Full Transcript for Carrying Memory Forward: Pianist, Composer & Author Inna Faliks on Odesa, Stranger Things, and the Courage to Reimagine

from your childhood 00:05:37.269 --> 00:05:42.790 in Odessa and then part of part of Soviet Ukraine 00:05:42.790 --> 00:05:45.610 and into immigrating to the United States and 00:05:45.610 --> 00:05:48.660 ultimately building a beautiful life as an international 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:52.040 performing, recording artist and author and professor 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:56.879 at UCLA. So this is a lot for us to get into 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:58.860 today. We may not be able to cover everything, 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.660 but I'd love to begin with this question I often 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:05.660 use to ground these conversations. If you had 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.540 to describe your mission or passion as an artist 00:06:08.540 --> 00:06:11.540 today in just a few sentences, what would you 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:16.050 say? Well, I think it's a... to share as honestly 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:22.629 and sincerely the experience of existence, of 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.730 the joy of music. I think that's it. I think 00:06:25.730 --> 00:06:28.470 that's our mission as musicians. I think there's 00:06:28.470 --> 00:06:32.750 nothing more important than an emotionally charged 00:06:32.750 --> 00:06:35.930 performance that is honest and that reflects 00:06:35.930 --> 00:06:40.930 your current state. I think performances often 00:06:40.930 --> 00:06:45.240 can be over curated. you know, over self -conscious, 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:47.420 especially in today's digital age and age of 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:50.139 piano competitions, all of these things, I think 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:52.339 the most important thing is to be immediate, 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:57.699 honest, spontaneous, and sincere. Ah, beautifully 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:00.759 said. Thank you. You're right. Absolutely. So 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:03.100 that makes music more exciting and thrilling. 00:07:03.819 --> 00:07:08.060 So let's... Talk about your latest album, Stranger 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:11.040 Things, Piano Works from a Young Refugee's Backpack, 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:14.899 came out just a few weeks ago, I believe. And 00:07:14.899 --> 00:07:17.139 one of the first things that caught my attention 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:20.540 was this title. But first, simply please tell 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:24.060 us about this album, the pieces, inspirations, 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:26.720 and how the project came together. Sure. Well, 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:30.459 so in a way, I think of all my albums as telling 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:34.519 stories. So I think all of them have a line that 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:36.660 through them that kind of connects the repertoire 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:39.740 choices, whether new music or old or a little 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:42.639 bit of both. And my previous album was called 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.680 Manuscripts Don't Burn. It was on Sonaluminous. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.879 And it was a very personal album that told a 00:07:48.879

--> 00:07:51.759 story. So this one, Stranger Things, continues 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.879 along that vein, but goes even deeper and more. 00:07:55.259 --> 00:07:57.899 personal because in a way it's coming out for 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:01.259 me as a composer. I started out as a composer 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:03.819 pianist when I was a kid and growing up in Odessa, 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:07.060 Ukraine. I had written an opera that was performed 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:10.639 when I was 10 years old. I had a lot of piano 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.259 pieces and I kept composing. I took composition 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:16.759 lessons in Odessa. And then when I came to Chicago 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.720 as an immigrant, but then composition took a 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:23.620 backseat, you know, so the backseat to the piano. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.699 And it happened in a way organically just because 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:32.799 my piano studies were extremely demanding and 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.919 I was performing a lot and competing and it just 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:40.059 took over somehow. But also, you know, it feels 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:44.000 to me as though back then in the 90s, late 90s, 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.899 you know, when a kid is growing up as a composer, 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:49.120 I do think it was harder for women to have the 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.179 confidence to compose because that is not the 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:53.769 message we were getting. You know, we weren't 00:08:53.769 --> 00:08:55.330 getting the message that our works would have 00:08:55.330 --> 00:08:58.049 a life or be programmed. Now we're getting that 00:08:58.049 --> 00:09:00.509 message more. And I care a lot about spreading 00:09:00.509 --> 00:09:03.070 that message. And it did that in my previous 00:09:03.070 --> 00:09:05.809 album where four of the five commissions were 00:09:05.809 --> 00:09:09.070 by female composers, friends of mine, also younger 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:11.909 composers, older composers. But in this album 00:09:11.909 --> 00:09:15.190 specifically, Stranger Things, I dusted off two 00:09:15.190 --> 00:09:18.409 of my piano pieces that I had immigrated with. 00:09:18.470 --> 00:09:23.320 They were literally score. scores that were in 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:25.700 my backpack. And they're very different, those 00:09:25.700 --> 00:09:30.120 two pieces, the Old Bell Tower and Wandering 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:32.860 Stranger or Mysterious Wanderer. It's always 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:35.940 a little tough to find the exact English translation, 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:39.620 but Wandering Strangers seemed the closest. So 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:44.539 those pieces are somehow, they come from different 00:09:44.539 --> 00:09:47.000 worlds almost sound -wise. Wandering Stranger 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.759 uses voice. So somehow I thought I would just 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.100 start singing in the middle of the piece. And 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:55.039 I love Schoenberg. I never thought back then 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:57.480 that I would be that obsessed with Schoenberg 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:01.360 and really get into his world and then join, 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:03.919 of course, UCLA where he taught for many years. 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:06.679 I had never heard of Schoenberg when I was 10 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:09.059 years old when I composed that piece. But then, 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:10.799 of course, you know, he's got that string quartet 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.980 number two where a soprano comes in and starts 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:17.000 singing. This is the air of another planet. So 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:18.659 I just think it's an interesting coincidence 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:21.779 that this composer, who means so much to me, 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:25.539 has this voice that comes out in a string quartet. 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:28.019 And that somehow, as a kid, I decided I'm just 00:10:28.019 --> 00:10:30.580 going to use voice here. I'm not comparing myself 00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:33.080 to Schoenberg by any means, of course, but I 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:35.679 just feel like there's an odd connection in that 00:10:35.679 --> 00:11:01.610 moment. So that's why I decided to include Schoenberg's 00:11:01.610 --> 00:11:07.029 Opus 11 on the album. And Schoenberg's Opus 11, 00:11:07.230 --> 00:11:10.610 the three wonderful pieces, really always meant 00:11:10.610 --> 00:11:14.009 a great deal to me. They are, I think, if I was 00:11:14.009 --> 00:11:18.049 to choose the most important piece of 20th century 00:11:18.049 --> 00:11:20.210 piano literature, not necessarily my favorite 00:11:20.210 --> 00:11:22.950 or not necessarily the most beautiful or beloved, 00:11:23.029 --> 00:11:26.529 but important, I think that would be it. Because 00:11:26.529 --> 00:11:29.700 in the third piece... That's his declaration 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:33.799 and goodbye to harmonic language of the past. 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:35.779 It's the emancipation of the dissonance. And 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:38.059 that piece is still the absolute craziest thing 00:11:38.059 --> 00:11:40.440 you can possibly hear. It's completely unhinged. 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:43.940 It's wild. But then the first piece sounds a 00:11:43.940 --> 00:11:45.860 little bit like Brahms. It still has kind of 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:51.000 a motivic cell and interweaving melodies. The 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.480 second piece of the Schoenberg is this lilting 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:56.759 waltz, very dark. And that in a way connects 00:11:56.759 --> 00:12:02.399 to the old bell tower, my piece, which I think 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.600 comes second on the album, if I'm not mistaken. 00:12:04.700 --> 00:12:08.080 And the old bell tower. So the wandering stranger 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:10.799 is kind of mysterious, a little bit Schnittke 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.379 or

