording artist, focusing on his passion for music in the romantic era
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and delving into a timely topic such as life as an artist in the post pandemic era and more.
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So these discussions will lead us to a more introspective conversation on a topic such as
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the importance of exploring our sense of purpose as classical musicians in society.
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We even talked about artificial intelligence, how the tech of AI is changing our lifestyle.
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So let's begin this fun episode with a guest concert pianist, recording artist, Mr. Ludovic
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Zamor. Please enjoy the show. You are listening to the Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest
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minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
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So welcome to the Piano Pod, Ludovic. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much. And it's
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really nice to finally meet you. We've been communicating for a few months on social media, and finally
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the day has arrived. By the way, what a lovely name. Yeah, my school attendance was awful when I
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was growing up with it, but now it actually as an artist, it has a little bit of flair to it.
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Of course, and I understand that your father is a pianist. Yes, he's not professional. He's actually
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a doctor, but he grew up playing the piano and then as he had children, he tried to force on us.
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Did your parents intentionally name you after Ludovic Bambeitogon?
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Ludovic? As in Ludovic? Maybe, I'm not sure. I'm actually a junior myself. I don't know where it
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came from, but I guess it fits and you're kind of destined with the name. Yeah, no pressure.
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What is it called? Like, now, determination, something like that? Yes, or like a strong will
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or something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have been listening to your solo album, Amor, which
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truly showcases and captures the essence of romantic era and displays your passion for the
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music of the time period. This album was released earlier this year, right? Yes, it was. It was
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released earlier in July. It was a long time coming. I wanted to release it in 2020, but my
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original plan was a tour with it on concert and then after the tour and concerts, then release the
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album. So, what was the main inspiration behind this album? I wanted to create an album that felt
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like a journey to listen to, like you can listen to it and connect emotionally and feel as if you're
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on a trip, just enjoying it. And to have both the balance of the virtuosic side and then also the
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conservative side, like the same way how, you know, the war of the romantics being Brahms and Liszt
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and everything like that, but just to have a good dichotomy between both. And why the title Amor?
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I mean, maybe it's not completely a rhyme with your last name, but you know, without the Z,
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it's Amor. Is that what it is? Well, Amor is a direct translation for love, and I guess it fits
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because you can't write in Zamora without love. But part of it was, I thought, as literal as it is
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to have a romantic album with love within it. And I thought it was a little bit poetic. Yeah, it is
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indeed. And so, let's talk about the choice of your repertoire. You started with October from
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Tchaikovsky's seasons, and it's such an, you know, iconic piece in such a way that really captures
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the essence of romanticism, right? And then followed by Volkaliz, and I love the panel
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transcription by Zoltan Koshas, yes. I opened with the Tchaikovsky piece. This set is exactly
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what I would play in concert for at least this season. And in the past, I've always opened with,
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like, you know, big showy pieces like, you know, the Fantasy Stook or anything like that. And
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I found it as a bad habit to start off, you know, really hot. So I wanted to start off really slow
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and, you know, warm into it. And it was a good, somber beginning to it. The seasons, out of all
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of those pieces, I felt like the October, the autumn song was very emotional, especially emotional.
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And opening with it set a really great mood for the concert I was trying to set. And as for the
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Volkaliz, it was, at least the Volkaliz itself is one of my favorite tunes. And the Zoltan Koshas
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transcription with the more arpeggios at the end, it just was a joy to play. And especially for a
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person who loves, like, you know, the Lycian type of the world and everything like that,
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I just gravitated to it naturally. Yeah, that arrangement is very special. I think
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there are a lot of variations in terms of the, you know, transcriptions. There's a variation with,
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you know, string instrument and the piano and so forth. But this arrangement, especially as you
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mentioned before the end of the section where I arpeggiated, it just creates a lot of emotional
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stuff. And, you know, you've also, one of my favorites from the album is the Nocturne in C
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minor. I played it myself too. And your interpretation is, you know, very sensitive,
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yet passionate in capturing the nuances of, you know, Chopin. And, but I really appreciate that
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fact that you don't start so fast. A lot of people do. Yeah, well, there's actually a story behind it
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too, and we'll eventually get into that. But I felt as if the way I wanted to interpretate that
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piece, it was, I looked at it through the lens of almost like a Liszt etude, kind of, where they were
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presenting a theme and I wanted that theme to be so apparent and so digestible. And then towards the
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end to not just throw it in your face, but just to show the capabilities of the piano on the same
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white list with it. And, you know, honestly, the tempo you took, you know, from the right, on the
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right hand from the first note G to the next note A flat, that gap to feel, because, you know, piano
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once you play that note, it's gone, right? But to be able to connect the G to A flat with that tempo
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is, wow, I was very impressed. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Is it Andante su suenando at the beginning,
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the tempo marking? I don't remember. At least from my edition, it had no tempo marking whatsoever.
