I'm an artist who doesn't tick any boxes.
I don't fit neatly into a style or an expectation.
I'm very multi-faceted and my background, my education, my training and now my work
gives this multi-diverse approach.
And I think that as my artistry has been growing and changing and I've been
maturing as a pianist, I'm starting to realise that it's being yourself and being
authentic is what makes you an artist.
Join us for an exciting episode, Blurred Boundaries Classical Meets Jazz, featuring
Ophelia Gordon, concert pianist, recording artist and one of the world's leading
interpreters of Nikolai Kapustin.
Ophelia shares how Kapustin's genre-defying music helped her find her artistic
identity, blending classical precision with jazz freedom.
It can take a long time to figure out who you are and then when you start realising
that you're not meant to be another person, you're not meant to be another type
of musician, and we will only grow as an individual if we embrace ourselves.
And I think it's that distinction between kind of doing what's expected and then
actually playing really what connects to you and just going with that.
And as soon as I started almost like rebelling in some way and not playing the
repertoire that everyone was expecting me to play, my performing was improving
because I felt this is really what I should be doing, and especially with Kapustin
because it speaks to me and it speaks to my education as well.
It's made me feel very at home.
We also explore improvisation in classical music, the influence of jazz and the
making of her upcoming album, Between the Lines.
Kapustin doesn't fit into a box either, and I think that must be what drew me to
him, and I'm hoping with Kapustin that I'm able to show my journey through the
album because I'm not playing his music purely because I like it.
It's for a very different reason, and I think the album has come exactly at the
right time in my life, and it's an album about a journey.
Tune in Tuesday, February 25th at 8pm Eastern Time on YouTube and all major
podcast platforms.
Substack subscribers get early access one day before the official release.
Don't miss this inspiring conversation on music, artistry, and breaking boundaries.