Shostakovich, kind of impish. The bell tower 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:17.580 is very coloristic, very dark and lugubrious. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:21.139 And it has this lilting feeling, kind of like 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:24.309 the second. of the Drei Klavierstück of Schomburg. 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:27.529 And so this lilting bell tower, I wrote it because 00:12:27.529 --> 00:12:31.389 every day on my way to music school, we would 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:35.289 pass by this dilapidated building, and that was 00:12:35.289 --> 00:12:38.409 a church. And in the Soviet Union, you know, 00:12:38.450 --> 00:12:41.190 I'm Jewish, and I knew what that meant ethnically. 00:12:41.610 --> 00:12:44.549 That was my nationality. That was stamped on 00:12:44.549 --> 00:12:48.120 my parents' passports. That was the reason why 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:50.919 we left Odessa in the Soviet Union, because of 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:54.779 anti -Semitism. But the fact that there were 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:57.759 churches in this town at some point and synagogues, 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.450 nobody really knew about this because. Religion 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:03.710 was not allowed. Religion was illegal in the 00:13:03.710 --> 00:13:05.870 Soviet Union. So this was this mystical, strange 00:13:05.870 --> 00:13:09.210 building that we would pass by. And of course, 00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:14.230 I was impacted by Mussorgsky's old castle and 00:13:14.230 --> 00:13:16.929 the Sun Cathedral of Debussy, maybe. But it has 00:13:16.929 --> 00:13:21.590 this coloristic darkness to it, the old bell 00:13:21.590 --> 00:13:27.509 tower. I think that a lot of that kind of writing 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.090 and playing I've retained in my approach to the 00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:34.269 piano, just a very resonant approach where I 00:13:34.269 --> 00:13:38.450 search for color in every note. So I think that 00:13:38.450 --> 00:13:42.409 piece, who I am now, is evident in those two 00:13:42.409 --> 00:13:46.850 pieces. That's why I chose them. The Brahms Sonata 00:13:46.850 --> 00:13:49.889 in F minor, that's another piece that I've lived 00:13:49.889 --> 00:13:52.539 with for a long time. It's an incredible work 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:54.879 that he wrote when he was very, very young, still 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:58.460 a teenager. And it's, in a way, groundbreaking, 00:13:58.940 --> 00:14:02.139 symphonic, huge in scope, but totally different 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:04.179 direction, of course, than Schoenberg. And that 00:14:04.179 --> 00:14:07.820 represents, in a way, the safer, the tonal direction. 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:12.519 So while Wagner went one way, Brahms stayed in 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:15.519 this realm, you know. So all these pieces of 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.919 music represent different realms. But in those 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:21.779 individual realms, the music... It was extremely 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:26.000 fresh and new. The Wagner that I include, I mentioned 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.500 Wagner. The elegy is just a couple notes. It's 00:14:29.500 --> 00:14:32.159 literally a couple chords, this little piece. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:35.220 And I put it before the Schoenberg as a goodbye 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:39.059 to tonality. You know, it's an elegy to tonality 00:14:39.059 --> 00:14:42.659 in my mind. So this is Journey. You hear my pieces 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:45.120 and you hear this strange little whisper of a 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.690 piece by Wagner. The Schoenberg, which is so 00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:50.889 experimental still, and I approach it with a 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:53.409 lot of passion, I think, in color. I don't think 00:14:53.409 --> 00:14:56.370 of it as music that's dry or academic in any 00:14:56.370 --> 00:14:59.850 way because it's not. It's wild and it reflects 00:14:59.850 --> 00:15:03.070 the subconscious. That's what he intended. And 00:15:03.070 --> 00:15:06.769 then after that, of course, the youthful, majestic, 00:15:07.049 --> 00:15:11.370 but also. incredibly passionate and tender music 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:14.750 of Brahms. So I think it reflects a lot of different 00:15:14.750 --> 00:15:17.470 types of experiences and emotions, but all are 00:15:17.470 --> 00:15:20.490 very personal to me. And all are quite strange, 00:15:20.570 --> 00:15:26.809 hence the name. Yeah, no, it's not in a beautiful 00:15:26.809 --> 00:15:32.730 way, maybe strange, but yes. So why did you feel 00:15:32.730 --> 00:15:35.789 compelled to return to these childhood pieces 00:15:35.789 --> 00:15:40.850 now? You know, I've been writing quite a bit. 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:43.970 Of course, I have a book out. My memoir, Weight 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.830 in the Fingertips, A Musical Odyssey from Soviet 00:15:46.830 --> 00:15:49.909 Ukraine to the World Stage. And I just finished, 00:15:50.129 --> 00:15:52.269 I just completed a manuscript of my first novel, 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:55.090 which is a murder mystery in the classical music 00:15:55.090 --> 00:15:58.129 world. Wow. Hopefully, we'll see the light of 00:15:58.129 --> 00:16:00.909 day one day. You know, it's not easy. So I was 00:16:00.909 --> 00:16:04.509 feeling very creative and very kind of, you know, 00:16:04.509 --> 00:16:08.159 gutsy. And I thought, you know. why don't I do 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.179 this? Why don't I start composing again? And 00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:13.059 so I wanted to revisit some of these pieces. 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:16.820 Also, my son, who plays violin and he's 15 years 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:19.220 old, he started composing and writing things 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:21.840 down. And seeing that was really inspiring to 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.960 me. And I wanted to revisit my old compositions 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:29.019 that I made as a kid. You know, you said you 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:31.899 composed these pieces when you were 10, 11 years 00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:35.480 old? 10

years old. Right? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. 00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:38.149 They don't sound like a 10 -year -old would write, 00:16:38.330 --> 00:16:41.730 you know, so mature. And what was it like to 00:16:41.730 --> 00:16:46.610 reopening that backpack, you know, and encountering 00:16:46.610 --> 00:16:50.509 your younger self through the lens and ears of 00:16:50.509 --> 00:16:53.970 the artist you are today? You know, it was in 00:16:53.970 --> 00:16:58.570 a way very sad because, of course, it's very 00:16:58.570 --> 00:17:01.289 meaningful and very touching, but it's also very 00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:04.210 painful because the Odessa that I know, you know, 00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:07.640 the war with Ukraine. what's happening there 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.660 now, the city that I left behind, it's all different 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:14.420 and it's gone. My mother is gone. She died almost 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:18.079 five years ago. My first book is dedicated to 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.880 her. She was my first teacher. And she, I mean, 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:23.160 I just remember so vividly how every note of 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:25.700 these pieces, I mean, she sat with me, she watched 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.660 over me, she helped me. So all of them are so 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:30.859 tied to her, to the memory of my mom, Irene. 00:17:31.299 --> 00:17:36.670 And so all of that is quite raw. Because, you 00:17:36.670 --> 00:17:39.490 know, I lost her when she was only 67 years old. 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:43.890 And so there's that grief, but also a beauty 00:17:43.890 --> 00:17:47.170 that I'm still connected to my past and I can 00:17:47.170 --> 00:17:50.529 keep it alive in a way, keep her memory alive 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:54.609 through, you know, through this recording even. 00:17:56.460 --> 00:17:59.400 Well, you know, thank you for sharing your story 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:01.920 with us. You know, your memories and your journey 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.079 and your connection to your childhood and homeland 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.599 seem to come through in every note of this album 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.039 and feels like such a meaningful homage to where 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.940 you came from. And especially at a time, as you 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:15.920 mentioned, you know, when the crane continues 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:20.140 to endure such a painful period of. of history. 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:24.059 So for our listeners, Stranger Things Piano Works 00:18:24.059 --> 00:18:27.480 from a Young Refugee's Backpack is truly a must 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:30.200 -listen album this year. It is available on all 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:33.079 major streaming platforms as well as through 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:37.680 Ina's website at inafalix .com. That is I -N 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:43.640 -A -F -A -L -I -K -S dot com. Is there anything 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.920 else you want to add about this album? Well, 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:49.940 I think Parma has submitted, now that we are 00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:53.279 in Grammy period, Parma has submitted the album 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:56.880 for Best Classical Compendium and my piece, The 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.220 Wandering Stranger, for classical composition, 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:03.799 for original composition, I should say. So if 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:05.440 any of you are voting members, check it out. 00:19:31.019 --> 00:19:34.799 So I want to go back for a moment because Stranger 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.240 Things is in the first album where, you know, 00:19:37.259 --> 00:19:41.460 you built a larger idea around the music. Your 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:44.720 2024 album, you briefly mentioned Manuscript 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:48.859 Don't Burn album, brings together very different 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:52.650 sound worlds from Schubert. And Fanny Mendelssohn 00:19:52.650 --> 00:19:55.670 to contemporary composers, I can't even really 00:19:55.670 --> 00:19:58.910 imagine the combination. And in some pieces, 00:19:58.990 --> 00:20:02.930 you also weave spoken poetry into the performances. 00:20:03.150 --> 00:20:06.069 So take us into the sound world of manuscripts. 00:20:06.809 --> 00:20:09.109 Don't burn. What was the idea behind the album? 00:20:09.289 --> 00:20:12.289 And how did you decide to bring music and spoken 00:20:12.289 --> 00:20:15.470 word together? Thank you so much for that question 00:20:15.470 --> 00:20:18.789 and for the care you obviously took to hear it 00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:21.150 and to get into that world. I so appreciate it. 00:20:22.769 --> 00:20:26.450 Well, so that's it's a big passion of mine, words, 00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:30.410 as I've mentioned. And this album is kind of 00:20:30.410 --> 00:20:33.819 the music manuscripts don't burn. is kind of 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:36.460 the embodiment of the idea of music and words. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:38.160 And it's something that I had wanted to do for 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.799 a long time. When I was living in New York, I 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:43.720 started a series called Music Words. And the 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:46.119 series is now going to be in its second season 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:49.619 in LA after a long hiatus. And the idea of the 00:20:49.619 --> 00:20:52.299 series was to bring together live performance 00:20:52.299 --> 00:20:54.960 and live poetry reading where poets read their 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.859 own works. And so the format is just play, read, 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:00.440 play, read, play, read, because I always found 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:03.019 this to be incredibly inspiring. great poetry, 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.200 interesting, fresh voices in poetry. And I always 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:10.400 read poetry, but it was also very strange to 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.200 me as an artist that, you know, well, not strange, 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:18.240 almost expected that the