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So it was kind of like, it's open to interpretation. I also got a bunch of flack from some educators
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because they were like, you're playing like Hungarian rap city, you know, kind of, but especially
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when you're on the stage, you have a little bit more liberties and stuff like that. And it's not
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that I don't care about critics, but I want to make a performance at least. And when I think about
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that, I have a little bit more liberties, I think. There's something so simple yet gentle about your
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playing and thought and emotional, emotion-provoking too. So I really enjoyed. And I mean, you played
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Brahms and then lastly, oh, MoMA musical, number three and number four. Yeah, the direct translation
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to English is musical moment. The number three is in number four by Rachmaninoff. Those were
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my favorite. And it's actually in the future, I want to play all six of them in concert, but that's
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in the future after I learned them. Amongst the six, I felt like the three and the four, they were
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exactly the fitting within the concert type where you have the dichotomy between the emotional side,
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the almost slow and reserved, and then you have the more bombastic, virtuosic side. And to play
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them in a set between three and four directly after each other fits exactly what I wanted to do.
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Tell us, the challenges and triumph from the day you conceived the idea of this project
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to the day of release, like, you know, for example, choices of repertoire to marketing. So
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tell us the moment of you felt like, well, I did something to, you know, there are moments where
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we always struggle with certain things. So when I originally wanted to play all these pieces in
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a concert, I had Paganini etudes, I had Chopin Balots in there and everything like that.
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And as I was studying for all of this, it was during the pandemic, so I had all the time in
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the world. And it was almost as if, you know, you buy more than you can chew, kind of. So I had to
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be a little bit more reasonable and everything like that. I had to cut some pieces out and then I
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eventually settled on what I still have now. And even then some people say like, as I'm like,
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if I would go to a piano store, just so you know, tickle the keys or so, people like you play all
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of that in concert. But it is a daunting repertoire to play. But it is fun at the end of it. But as
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for the biggest challenges of it was actually recording day when I recorded the album. And the
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day before I actually got bit by a spider. And yeah, it was very disappointing because I did not
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become Spider-Man. But yeah, I got bit by this venomous spider and my throat closed up to a
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point where I felt like I was breathing through a straw. And when it came time to record the
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studio, record in the studio, you know, I did not want to defer even longer. So I just went through
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with it. And it felt like my ears were underwater. I was running a fever the whole entire day. And
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even till today, I still have a little bit of like a frog in my throat. Oh my goodness. Yeah, it was
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very challenging to record the whole entire thing. And if you actually listen closely to some of the
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pieces, you can actually hear me wheezing in the background. But it was, I didn't feel as if I was
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100% when recording everything. But I tried my best. Well, but I think maybe that's one of the
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reasons. I mean, I don't want to give credit to this evil spider. Oh, I hope there are no spider
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enthusiasts, but I murdered that spider and their whole entire family afterwards.
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But what did it happen when you were at home practicing or something?
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It might be a personality quirk, but I believe like a clean room is a clean mind kind of thing.
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So especially before a big performance or a big recording day or something like that,
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I would just go find something to clean. And I happened to go into my garage and that was my
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mission for the day, clean garage. And there happened to be a spider in the way for me.
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Oh, wow. Okay. Wow. But you know, it's, I think in the long run, when you become a certain agent,
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look back, this spider, the whole situation will be sort of, you're part of the legacy
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of your as a recording artist, right? Yeah, it's a good story to have under your belt,
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at least. Yeah, sure. But I'm glad you made it through the recording. So can you walk us through
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your recording process? My recording process, it's mostly, I want to say before every piece I play,
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I just try to remember in my head or just repeat the mantra of just trying to remain intentional.
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And what is the purpose I'm trying to convey? And that's why I keep running through my mind,
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whether it's a piece where I'm trying to personify love or deep emotion, or if it's not so much in
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this repertoire, but some other pieces, for example, if I was playing an etude or something
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like that, what technique am I trying to show? But it's all about remaining intentional.
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So then I'm also curious about brand as well, let's talk about this album, for example. So
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to select certain pieces, you think about your listeners as well, right? Not just you that,
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of course, you want to play certain pieces, but I'm sure you think about your audience too.