music world, especially 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.640 the pianist's world in New York, where I was 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:24.440 living at the time is very isolated. We're just 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:26.359 in our practice room. And then sometimes we go 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:28.240 to hear other people play concerts and then we 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:29.819 think, oh, now we have to go practice harder. 00:21:31.609 --> 00:21:34.609 But I felt like people weren't going out of their 00:21:34.609 --> 00:21:36.849 comfort zone. They weren't going to other things 00:21:36.849 --> 00:21:39.410 like poetry readings. And then the same went 00:21:39.410 --> 00:21:42.089 for poets. They didn't go to hear music. And 00:21:42.089 --> 00:21:45.549 the place where I grew up, Odessa, and in general, 00:21:45.549 --> 00:21:49.809 that culture in Eastern Europe, these arts were 00:21:49.809 --> 00:21:53.029 really closely intertwined, interwoven, and people 00:21:53.029 --> 00:21:56.630 got inspiration from all sorts of things. So 00:21:56.630 --> 00:21:58.509 I wanted to bring those two things together. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.140 poetry and music and so i started the series 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:04.220 it did very well in new york i met a lot of different 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:06.259 poets and i had a lot of different musicians 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:10.900 my friends musicians from different worlds jazz 00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:16.279 etc new music old music it was all there i also 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.140 did this with a poetry foundation in chicago 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:22.559 and produced a series of radio broadcasts of 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:27.099 this on wfmt in chicago And I was really very 00:22:27.099 --> 00:22:29.980 proud of this. And now this is kind of more usual. 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:32.359 Maybe you can see this in many different cities. 00:22:32.819 --> 00:22:35.380 But I think music words was one of the first 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:39.160 iterations of such an idea. And so when I moved 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.319 to L .A. to join the faculty at UCLA, and this 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:46.000 was about 14 years ago, I stopped doing the series 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:48.619 as a series, but I would do one off performances 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:51.400 with poets when I would be asked by a presenter 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.539 to come and maybe a poet would be. suggested 00:22:54.539 --> 00:22:56.619 and I would collaborate to build a program, but 00:22:56.619 --> 00:22:59.180 nothing like a series. And then last year I thought, 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:01.160 okay, it's time to bring this back. And I started 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:04.279 this in LA at the Venda Museum. But I've always 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:06.779 wanted to make a recording that reflects this 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:11.500 love and this connection to words. And so Manuscripts 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:14.880 Don't Burn came from that idea. Sorry, it's such 00:23:14.880 -->

00:23:19.529 a long -winded way of getting there. Manuscripts 00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:22.390 Don't Burn is a quote from my favorite book, 00:23:22.549 --> 00:23:25.150 my favorite novel called The Master and Margarita 00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:28.970 by Mikhail Bulgakov. And this book was always 00:23:28.970 --> 00:23:31.529 so important to me and not just to me, but I 00:23:31.529 --> 00:23:33.549 think to many dissidents, to many immigrants 00:23:33.549 --> 00:23:36.490 from the same region as me. It's kind of a cult 00:23:36.490 --> 00:23:41.809 novel of 20th century Russia. So I asked a few 00:23:41.809 --> 00:23:45.680 composers to respond to that book. And that was 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.559 a project. The commission came from the Venda 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:49.960 Museum, where I now have the music word series. 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:54.640 And but in addition to that, I thought, oh, there 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:57.420 are other pieces I have written. I've had written 00:23:57.420 --> 00:24:01.680 for me that join words and music. One of them 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.779 is Clarice Assad's beautiful, beautiful set called 00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:10.559 Godai. And another one is a piece by Lova, a 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:13.500 New York composer, Lova Jorbin. And this is a 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:16.299 piece that features Jewish music in three different 00:24:16.299 --> 00:24:20.140 guises, all of which come from historical recordings, 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:25.799 but all of which feature words in Hebrew. Another 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:29.579 one, another example. So the Master Margarita 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:34.200 piece is by Veronica Krauses, and that's a suite 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.599 of short... movements dance movements each of 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:39.480 which corresponds to a quote from the master 00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:43.000 margarita and then the piece of the title manuscripts 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.140 don't burn is a piece by maya miro johnson which 00:24:46.140 --> 00:24:48.440 is really probably the wildest and most experimental 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:53.720 on that album and uh you get i get to do all 00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:56.240 sorts of things i get to speak russian i get 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.900 to scratch the strings inside the piano and hum 00:24:59.900 --> 00:25:03.980 and very theatrical and mike garson who's actually 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:07.559 a rock and roll legend he was the pianist for 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:11.339 david bowie he wrote a piece for me called a 00:25:11.339 --> 00:25:14.339 psalm to odessa so that one doesn't have any 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:17.519 words but it kind of you know it marks odessa 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:20.920 connects everything to odessa and uh so all of 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:24.039 this new music on the album i decided well i 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:26.259 need something familiar because i always like 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:29.579 to do that i like to include music

that people 00:25:29.579 --> 00:25:31.779 have heard, that they know, and that makes them 00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:34.160 comfortable, because that makes them much more 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:38.400 open to hear new music. So I included sort of 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:41.500 unusual Schubert -less transcriptions. Well, 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:45.220 one of them is quite known, the Gretchen Amspina, 00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:49.200 Earl Koenig, of course, because that's great 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.339 poetry. So I just wanted to feature that with 00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:53.680 great poetry. And then the one that is called 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:59.509 Amir is very poignant. It's very slow. song and 00:25:59.509 --> 00:26:04.650 it's a the poem describes very strange encounter 00:26:04.650 --> 00:26:07.470 on the beach and you know Odessa is a beach city 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:11.230 so it all in my mind it all made sense and then 00:26:11.230 --> 00:26:14.210 together somehow I think it also made sense but 00:26:14.210 --> 00:26:20.130 it was a very complex album it is yeah it takes 00:26:20.130 --> 00:26:25.700 several you know attempts to listen to And to 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:29.680 sort of see the whole picture almost, but I really 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:32.640 enjoyed. And then, uh, like you said, Zerbin's 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.579 voices, that was so impactful for me. And then 00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:42.240 also, uh, Clarice Assad, Peace Hero. Great, great 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:47.200 piece. And also, oh, there's a Faisal Say, Black 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:50.619 Mirror. That's right. That's, um, that's not 00:26:50.619 --> 00:26:52.960 on the printed album, but on the digital album. 00:26:53.309 --> 00:26:55.750 I see. Okay. Yeah, that didn't make because there 00:26:55.750 --> 00:27:00.250 were too many pieces for the physical CD. But 00:27:00.250 --> 00:27:03.230 luckily now we can have digital things that don't 00:27:03.230 --> 00:27:07.069 need to exist in physical form. So lucky or unlucky, 00:27:07.269 --> 00:27:09.970 I don't know. So yes, Black Earth is a beautiful 00:27:09.970 --> 00:27:13.470 piece. Also somehow felt right on this album. 00:27:14.369 --> 00:27:17.990 Are these contemporary pieces commissioned for 00:27:17.990 --> 00:27:22.940 this project? Most of them. Fazil Say's was not. 00:27:23.019 --> 00:27:26.240 He plays this piece beautifully. But most of 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:30.680 them were. Clarice Assad's piece, that was a 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.940 commission that came a few years before the album. 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:36.839 So I already had that piece. But that was commissioned 00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:39.240 with music words in mind. So it was just a perfect 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:43.059 fit for the album. And the other two were commissioned 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:45.900 specifically kind of for this project, for the 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:49.799 Manuscripts Don't Burn program and for the album. 00:29:02.190

--> 00:29:04.210 Your recordings, you know, often seem to build 00:29:04.210 --> 00:29:07.250 around the idea, an idea or a dialogue rather 00:29:07.250 --> 00:29:10.150 than simply a collection of repertoire. Like, 00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:12.289 you know, we've just talked about Stranger Things 00:29:12.289 --> 00:29:14.890 and also Manuscripts Don't Burn. And also you 00:29:14.890 --> 00:29:19.170 did that with your 2021 album Reimagined Beethoven 00:29:19.170 --> 00:29:22.710 and Ravel. And that was also fun to listen to. 00:29:23.150 --> 00:29:27.150 Thank you. What draws you to creating albums 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:32.079 as conceptual or narrative projects? Well, I 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.180 think, you know, first of all, I don't think 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:36.500 of an album. I think of a concert. I think of 00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:38.440 a performance. I think, what do people want to 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:42.160 hear? And how is this program relevant? And, 00:29:42.220 --> 00:29:44.019 you know, people who book this program and people 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:46.119 who go hear it, what about it draws them in? 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.039 And then I create the album. And the album, of 00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:53.900 course, won't always be exactly the performed 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:57.400 program, but I think the performance comes first. 00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:02.799 Like in the case of Manuscripts Don't Burn, for 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.740 example, I performed this program or selections 00:30:05.740 --> 00:30:08.819 from it with some other pieces. But between them, 00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:11.140 I read from my memoir, for example. And that 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:13.480 program is called Manuscripts Don't Burn. In 00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:17.000 the case of Reimagine, Beethoven and Ravel, that 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:21.799 became a COVID project. I recorded it in 2020. 00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:27.660 And nine premieres. That's a lot of new music. 00:30:29.150 --> 00:30:32.630 Six premieres, six of them responded to Beethoven, 00:30:32.750 --> 00:30:37.190 Bagatelle's Opus 126, and three of them responded 00:30:37.190 --> 00:30:39.930 to Gaspard de la Nuit of Ravel, which I had already 00:30:39.930 --> 00:30:42.650 recorded previously, but which I played a lot. 00:30:43.130 --> 00:30:46.809 But all of that came from a festival that I curated 00:30:46.809 --> 00:30:50.190 at UCLA, where I just thought, you know, we need 00:30:50.190 --> 00:30:53.210 to make bridges between new music and old music. 00:30:53.230 --> 00:30:55.630 We can't just... give the audience a bunch of 00:30:55.630 --> 00:30:58.769 premieres and expect them to get into that world 00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:02.329 and not be afraid. But if we show a connection 00:31:02.329 --> 00:31:06.190 between now and then, I think it becomes natural. 00:31:06.309 --> 00:31:09.809 It becomes almost effortless to listen and to 00:31:09.809 --> 00:31:12.150 create these connections. So that's the idea 00:31:12.150 --> 00:31:15.069 behind all my programs, but specifically that 00:31:15.069 --> 00:31:19.720 one. And so at first, the Beethoven bagatelles 00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:22.539 came about because the responses are six composers 00:31:22.539 --> 00:31:25.059 from our wonderful composition faculty at UCLA. 00:31:25.940 --> 00:31:29.599 David Lefkowitz, Peter Golub, Ian Krauss, Richard 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:32.400 Danielport, Tamir Hendelman, who's a jazz pianist, 00:31:32.460 --> 00:31:36.500 also, and Mark Carlson. So all of these short 00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:40.759 pieces were created specifically with a bagatelle 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:44.769 per composer. But when I performed them. I would 00:31:44.769 --> 00:31:47.309 put the new piece first, the new Begatel first, 00:31:47.529 --> 00:31:49.650 followed by the Beethoven that corresponds to 00:31:49.650 --> 00:31:51.769 it. Because I didn't want people to listen to 00:31:51.769 --> 00:31:53.829 Beethoven and have expectations and then try 00:31:53.829 --> 00:31:56.029 to compare. I thought it would be more fresh, 00:31:56.089 --> 00:31:58.509 more interesting this way. And I got some pushback 00:31:58.509 --> 00:32:00.650 in some places, but I believe that that's how 00:32:00.650 --> 00:32:05.109 it should go. And I've performed that a number 00:32:05.109 --> 00:32:07.529 of times. And I think with Beethoven's death 00:32:07.529 --> 00:32:10.490 -aversary, gosh, that's kind of a terrible word, 00:32:10.549 --> 00:32:13.690 but, you know, 300 years, right, without Beethoven. 00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:21.400 And I think it's a great program for that time 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:23.680 because, you know, connecting the last thing 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:26.059 that he wrote to new pieces written specifically 00:32:26.059 --> 00:32:29.599 to honor the Bagatelles. And then the Ravel, 00:32:29.619 --> 00:32:32.059 that was really cool because the three composers, 00:32:32.220 --> 00:32:36.059 Timo Andres, Paola, Prestini, and Billy Childs, 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:40.500 the great jazz pianist, Grammy -winning composer, 00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:45.220 too. All three of them took this on in such a 00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:47.539 major way. And every piece became like a major, 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:50.940 big, big piano piece. And now Billy Childs is 00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:54.900 writing for me a big piano cycle where the first 00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:57.319 piece, Pursuit, was the piece he wrote in response 00:32:57.319 --> 00:32:59.400 to Scarborough. And that's from the Reimagined 00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:02.279 Beethoven and Ravel album. And so that piece 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:05.559 is now the first piece in what's to be a big 00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:08.960 opus of his, a magnum opus for the piano. So 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:12.099 that program was a big challenge and a challenge 00:33:12.099 --> 00:33:14.359 to play because I perform, of course, the Beethoven, 00:33:14.440 -->

00:33:16.839 I perform the Ravel, and then the nine premieres 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:20.799 in different order. But yeah, it's a lot, but 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:23.400 I think it's a great experience, both for me 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:27.700 and for the public. So from the concert stage 00:33:27.700 --> 00:33:31.599 to recording studio, I guess, that's how it became 00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:36.680 an album, or a lot of times becomes album? Yes, 00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:39.859 I think from specifically that one, I recorded 00:33:39.859 --> 00:33:42.779 first because it was COVID. So there was nothing 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:45.980 more to do really than make records, do online 00:33:45.980 --> 00:33:51.740 concerts. But usually, yes, I don't always just 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:55.119 play the, as I mentioned, I don't always play 00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:59.259 this program on the CD as it appears on the CD. 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.500 Sometimes I vary things a bit. I think in the 00:34:02.500 --> 00:34:04.480 case of Stranger Things, it works beautifully, 00:34:04.660 --> 00:34:09.739 but it can also be a mix. I've been including 00:34:09.739 --> 00:34:13.699 my piece, Old Bell Tower, in the Manuscripts 00:34:13.699 --> 00:34:16.400 Don't Burn recital program, and it kind of works 00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:18.519 beautifully. It's whatever I'm feeling at the 00:34:18.519 --> 00:34:22.639 moment. So once again, for listeners, Ina's innovative 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:26.199 2024 album, Manuscripts Don't Burn, and also 00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:30.099 2021 album, You Can Imagine Beethoven and Ravel 00:34:30.099 --> 00:34:33.840 are all available on streaming services. So be 00:34:33.840 --> 00:35:06.489 sure to check it out. Check them out. I also 00:35:06.489 --> 00:35:10.090 want to talk about Gabriel Prokofiev. Oh yes. 00:35:11.829 --> 00:35:16.710 Concerto. OK, so for my audience, Gabriel Prokofiev 00:35:16.710 --> 00:35:20.650 is the grandson of the Prokofiev, right? Sergei 00:35:20.650 --> 00:35:23.250 Prokofiev. Yes. Although maybe maybe Gabriel's 00:35:23.250 --> 00:35:25.809 the Prokofiev now. Who knows? I mean, yeah, it's 00:35:25.809 --> 00:35:29.590 true. He is the grandson of Sergei. And I have 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:32.489 to say, you know, Gabriel is. the sweetest, most 00:35:32.489 --> 00:35:35.550 wonderful guy. And he completely has made his 00:35:35.550 --> 00:35:39.070 own mark. I mean, he's as revolutionary and as 00:35:39.070 --> 00:35:41.369 much a risk taker as his grandfather, but he's 00:35:41.369 --> 00:35:43.909 gone into a completely different direction. And, 00:35:43.929 --> 00:35:46.829 you know, he lives in London. He doesn't speak 00:35:46.829 --> 00:35:49.389 Russian. So you wouldn't know. And he doesn't 00:35:49.389 --> 00:35:53.789 go around kind of talking about this too much 00:35:53.789 --> 00:35:56.389 about his grandfather. He's humble with this. 00:35:57.050 --> 00:36:00.550 So he's just an amazing composer in his own right. 00:36:01.190 --> 00:36:03.869 And who happens to be Procopio's grandson. Yes. 00:36:04.269 --> 00:36:08.670 So can you tell us a little bit about this concerto? 00:36:08.670 --> 00:36:12.869 I saw you perform this piece on YouTube. I think 00:36:12.869 --> 00:36:18.210 I saw like a mini short video of that performance 00:36:18.210 --> 00:36:21.829 and also on your social media. Oh, my goodness. 00:36:22.190 --> 00:36:27.389 Oh, my goodness. Yes. I wanted to show you. It's 00:36:27.389 --> 00:36:31.989 OK. Thank you for showing. So as you see, it's 00:36:31.989 --> 00:36:34.690 just several octaves and many, many oscillators, 00:36:34.690 --> 00:36:37.750 many knobs. And so that's the big challenge is 00:36:37.750 --> 00:36:41.429 the concerto itself is a very big piece, very 00:36:41.429 --> 00:36:43.269 challenging piece. I learned it on the piano. 00:36:43.269 --> 00:36:46.750 It's very virtuoso, really rich, really amazing 00:36:46.750 --> 00:36:49.389 music. And then I had to learn how to play the 00:36:49.389 --> 00:36:51.469 Minimoog synthesizer. And, you know, people might 00:36:51.469 --> 00:36:53.110 think, oh, it's just a keyboard. I mean, it looks 00:36:53.110 --> 00:36:56.909 easy. But this piece specifically was created 00:36:56.909 --> 00:36:59.530 to showcase the instrument as a big virtuoso 00:36:59.530 --> 00:37:02.489 solo instrument, which a concert pianist would 00:37:02.489 --> 00:37:07.789 play. And it's in four movements. Each movement 00:37:07.789 --> 00:37:11.809 showcases a different aspect of music and of 00:37:11.809 --> 00:37:14.150 the instrument. So the first movement is glittering, 00:37:14.150 --> 00:37:17.710 very virtuoso. The second movement kind of actually 00:37:17.710 --> 00:37:20.150 sounds like Sergei Prokofiev and Stravinsky, 00:37:20.369 --> 00:37:22.590 that very tender, beautiful, melodic, almost 00:37:22.590 --> 00:37:27.650 neoclassical. world. Third, I become, I don't 00:37:27.650 --> 00:37:29.530 even know how to describe this. The sound is, 00:37:29.610 --> 00:37:32.989 you know, video game music, crazy, crazy drum 00:37:32.989 --> 00:37:35.690 machine music, things like that. Fourth movement 00:37:35.690 --> 00:37:38.710 is EDM. So electronic dance music, incredible 00:37:38.710 --> 00:37:40.769 propulsive rhythm, which is also a trademark 00:37:40.769 --> 00:37:44.250 of April 5th. But the piece makes sense incredibly. 00:37:44.570 --> 00:37:47.969 It's a huge, powerful orchestra part. We premiered 00:37:47.969 --> 00:37:51.650 it in Porto, in Portugal, at Casa da Música in 00:37:51.650 --> 00:37:56.510 November and premiering it. this year in Asheville 00:37:56.510 --> 00:37:58.530 with the Asheville Symphony, which happens to 00:37:58.530 --> 00:38:02.809 be, Asheville happens to be the home of the Moog 00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:06.710 Museum and the Moog Foundation. So we'll be doing 00:38:06.710 --> 00:38:09.469 the U .S. premiere of the piece there. And I 00:38:09.469 --> 00:38:12.010