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So what did you have in your mind in terms of your listeners? I would say I wanted to
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not just have easy listening, but let's go with saying this. I remember in 2018, I had a good
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season where I was very, very productive. I'd wake up at four o'clock every morning, meditate,
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and then go to the beach, as we're in Long Island, you know, the beach is always 20 minutes away.
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And as I would go to the beach, I would always put on either a Katipinatichuli album or a
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Rubenside album. And when I would listen to those, I would just walk and I guess get in the zone.
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And I wanted to recreate the same type of feeling of, I guess, just pure emotion and for them,
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for the listener rather, to zone out and just completely appreciate the music, not to throw
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anything so much in their face as if it was like, you know, the Hungarian raps, like number six or
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something like that, but just to have them just flow with it. And that's what I wanted to choose
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when I chose my pieces. So nothing is too in your face, nothing is too bombastic, but it's still
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showcase virtuosity. So you mentioned two artists now. So are these artists, are they heavily
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heavily influenced the sound or direction of this album? Most definitely. It was interesting
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because I grew up listening to, I guess, like part of the reason why I have, I guess, somewhat of a
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good ear is because my father, he would always, every piece I would listen to, I would either
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have a Horowitz recording or a Rubenside recording to listen to as comparison, or this is where the
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ceiling is, or this is where you're trying to strive for it. And as I would listen to these pieces
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and especially the tone quality, especially from Arthur Rubenside, it felt as if the piano was
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completely different instrument. And when I was searching for studios to record my album, I wanted
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a piano that would, to have a more reminiscent tone. So that was what I was looking for. And as for
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Cuddebune, essentially one album that I listened to many, many times was her Motherland album.
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Are you familiar with that one? It's fantastic. But as I would listen to it, it recreated that same
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feeling that I always wanted, like a journey. A journey. Beautiful. Well, speaking of journey,
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so let's turn the clock backwards. So, so you know, you've gone through this phase of your life right
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now, but I'm sure there is a story of beginning. And as I mentioned briefly, in, you know, as I was
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reading your bio, your father was the first person to introduce you to this world of classical music.
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Sounds like, is it true? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. So can you tell us how did you discover the love of
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music? By the way, by the way, before we start, I love the background. What a beautiful house you
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live in. And then, and I see that I can see the Steinway piano. Tell us a little bit about the
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piano. What is this? Is it B or A or what? This is a Steinway model D. And it was... D? Is it concert D?
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Yeah, it's a concert grand. Yeah, I'm very lucky. We didn't always have it. But actually growing up,
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I started learning on a Baldwin SF-10. And our house back then had no type of air conditioning,
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no type of humidity control or anything like that. So the piano naturally became really,
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really heavy. So I think that is probably some of the reason why I actually gained a good technique
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because you're forced to really work at it. But my dad was my first teacher. He's actually a doctor.
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He's not a professional musician, but he grew up learning the piano. And when he had children,
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he wanted to teach them. And I was only one of his kids actually stuck with it. And I guess
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he had a good trial because I was the last kid. So he learned his mistakes until me. We learned.
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And it was until I was seven or eight when he realized like, Oh God, we have to give him a
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better teacher because there's almost as much as he can teach me. So I hopped around from teachers
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to teachers for a couple of years until I found Karen Amato. She's actually based in Long Island
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and she stuck with me for, I want to say 20 years. Wow. Wonderful. That's, that's beautiful. So you're
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right now currently based in Long Island, right? Yes, I am. Okay. So you had a wonderful teacher
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for 20 years, but who are the other influences and training mentors maybe? I still see Karen every
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now and then. It was only like, I think right after college, she was telling me like, you know,
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we have to get you another teacher because we're neck and neck and there's only how much we can
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teach you. So, you know, she's trying to push me off to other people, whether it was pro music judges
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or something like that. But I eventually found myself with the late Abraham Sternclar. He was
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a renowned concert pianist and chamber musician. And he actually was professor at one point.
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And I actually met him when I was, I think seven years old and I performed and I forgot which one,
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but it was a random competition. And then it was just, I guess, Kismet that we eventually met each
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other later in life. And he took me as his pupil and learning from him was a dream because as I
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later became more professional, I focused more on intention. And as I was with this old master,
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it was like every word that he spoke, every lesson that he taught was gold. So I tried to cling to
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every single, you know, lesson that he taught. And it was just, it was amazing to be around him. And
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if you want to hear a funny story, at one point I was going to one of our lessons and these lessons
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were gone for two hours and such. And from day one, he always said, never be late. And as you know,
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New York City potholes are atrocious. And at one point I hit one of the potholes and not only did
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I burst a tire, but I bent a rim. That's how bad the pothole was. And I drove an extra 15 miles on
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a bent rim just to get to my lesson on time. And as I got there, I was like, listen, listen, I am
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the number one because I got here, even though I had a bent tire and everything. And he was like,
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oh, you got here on a bent wheel, world's smallest violin, boohoo. When I was younger, I was dodging
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bullets in Israel and Palestine because that's where he was from. And it was just, it was funny
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because he was telling me when he was in his conservatory, he had to cross a street that was,
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I guess, in dispute between Palestine and Israel. And every time a student or a child would walk by,
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they wouldn't aim at them, but they would just aim in the vicinity just to scare the people.