really hope that we record it sometime soon. 00:38:13.170 --> 00:38:16.570 And for me, this was the wildest thing I've done 00:38:16.570 --> 00:38:19.579 by far. Out of anything, I played the piece standing 00:38:19.579 --> 00:38:22.300 up. So it kind of looks like a DJ, you know. 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:25.440 And Gabriel did write a concerto for DJ and orchestra 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:29.199 that has had over 100 performances. So it's a 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:33.619 pretty crazy thing to do. But I loved every moment 00:38:33.619 --> 00:38:35.280 of it. I didn't really know what I was getting 00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:39.159 myself into with the oscillators. And he coached 00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:42.099 me. He knows the instrument very well. So, you 00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:44.739 know, I'm getting better and better. Every note, 00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:47.460 every the amount of different kinds of sounds 00:38:47.460 --> 00:38:49.440 is incredible. But something for the audience 00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:51.780 to understand is that this is not this is the 00:38:51.780 --> 00:38:54.320 original synthesizer. It's a historic keyboard 00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:57.420 instrument. What that means is there are no pre 00:38:57.420 --> 00:38:59.840 -programmed sounds. So it's not like you press 00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:02.340 a button that, oh, there you get the sound. No, 00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:07.440 it's it's very different. Every every mix of 00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:09.980 sound I have to do by hand, like a bartender, 00:39:10.019 --> 00:39:14.380 you know. So it's crazy. There were moments where, 00:39:14.380 --> 00:39:18.940 you know, as pianists, we never worry about having 00:39:18.940 --> 00:39:21.039 sound. I mean, no matter what, even if it's not 00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:23.599 good, we put our hands down, sound comes out. 00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:27.900 But in this situation with this instrument, there 00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:29.780 would be moments where I have to prepare a certain 00:39:29.780 --> 00:39:32.219 kind of sound while orchestra is playing tutti. 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:35.960 And if I don't do it quickly enough or if I do 00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:38.380 something wrong, if I move an oscillator just 00:39:38.380 --> 00:39:41.300 the wrong way a little bit or too far. Then I 00:39:41.300 --> 00:39:43.840 can play and no sound comes out. Or the entirely 00:39:43.840 --> 00:39:47.199 wrong sound. So it was really tough. I had these 00:39:47.199 --> 00:39:50.920 nightmares of no sound coming out. But it's an 00:39:50.920 --> 00:39:53.099 amazing piece. It's propulsive. Some of it's 00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:56.179 gone viral on socials. So you can check it out. 00:39:56.739 --> 00:39:59.639 And then what was the reaction from the audience? 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:02.639 Oh, they went crazy. But this was an audience, 00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:06.539 you know, the program had another massive world 00:40:06.539 --> 00:40:09.840 premiere. and Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Perko. 00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:12.980 So it was kind of a funny program. The second 00:40:12.980 --> 00:40:14.980 half was another huge world premiere. So this 00:40:14.980 --> 00:40:19.480 was obviously an audience that wanted the most 00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:23.719 cutting -edge new music possible. And they loved 00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:44.789 it. Do you think we're going to see more of this, 00:40:44.869 --> 00:40:47.650 like electronic instruments entering the traditional 00:40:47.650 --> 00:40:50.809 concerto orchestral world? Not as effects, but 00:40:50.809 --> 00:40:55.190 as true virtual solo instruments? I think this 00:40:55.190 --> 00:40:58.329 is certainly the pioneer. And if it has enough 00:40:58.329 --> 00:41:01.329 reach, which I think it will, I think, yes, it'll 00:41:01.329 --> 00:41:05.969 be a start of something new. Now, I want to... 00:41:06.139 --> 00:41:09.099 talk a little bit about you as a storyteller. 00:41:09.219 --> 00:41:12.679 You know, you wrote a memoir, Weight in the Fingertips, 00:41:12.739 --> 00:41:16.900 a musical odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the 00:41:16.900 --> 00:41:21.340 world stage, which tells your story through words 00:41:21.340 --> 00:41:23.460 rather than, you know, through performance. And 00:41:23.460 --> 00:41:26.920 also, I want to know about the Polonaise fantasy, 00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:29.239 the story of a pianist. That's the one woman 00:41:29.239 --> 00:41:35.030 monologue recital. So let's start with you. memoir. 00:41:35.289 --> 00:41:39.630 So what made you decide to write the book? Well, 00:41:39.630 --> 00:41:44.309 the book took 13 years to write. And as I mentioned 00:41:44.309 --> 00:41:47.869 earlier, I love words and I read a lot and somehow 00:41:47.869 --> 00:41:50.670 it's actually a funny story that I like to tell 00:41:50.670 --> 00:41:54.460 from the stage that I was pregnant. with my son 00:41:54.460 --> 00:41:57.199 and we were still living in New York it was very 00:41:57.199 --> 00:42:00.599 hot and I had a concerto that was postponed because 00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:03.559 the date of the concerto was the exact date of 00:42:03.559 --> 00:42:07.039 my son's upcoming birth so the orchestra rebooked 00:42:07.039 --> 00:42:11.179 me and I really wanted to play the concerto I 00:42:11.179 --> 00:42:13.760 was ready to go but they were just a little bit 00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:16.719 apprehensive rightfully so because the concerto 00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:21.260 was list one so I started writing for just because 00:42:21.260 --> 00:42:23.820 I had to do something And I had these vivid memories 00:42:23.820 --> 00:42:25.960 of Odessa, growing up in Odessa, and I started 00:42:25.960 --> 00:42:28.619 writing them down. I think a couple of books 00:42:28.619 --> 00:42:32.800 impacted me a lot. One of them was Elif Batuman's 00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:36.139 Adventures with Russian Books and People Who 00:42:36.139 --> 00:42:38.840 Love Them, which was this quirky, strange

memoir. 00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:43.920 And I thought, you know, if a memoir about Russian 00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:48.239 books can read so well, can be so impactful. 00:42:48.989 --> 00:42:51.650 I should write a memoir for people, not just 00:42:51.650 --> 00:42:56.190 for musicians, for everyone about music. So I 00:42:56.190 --> 00:42:58.429 decided to do it back then, but it took many, 00:42:58.510 --> 00:43:02.130 many years. So first I wrote these chapters. 00:43:02.550 --> 00:43:05.909 Then we moved to L .A. and the chapters found 00:43:05.909 --> 00:43:09.210 their way into the hands of a wonderful producer, 00:43:09.489 --> 00:43:12.389 television producer who has had since taken on 00:43:12.389 --> 00:43:15.670 theater. And she had a theater series and she 00:43:15.670 --> 00:43:18.440 suggested. that I make this into a monologue 00:43:18.440 --> 00:43:22.159 recital. And she helped me turn the chapters 00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:27.900 that she read into a script. So I started performing 00:43:27.900 --> 00:43:30.480 Polonaise Fantasy, The Story of a Pianist. Now, 00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:33.000 at first I performed it, the premiere was with 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:35.460 a wonderful actress, Rebecca Mozo, who I believe 00:43:35.460 --> 00:43:37.400 now is based in the East Coast, but she used 00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:40.940 to be here in LA. So she was me and I was at 00:43:40.940 --> 00:43:43.980 the piano. And that's how we recorded it. But 00:43:43.980 --> 00:43:47.219 then just because of schedules, And also people 00:43:47.219 --> 00:43:48.780 said, you know, Ina, it's your story. You should 00:43:48.780 --> 00:43:51.199 read it. And schedule -wise, it was easier because 00:43:51.199 --> 00:43:53.619 it was just me versus having to coordinate schedules 00:43:53.619 --> 00:43:56.340 with an actress, with a very busy actress. It 00:43:56.340 --> 00:43:58.880 was wonderful. So I started doing it myself. 00:43:59.940 --> 00:44:03.699 And that's been a very popular show that I've 00:44:03.699 --> 00:44:06.179 done all over the place and in translation, actually, 00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:09.199 in Italy. I did a premiere in London, and I've 00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:12.900 done it in many places in the U .S. as a one 00:44:12.900 --> 00:44:15.460 -woman show that details my story of immigration. 00:44:16.250 --> 00:44:19.289 growing up in Odessa of immigration, a love story 00:44:19.289 --> 00:44:23.110 that spans decades because, you know, I like 00:44:23.110 --> 00:44:25.449 to say what book is worth reading unless there's 00:44:25.449 --> 00:44:31.070 a love story in it. And everything about music, 00:44:31.090 --> 00:44:34.150 you know, things about, things about touring, 00:44:34.210 --> 00:44:36.869 things about your voice, your artistic voice 00:44:36.869 --> 00:44:39.150 and what that means and the challenges of keeping 00:44:39.150 --> 00:44:44.230 that. Chapters about my teachers, lots of stuff, 00:44:44.309 --> 00:44:48.719 lots of stories.

I think a fun read. Also, there's 00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:51.579 a lot of grief in it and pain, but also love 00:44:51.579 --> 00:44:54.320 and joy. So I think it's a very emotional book. 00:44:54.420 --> 00:44:56.739 I think it's a funny book and I am very proud 00:44:56.739 --> 00:44:59.739 of it. And it took a while. Well, I haven't got 00:44:59.739 --> 00:45:03.420 a chance to read it yet, but hopefully in a few 00:45:03.420 --> 00:45:06.960 days, I look forward to reading. So, well, but 00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:09.800 that's, that's actually the backstory of the 00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:12.980 one woman show. That's interesting, but you know, 00:45:13.920 --> 00:45:17.980 your your approach to your expression is not 00:45:17.980 --> 00:45:21.619 really simply categorized in one thing you know 00:45:21.619 --> 00:45:23.980 you're not just simply a concert pianist you 00:45:23.980 --> 00:45:27.639 compose you do all sorts of you do writing and 00:45:27.639 --> 00:45:30.000 a one -woman show and you're recording artists 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:33.039 so Looking across your career, you seem almost 00:45:33.039 --> 00:45:35.659 determined not to accept a narrow definition 00:45:35.659 --> 00:45:39.079 of what a concert pianist traditional sense is 00:45:39.079 --> 00:45:42.039 supposed to be, right? So where does the instinct 00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:45.019 to keep crossing boundaries come from? Is it 00:45:45.019 --> 00:45:48.480 just out of curiosity? You know, it's really, 00:45:48.599 --> 00:45:53.960 I don't, it's not my purpose to define, to break 00:45:53.960 --> 00:45:57.139 any boundaries or to redefine anything. I don't 00:45:57.139 --> 00:46:00.860 think about that at all. In fact, I... I think 00:46:00.860 --> 00:46:03.239 of myself as a concert pianist. I have a Tchaikovsky 00:46:03.239 --> 00:46:05.179 concerto coming up in two weeks with the Santa 00:46:05.179 --> 00:46:08.440 Fe Symphony. I'm practicing it. You know, I believe 00:46:08.440 --> 00:46:11.539 in sound and sound quality. I believe in extremely 00:46:11.539 --> 00:46:14.679 detailed approach to practicing, to hearing. 00:46:15.420 --> 00:46:18.400 But I'm also an imaginative person, I think, 00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:20.639 a curious and creative person. And I think that's 00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:23.139 important. I think that makes your playing more 00:46:23.139 --> 00:46:25.880 alive. So I do these things because I want to, 00:46:25.940 --> 00:46:29.909 because it's interesting for me. And it's authentic, 00:46:30.090 --> 00:46:32.309 meaning, yeah, it comes from me. It's not because 00:46:32.309 --> 00:46:33.989 someone said you should do that because that's 00:46:33.989 --> 00:46:37.309 going to get you more gigs. That's not at all 00:46:37.309 --> 00:46:39.630 how it happens. And it might not even be true. 00:46:39.889 --> 00:46:44.530 I just do it because I feel this, you know, energy 00:46:44.530 --> 00:46:47.570 inside that makes me want to do it. You know, 00:46:47.610 --> 00:46:50.090 I've been playing recently quite a bit with an 00:46:50.090 --> 00:46:52.610 amazing violinist. I love chamber music, by the 00:46:52.610 --> 00:46:55.719 way. I love standard chamber music rep. I love 00:46:55.719 --> 00:46:58.199 the Schubert and Beethoven and Schumann, et cetera. 00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:01.019 I've been playing with this incredible boundary 00:47:01.019 --> 00:47:04.860 crossing violinist, Gilles Lepap, who's amazing. 00:47:05.400 --> 00:47:07.579 But he said in interviews, like people always 00:47:07.579 --> 00:47:09.980 asked him, you're such an iconoclast. And he 00:47:09.980 --> 00:47:13.539 said, it's like the farthest thing from my mind 00:47:13.539 --> 00:47:16.760 is to be an iconoclast. I just play all different 00:47:16.760 --> 00:47:20.079 kinds of music because I like it. Because he 00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:25.360 plays blues and jazz and music. old -time music 00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:27.519 and just all he kind of goes around the world 00:47:27.519 --> 00:47:30.519 collecting folk music in a way and he does it 00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:33.119 because he wants to and to me that's really incredibly 00:47:33.119 --> 00:47:35.320 inspiring that's something that I've never done 00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:37.820 yet and I've never played jazz there are a lot 00:47:37.820 --> 00:47:41.599 of things I haven't done but it's just in a similar 00:47:41.599 --> 00:47:44.760 vein I don't do anything to cross boundaries 00:47:44.760 --> 00:47:48.539 on purpose I just You know, the Prokofiev project, 00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:51.900 the Gabriel project. He heard my show, Bolognese 00:47:51.900 --> 00:47:53.860 Fantasy, the story of a pianist. He heard it 00:47:53.860 --> 00:47:56.719 in London. We became friends. And then he said, 00:47:56.800 --> 00:47:58.719 well, Ina's a boundary crossing person. She's 00:47:58.719 --> 00:48:01.280 not afraid. I'll ask her if she wants to do this 00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:04.079 thing, my concerto. And I loved it. And, you 00:48:04.079 --> 00:48:06.679 know, we worked on it together. I even helped 00:48:06.679 --> 00:48:09.860 him kind of focus some of the motivic stuff to 00:48:09.860 --> 00:48:12.239 see what works on the piano versus the minimo. 00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:14.280 You know, it was such a joy. But if I didn't 00:48:14.280 --> 00:48:17.800 like the music, I wouldn't have done it. So that's 00:48:17.800 --> 00:48:21.280 just to say I do it because I want to. Wonderful. 00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:26.320 Well, thank you. So just to tell us a little 00:48:26.320 --> 00:48:28.119 bit about, I know you mentioned about childhood, 00:48:28.460 --> 00:48:31.900 you know, immigration and so on, but maybe you 00:48:31.900 --> 00:48:34.920 started your piano lessons, taking lessons from 00:48:34.920 --> 00:48:37.739 your mother. That's how you started music, your 00:48:37.739 --> 00:48:40.860 musical journey, right? Yes. And then your father 00:48:40.860 --> 00:48:44.320 was the one who taught