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And essentially every time I had to go to school, he had to dodge bullets. But it was just,
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that's the type of professionalism that I grew up with.
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Talking about tough. Wow. That's tough stuff. Ben, you mentioned that you'd like to talk about
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Abraham Sterncler's scholarship program and the Wilburton Scholarship Program. So were you the
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recipient of these scholarship programs? No, actually, as I have my concert career,
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and I guess we're hearing it first from here, every time I perform and I want to
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allocate an amount of the proceeds or the profits towards these funds that I'm making.
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And they're going to go to, whether they are undergraduate students or high school students,
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I want to donate it as charity. And that's the story behind Abraham Sterncler. He was one of my,
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I want to say, professional inspirations. And as for William Burden, he was my first ever manager.
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And they actually both passed away from COVID in 2021. But- Oh my goodness. Why though? I'm sorry
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to hear that. It was rough because they passed one month away from each other. And they were
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each other and I lost both of them at the same time, essentially. Oh my goodness. Yeah. William
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Burden, he was a very, very kind man. And it was, I want to say he was my first ever, I guess,
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contact on the business side of show business. And he was, I would say, the kindest awakening to it.
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And he was just a very sweet man that was essentially asked for nothing. And he was more
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than fair. And I found that when we would do projects, sometimes he would just do them for
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gratis. He would not want anything out of it. And not only did that, he did that with me, but he
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would also do that with other young professionals or other people fresh out of college. And he gave
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people chances. He opened doors for people. And I want to do the same thing for other young
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professionals as I succeed. Wow. There are so many wonderful people like that in our industry,
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right? And really sacrifice their time and their life to dedicate to mentor and educate
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someone with the potential, someone with the dedication. That's amazing. You mentioned that
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your performance, the concert proceeds partially goes to these two foundations, two programs to
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help other young musicians, correct? I am going to start going to high schools after I start
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performing. And I'm going to try to find a couple, a couple of kids who are, I guess, hungry for it.
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And whether it's a small amount, whether it's a large amount, just to get the ball rolling,
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to make them feel as if they're supported the same way I have. That's beautiful. Okay. Then I also
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want to talk about your concert career. So you had just one big, memorable concert at the Historical
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Theater, The Space on May 21st in Westbury, New York, which is your home. Yeah. Tell us about the
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concert. So we had the choice of having, I guess, a premiere concert for my set. And I chose to do
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in my hometown. There are two major theaters. There is the NYCB. I don't know if you're familiar,
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but it has like a circular stage and it's just a large amphitheater. And then they also had The
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Space, which is, I guess, more of a more traditional setting where it's just, it's open that way.
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And I chose that one because it was a lot more aesthetically pleasing. And this was in, as you
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said, May, right after 2022. And this was right after the pandemic. So a lot of people were
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actually worried about coming out, especially right after the pandemic. So it was not anywhere near
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filled to capacity. And it was actually really sad because earlier in my career, I made a good habit
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because I heard some advice to get email listings to everyone that goes. So that is part of the
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reason why I would ever have good attempts for concerts. So when I threw this concert, I had
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hundreds of emails saying, sorry, I'm not coming because we're elderly and we don't want to risk it.
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But I'm still very thankful for all of the people that still came despite the risk.
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What did you play? Did you play some of the pieces from your album?
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I played the whole album. And then on top of that, I played a Scriabin A-Tube at the end of it.
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Wow. Which Scriabin A-Tube?