you poetry. And then so 00:48:44.320 --> 00:48:47.659 we really want to know how you get to where you 00:48:47.659 --> 00:48:49.960 are. So, you know, from the first lessons to 00:48:49.960 --> 00:48:53.739 maybe your teachers, you know, you you have an 00:48:53.739 --> 00:48:57.420 incredible list of very famous teachers on shine, 00:48:57.639 --> 00:49:01.460 you know, Fleischer and so on. So. Sure. Thank 00:49:01.460 --> 00:49:05.360 you. So my mom, you know, my mom was always there 00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:08.949 for me and I did have another teacher. in Odessa, 00:49:09.050 --> 00:49:12.329 and a wonderful teacher in Odessa. And I also 00:49:12.329 --> 00:49:14.429 had a composition teacher, and my mom practiced 00:49:14.429 --> 00:49:16.570 with me at home when I started working with those 00:49:16.570 --> 00:49:19.710 two fantastic women. And then another composition 00:49:19.710 --> 00:49:23.630 teacher came along, and his name was Jan Freidlin. 00:49:24.250 --> 00:49:27.369 And so the pieces on my disc, Stranger Things, 00:49:27.489 --> 00:49:30.210 were actually written under his supervision, 00:49:30.469 --> 00:49:33.929 under his pedagogy. And he taught at the great 00:49:33.929 --> 00:49:37.079 Stolarski School. So and then when I immigrated 00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:39.440 to the US, I joined the studio of Emilio del 00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:42.500 Rosario in Chicago. Now, Emilio del Rosario was 00:49:42.500 --> 00:49:46.440 very, very famous nationwide and even internationally. 00:49:46.599 --> 00:49:49.840 I mean, we had heard of him in Odessa, but he 00:49:49.840 --> 00:49:53.639 was well known for kind of instilling a love 00:49:53.639 --> 00:49:59.840 for performance and really strong chops in young 00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:02.119 students, you know, giving repertoire that by 00:50:02.119 --> 00:50:05.500 all standards is too difficult. I didn't know 00:50:05.500 --> 00:50:08.139 it was hard. I learned Scarbo at 14. I learned 00:50:08.139 --> 00:50:11.019 the Tchaikovsky concerto at 13 because my hands 00:50:11.019 --> 00:50:14.000 were large enough. I could handle it. It felt 00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:16.159 comfortable and I loved it. And the more I did, 00:50:16.199 --> 00:50:19.119 the more I wanted. So, you know, nowadays people 00:50:19.119 --> 00:50:22.179 play rock three and they're like 11 and, you 00:50:22.179 --> 00:50:25.519 know, it's crazy. And back then it was less so. 00:50:26.300 --> 00:50:28.940 Yeah, it's crazy. There's some, the Goldberg 00:50:28.940 --> 00:50:31.820 variations at 11. Why not? But, you know, he 00:50:31.820 --> 00:50:35.889 didn't assign musically. daunting stuff like 00:50:35.889 --> 00:50:38.730 that. But I would say technically. So that I 00:50:38.730 --> 00:50:41.809 was so grateful that at a young age, I played 00:50:41.809 --> 00:50:44.769 some really big pieces without knowing their 00:50:44.769 --> 00:50:47.269 difficulty. And so when you get older, those 00:50:47.269 --> 00:50:51.309 pieces are

still in your repertoire. And this 00:50:51.309 --> 00:50:53.849 prepares you for a whole journey, you know, with 00:50:53.849 --> 00:50:58.730 piano repertoire. So he really instilled that 00:50:58.730 --> 00:51:01.090 discipline, technical discipline, and a love 00:51:01.090 --> 00:51:03.809 for performance and kind of an organic approach. 00:51:04.380 --> 00:51:08.420 to technique, to piano technique. But the training, 00:51:08.519 --> 00:51:11.400 you know, the discipline was incredibly rigorous. 00:51:11.699 --> 00:51:15.659 So after him, I went to Anne Schein, really poetic, 00:51:15.860 --> 00:51:20.099 kindest, most incredible. pianist and person 00:51:20.099 --> 00:51:22.380 and we just lost her she passed away several 00:51:22.380 --> 00:51:24.860 months ago and you know there's a huge community 00:51:24.860 --> 00:51:27.860 of musicians whom she impacted and i loved her 00:51:27.860 --> 00:51:30.340 dearly and then i studied with fleischer and 00:51:30.340 --> 00:51:32.820 that was not easy but very very interesting and 00:51:32.820 --> 00:51:35.159 in some ways when i teach when i think about 00:51:35.159 --> 00:51:38.460 especially classical music beethoven schubert 00:51:38.460 --> 00:51:43.260 mozart It was a very impactful several years, 00:51:43.460 --> 00:51:46.239 if not easy, because I didn't agree with him 00:51:46.239 --> 00:51:49.260 on everything. And I still don't. But many things 00:51:49.260 --> 00:51:52.800 spring in my mind as very deep truths, profound 00:51:52.800 --> 00:51:59.559 truths about music. So overall, whereas she just 00:51:59.559 --> 00:52:02.119 supported my individual voice, he helped me hear 00:52:02.119 --> 00:52:04.900 the piano as an orchestra and approach it as 00:52:04.900 --> 00:52:07.420 a conductor, which was very interesting. And 00:52:07.420 --> 00:52:10.119 then after that, I got my doctorate with Gil 00:52:10.119 --> 00:52:12.780 Kalish, who just turned 90, who's amazing and 00:52:12.780 --> 00:52:16.199 also has impacted so many great musicians. He 00:52:16.199 --> 00:52:19.420 was such a wonderful mentor. And I got my artist 00:52:19.420 --> 00:52:22.039 diploma at the same time with Boris Petruszanski 00:52:22.039 --> 00:52:25.880 in Accademia Pianistica Internazionale in Italy. 00:52:25.980 --> 00:52:28.360 He also has many well -known piano students. 00:52:28.980 --> 00:52:32.920 And he really brought me back to my roots, I 00:52:32.920 --> 00:52:36.250 think, because he studied with Neuhaus. from 00:52:36.250 --> 00:52:39.809 the Moscow Conservatory. When he taught me, it 00:52:39.809 --> 00:52:43.510 was just so wonderful to speak in poetry. You 00:52:43.510 --> 00:52:46.050 know, he would quote Russian poetry. I grew up 00:52:46.050 --> 00:52:49.809 knowing and learning and loving. And he not only 00:52:49.809 --> 00:52:53.309 helped me get back to my individuality and my 00:52:53.309 --> 00:52:55.190 own voice of the piano, but he really helped 00:52:55.190 --> 00:52:57.489 me refine my approach to sound and to pedaling 00:52:57.489 --> 00:53:02.219 specifically. to hear sound as three -dimensionally 00:53:02.219 --> 00:53:05.179 as possible, to find a legato, a connectivity 00:53:05.179 --> 00:53:09.099 between sounds that is fluid, but also a whole 00:53:09.099 --> 00:53:11.079 world in pedaling. So that was Petroschansky. 00:53:11.460 --> 00:53:14.079 And I really credit him with my approach, my 00:53:14.079 --> 00:53:18.380 pianistic approach. May I say this? It comes 00:53:18.380 --> 00:53:21.980 across through your performance of Brahms when 00:53:21.980 --> 00:53:26.030 I heard it. Yeah, the tone and the clarity. Thank 00:53:26.030 --> 00:53:28.389 you so much. That means a lot because that piece 00:53:28.389 --> 00:53:30.690 actually went with all these teachers. I learned 00:53:30.690 --> 00:53:34.510 it while with Anne Schein. Really? Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:53:34.909 --> 00:53:37.690 But really, especially the tone, I felt like, 00:53:37.710 --> 00:53:40.730 wow, this is something very special. Thank you 00:53:40.730 --> 00:53:44.909 so much. And then now you are also a professor 00:53:44.909 --> 00:53:50.070 of piano and head of the piano at UCLA. Alpert 00:53:50.070 --> 00:53:53.309 School of Music. So you're not only building 00:53:53.309 --> 00:53:55.610 your own artistic life, but you're helping young 00:53:55.610 --> 00:53:59.349 musicians, you know, imagine theirs. So when 00:53:59.349 --> 00:54:01.510 you work with young pianists today, what are 00:54:01.510 --> 00:54:04.730 you trying to cultivate beyond technical excellence? 00:54:05.909 --> 00:54:11.889 Well, I approach every student differently. To 00:54:11.889 --> 00:54:14.210 me, their individuality is extremely important. 00:54:16.349 --> 00:54:18.570 you know technique is only a means to an end 00:54:18.570 --> 00:54:21.650 so with each one of them i try to help them really 00:54:21.650 --> 00:54:25.429 find who they are and understand what their experience 00:54:25.429 --> 00:54:29.269 with the piano had been previously as a pianist 00:54:29.269 --> 00:54:33.909 of course i focus on sound and very specifically 00:54:33.909 --> 00:54:36.710 on being relaxed and being relaxed from the inside 00:54:36.710 --> 00:54:39.929 not just physically but from very much from the 00:54:39.929 --> 00:54:44.099 gut and relaxing in here inside the heart i want 00:54:44.099 --> 00:54:46.559 them to find joy in music i want them to find 00:54:46.559 --> 00:54:51.039 uh love in music happiness you know people don't 00:54:51.039 --> 00:54:52.880 talk about that very much when they look for 00:54:52.880 --> 00:54:59.019 a conservatory or university to go to um you 00:54:59.019 --> 00:55:01.280 know musicians should have happy lives and they're 00:55:01.280 --> 00:55:04.179 not easy but they're happy so do i help them 00:55:04.179 --> 00:55:06.860 realize themselves to the best of their ability 00:55:06.860 --> 00:55:08.619 and of course i expect them to work very hard