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I believe the number 12. There's always escapes me. It was not the, it's not the Opus 42. I think it
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was the of the 12 A-Tubes, the 12th one. Okay. Wonderful. That's a great piece. You mentioned,
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you know, while we were communicating, you said you want to talk about journey back to feeling
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ready to perform. So are you referring to your mindset towards performing in front of the audience
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after the pandemic? Yes. One thing that I found so interesting, and I never thought about that before
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in my whole entire life, I stayed in reasonably good shape. And during the pandemic, I actually
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gained 70 pounds because I couldn't go outside. All I did was this weight lift, no cardio. And
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one thing that they never tell you in a conservatory or in college is you need to
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be physically shaped to play, to be in shape to play Liszt because your heart literally becomes
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a factor into it. Yeah. When you take so much time off physically, it really becomes taxing,
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especially when you're trying to play some of these pieces. So now I'm on the journey back to
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getting ready for it. I see. I see. Well, but you know, I didn't think that way about playing,
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let's say Franz Liszt. You know, I know playing Franz Liszt pieces, like especially Transcendental
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Etude, for example, or, you know, Hungarian Rhapsody or whatever. They're really physical, right?
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The whole entire upper body. And so you have to be fit in many ways, but I didn't think of
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that will translate to your cardio endurance. Exactly. I never thought about it either,
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especially like some of my earlier teachers, as I mentioned, Karen Amado before, she was telling
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me that when she was in college, she stayed away from it. She was like, you know, the amount of
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effort to stay away from that. And I never thought anything of it when I was playing Paganet Etudes
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myself, because it was just, it was just work. But when you're trying to do that, when you're
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a little bit more hefty and it becomes a lot more taxing, especially in concert, you don't want to
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look like you're sweating. One thing is when you're performing, you're supposed to look as if this is
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effortless. This is supposed to be second nature and to be big and sweating and it's not a, it's
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not a charming look, but yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's part of our job, I guess. It's a job description.
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So let's talk about your love for composers or compositions in the Romantic era. So tell me.
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My favorite, it's like choosing a favorite child. I don't have any children, but it's almost as if
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trying to, yeah, but you know, you're, you're a love for Romantic composers or compositions. What,
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what do you love so much about these eras, genres? Romantic era, it feels as if this is the upper
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limits of tonal harmony and at the same time, virtuosity. I don't want to say that like Mozart
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was boring or anything like that, or Bach was boring, not at all, but if anything Bach is
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becoming even more, as I'm getting older, as I'm getting more maturity, I'm looking at those pieces
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and realizing the complexity and the inner depth behind them. But Romantic era in itself,
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I felt as if this was the upper limit. This is as far as the ceiling goes and to play those pieces
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are more entertaining than the rest. How are you engaging with the 21st century audience? So
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what are you doing differently or creatively to reach out to your fan base? That is very
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interesting because I want to say in the past three or four years, I don't know if I'm, I want
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to say that I'm having a paradigm shift or a change on thought process, but as I was younger,
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my initial look was Romantic era classical music. This is so spectacular. That's the whole truth.
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That's the whole truth. This is such an in-depth genre. And when you're listening to the radio,
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all of it is kind of boring after a certain point, right? You know, like when I was 18,
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I remember that some of my teachers and I, we would sit down for 20, 30 minutes, just trying to
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break down a Chopin ballade and just trying to understand the structure behind it and say,
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what is that chord? What is that chord? And compared to listening to pop music right now,
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you could just, you could break it down in 20 seconds. So it felt as if the music was so much
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more entertaining back then. And my mission years ago was to almost not convert, but to show people
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like, look over here, this music is so much more rich than what you're listening to now.
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And that was my mission for some time. And then now it's almost as if it's not that I'm giving
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up on trying to show people, but it's, it's almost as if people are just not interested in it. So
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why should I almost try to convert people that are not willing? So that's where I'm almost at.
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Just go after your fan base. Stop trying to convert new people because, you know,
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they're just going to listen to what they want to listen to.
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Sure, sure, sure, sure. But if there is an introductory to classical music in a certain way that
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people may tune in, right? Not everybody, but certain people, there's a potential, right?
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Of course. Yeah. So I'm not closing the door completely on it. If someone asks me to play,
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I'm going to play for them. Even if not everyone in the audience is a classical music fan, but
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actively going out and trying to bring in people. That's, I don't know how I feel about that anymore.
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It's, it's maybe I'm jaded, but. No, no, but yeah, you have a point. Yeah, it's true.
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Yeah. You don't have to do that, but there are a lot of people who would be interested, but
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never had opportunity or being exposed to it. Right? Yeah. Those are the people that we need
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to reach out to. That concludes the first half of this fun episode of the Piano Pod with a Canadian
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American pianist recording artist, Ludovic Zemmour. If you enjoyed this episode, please
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rate and review it on your favorite podcasting platform. You can also watch this episode on the
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Piano Pod's YouTube channel. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and
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LinkedIn. The links are listed in the description. Tune in next Tuesday, October 10th at 8 PM to hear
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the rest of the interview with Ludovic Zemmour.