00:55:08.619 --> 00:55:14.099 but uh You know, imagination and creativity and 00:55:14.099 --> 00:55:16.780 openness is what I try to cultivate in my students. 00:55:17.579 --> 00:55:20.059 Wonderful. Amazing. Your students are very lucky 00:55:20.059 --> 00:55:22.719 to have you as a teacher. Now we're coming toward 00:55:22.719 --> 00:55:24.500 the end of our conversation. It's been a really 00:55:24.500 --> 00:55:27.719 wonderful, enriching conversation. Very inspiring. 00:55:28.260 --> 00:55:32.519 So let's promote. So not only your. Of course, 00:55:32.519 --> 00:55:35.380 we're here to promote the latest album, Stranger 00:55:35.380 --> 00:55:38.380 Things, Piano Works from a Young Refugee's Backpack 00:55:38.380 --> 00:55:42.300 is now out. And what do you actually most hope 00:55:42.300 --> 00:55:46.000 listeners take away from this album? I hope that 00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:49.760 they hear the story. These pieces, they're all 00:55:49.760 --> 00:55:53.449 so different. And I hope they hear this. a thread 00:55:53.449 --> 00:55:56.929 through them that holds them together. And I 00:55:56.929 --> 00:55:59.489 hope they hear the whole thing because today, 00:55:59.610 --> 00:56:02.989 you know, that's not, that's not a given. So 00:56:02.989 --> 00:56:05.070 I hope they stick with it. And I hope that they 00:56:05.070 --> 00:56:07.449 walk away feeling they've had an experience. 00:56:07.489 --> 00:56:09.489 Now, if you don't mind, I'd love to mention the 00:56:09.489 --> 00:56:11.869 other albums I have coming out because it's one 00:56:11.869 --> 00:56:15.110 of the several, I actually have another album 00:56:15.110 --> 00:56:17.329 that came out just a few weeks before stranger 00:56:17.329 --> 00:56:21.510 things. And that's Richard Daniel pores. Piano 00:56:21.510 --> 00:56:24.449 Suites. It's on Super Train Records. And these 00:56:24.449 --> 00:56:26.969 are three suites for piano by the amazing piano 00:56:26.969 --> 00:56:29.329 composer and my UCLA colleague, Richard Danielpour. 00:56:29.469 --> 00:56:32.929 Those are beautiful. And I think people will 00:56:32.929 --> 00:56:36.030 hear more about them as the weeks progress. And 00:56:36.030 --> 00:56:40.329 in October, there will be another release, Forehand 00:56:40.329 --> 00:56:42.630 Mahler, with my friend Daniel Schlossberg, who 00:56:42.630 --> 00:56:45.889 lives in Chicago. And it's Mahler, the transcription 00:56:45.889 --> 00:56:51.230 of Mahler Symphony No. 6. And it's awesome. It's 00:56:51.230 --> 00:56:54.090 by Zemlinsky. Mahler approved it. He loved it. 00:56:54.190 --> 00:56:56.670 And it's an amazing way to experience this work. 00:56:57.809 --> 00:57:01.630 And finally, another CD that's coming out is 00:57:01.630 --> 00:57:05.010 with a Czech violinist, Pavel Šporčil on Pentatone 00:57:05.010 --> 00:57:06.730 Records. That'll be out later in the spring. 00:57:06.889 --> 00:57:09.929 All Czech music and most specifically a world 00:57:09.929 --> 00:57:12.309 premiere of the Janáček Violin Sonata, the early 00:57:12.309 --> 00:57:15.679 version that he... kind of discovered and i just 00:57:15.679 --> 00:57:18.059 recorded that in prague and that was an amazingly 00:57:18.059 --> 00:57:21.000 moving experience he's an amazing string player 00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:26.480 um pavel sportchal very famous violinist in the 00:57:26.480 --> 00:57:30.480 czech republic and a beloved so i think that'll 00:57:30.480 --> 00:57:32.699 be a really special album as well so lots of 00:57:32.699 --> 00:57:35.119 music coming out in addition to stranger things 00:57:35.119 --> 00:57:39.719 of course Amazing. I feel like you have more 00:57:39.719 --> 00:57:42.659 than 24 hours a day. Well, you're that talented, 00:57:42.820 --> 00:57:45.139 I guess. So what's the best way for our viewers 00:57:45.139 --> 00:57:47.420 and listeners to stay connected with you and 00:57:47.420 --> 00:57:50.800 follow your work? Your website? Yes, they can 00:57:50.800 --> 00:57:53.400 go on my website. And yes, Instagram would be 00:57:53.400 --> 00:57:59.510 great, at Ina Falex Piano. And my website. My 00:57:59.510 --> 00:58:02.110 schedule is being updated, but I send out a newsletter 00:58:02.110 --> 00:58:03.969 every once in a while so they can join that. 00:58:04.309 --> 00:58:06.909 But follow me on Instagram. All of my performances 00:58:06.909 --> 00:58:09.630 you'll know about from there as well. Well, thank 00:58:09.630 --> 00:58:12.130 you. Now, before I let you go, we have one more 00:58:12.130 --> 00:58:14.409 thing to do. It's called the Pianopod Rapid Fire 00:58:14.409 --> 00:58:18.329 Questions. Just to sort of end our conversation 00:58:18.329 --> 00:58:20.809 in a little bit more fun way. And then this is 00:58:20.809 --> 00:58:24.530 our tradition. So actually, we take the segment 00:58:24.530 --> 00:58:26.690 pretty seriously. And then, you know, you've 00:58:26.690 --> 00:58:29.050 shared your artistry and story and some wonderful 00:58:29.050 --> 00:58:32.630 insights about music and composition today. But 00:58:32.630 --> 00:58:35.730 these carefully curated questions will allow 00:58:35.730 --> 00:58:38.789 our listeners to finally discover who. You really 00:58:38.789 --> 00:58:41.789 are. So please answer each one with the shortest 00:58:41.789 --> 00:58:44.929 response possible. No explanation is necessary. 00:58:46.289 --> 00:58:54.630 No pressure. Coffee or tea? Coffee. Sunrise or 00:58:54.630 --> 00:59:01.849 sunset? Sunset. Mountains or ocean? Ocean. Sweet 00:59:01.849 --> 00:59:07.710 or savory? That's a tough one. Savory. What skill 00:59:07.710 --> 00:59:10.230 have you always wanted to learn but haven't had 00:59:10.230 --> 00:59:16.969 a chance to? Diving. Good one. What is your word 00:59:16.969 --> 00:59:23.750 or words to live by, if any? Adventure. Favorite 00:59:23.750 --> 00:59:28.130 venue you have ever performed in? Oh, gosh. That's 00:59:28.130 --> 00:59:31.429 really tough because this changes every year. 00:59:34.309 --> 00:59:38.119 Salcorteau in Paris. What is the most important 00:59:38.119 --> 00:59:41.820 quality you look for in other people? Can I say 00:59:41.820 --> 00:59:47.500 two? Sense of humor and down -to -earth realness 00:59:47.500 --> 00:59:51.679 and sense of humor. Now, if you could go back 00:59:51.679 --> 00:59:53.900 and give your younger self one piece of advice, 00:59:54.360 --> 00:59:59.699 what would it be? Listen to your own voice. Don't 00:59:59.699 --> 01:00:03.579 be swayed by trends. Last question. Fill in the 01:00:03.579 --> 01:00:11.050 blank. Music is blank. Music is oxygen. Beautiful. 01:00:11.389 --> 01:00:13.809 Ina, thank you so much for joining me today and 01:00:13.809 --> 01:00:16.449 helping us open this new season of The Piano 01:00:16.449 --> 01:00:18.710 Pod, your journey, your willingness to keep... 01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:21.360 expanding what it means to be a pianist and artist, 01:00:21.579 --> 01:00:25.280 make this a perfect way to begin our season of 01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:27.960 culture and courage. For those tuning in, be 01:00:27.960 --> 01:00:30.780 sure to check out Ina's newest album, Stranger 01:00:30.780 --> 01:00:33.679 Things, Piano Works from a Young Refugee's Backpack, 01:00:33.800 --> 01:00:37.719 as well as her memoir, Weight in the Fingertips. 01:00:38.059 --> 01:00:40.340 We'll include all the links in the show notes. 01:00:40.519 --> 01:00:43.199 Thank you for joining us for the inaugural episode 01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:45.739 of a season seven, everyone. And please like, 01:00:45.760 --> 01:00:48.679 subscribe. Leave us a comment and follow the 01:00:48.679 --> 01:00:51.599 PianoPod on social media. Thank you so much. 01:00:51.619 --> 01:00:54.619 Thank you again, Ina. Thank you so much. Thank 01:00:54.619 --> 01:00:56.360 you. And thank you for watching and listening. 01:00:56.440 --> 01:00:57.739 See you in the next episode.