What I'm trying to do more and more is really
how can I help this person be the best version
of themselves that they can be and find the path
that best suits them in this profession. I think
what connects it all is, I'd say, trying to find
a more organic way to see music making. as not
separate from other areas um like yoga and health
you know like well -being also emotional health
spiritual health it is just in simple terms is
becoming more aware of the the role that your
body and what you're doing with the body has
on your piano playing Welcome to another inspiring
episode of Season 6 of The Pianopod, everyone.
This season is all about creativity and connection,
exploring how artists across the piano world
are reshaping what it means to create and connect
in today's ever -changing landscape. Today's
guest perfectly embodies that mission, Elena
Riu, a Venezuelan -born pianist, recording artist,
educator, and yoga teacher whose career bridges
performance, education, mindfulness, and innovation.
Elena is known for her powerful performances
and her visionary albums like Piano Icons for
the 21st Century, Salsa Nueva, Out of the Blues,
and Soler, 12 Keyboard Sonatas. She is also recognized
for her pioneering work on the embodied pianist,
where she merges yoga, mindfulness, and music
training to help musicians connect more deeply
with their bodies and artistry. Elena has commissioned
and premiered over 40 new piano works, collaborated
with composers such as Gabriela Ortiz, Tanya
Leon, and Diana Arizmendi, and inspired generations
of students at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in
London. She is also courageously bringing new
conversations to the field, like her work with
female performers exploring creativity in the
menstrual cycle, a truly taboo -breaking topic
in music and the arts. I can't wait for you to
hear this conversation. We talk about everything
from embodiment and artistic freedom to cultural
identity, cyclical creativity, and redefining
what it means to be a 21st century pianist. So
wherever you are, take a deep breath, settle
in, and enjoy this episode. Before we begin,
a huge thank you to you and our listeners and
community. Every time you subscribe, rate, or
share this show, you help us continue building
this space for creativity and dialogue. It truly
means the world. Here is Season 6, Episode 6
of The Pianopod with pianist, educator, and yoga
teacher Elena Ryu, the embodied pianist on creativity,
awareness, and artistic freedom. Please enjoy
the show. You are listening to The Piano Pod,
where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
about how they are bringing the piano into the
future and thriving in a complex, ever -evolving
world. Elena, welcome to The Piano Pod. Thank
you so much for being here today. Thank you for
having me. Of course. Your work spans performance,
education, mindfulness and collaboration. And
what would you say is the core mission or passion
that connects it all? Well, this is a really
good question because I often wonder myself,
especially, you know, the algorithm is very puzzled
by all this. The algorithm wants to put us in
a little box of like, you know, do one thing.
very focused. And I think what connects it all
is, I'd say, trying to find a more organic way
to see music making as not separate from other
areas like yoga and health, you know, like well
-being, also emotional health, spiritual health.
And so I think what brings it, like what synergizes
more and more, I can think that at the moment,
I feel that it's the movement in a way. Because,
you know, I have a training as a dancer initially
and then as a yoga teacher. And as musicians,
we move as well. You know, it's not like we only
play from this beat up, you know, from the brain.
That's the way I think a lot of us have been
taught. And so I'm finding more and more that
my work with yoga and embodiment and coherent
breathing brings those two areas of my training
together. And that's actually shaping up strongly
at the moment. So you mentioned embodiment and
then throughout your... publications to your
website to social media, I see the word embodied.
So how do you define the term embodied musician?
I think it's just in simple terms, it's becoming
more aware of the role that your body and what
you're doing with the body has on your piano
playing. And it's more like connecting. you know,
your physical body, your emotions, your spiritual
body as well, in the process of creation and
understanding how it might be hindering your
progress or getting in the way of your practice,
like misuse of the body or lack of awareness
of the breath, for instance. You know, I've been
teaching a yoga session at Trinity Lab and Conservatory
of Music and Dance where I work for, quite a
few years now, eventually they listened to me.
And so now we have a session in the keyboard
department. And, you know, I give them a little
questionnaire that I've made that I'm tweaking.
And, you know, one of the questions is, you know,
they have to put between 1 and 10, awareness
of body, awareness of breath. And a lot of people,
you know, when you ask them about awareness of
body, awareness of breath, they put one. So very,
very little awareness of what's happening to
their breathing and what's happening to their
body. And then, you know, we're constantly talking
to people about injury, like how to cure the
injury or how to deal with the injury. But what
I'm really interested in is not getting the injury.
It's preventative. I think that's what's really
important. So that should be happening from childhood.
You know, people teaching children should already
be incorporating embodiment in the teaching.
So mixed of physical awareness to spiritual mindfulness.
together is the embodiment yeah it's like really
like having an awareness of why did that happen
what is my shoulder doing or not doing or needing
to do did i you know what's what's my heart space
like how you know posture is not just about the
bones and the muscles it also impacts you know
in chinese medicine a lot it has a big impact
on the heart center how we sit how we you know
it has a big impact on the diaphragm it has a
big impact on the postural muscles it's all connected
so it's not just like oh if you sit straight
like you know it was quite old -fashioned this
sort of pilates sitting like a rod like that
which actually that's not how the spine works
because the spine is a sort of like you know
organic creature and um and so you know How is
this sitting like that affecting your heart center
and your heart meridian? And, you know, all the
emotions that are lodged in the back of the heart
as well. And so, yeah, so embodiment is taking
all that into account. How am I feeling today?
Your menstrual cycle. Is it really the right
day to push? and practice seven hours, is it
ever. But, you know, is today the right day to
do that? Or is today the right day for me to
show my new piece to people? Or am I particularly
vulnerable today because my inner critic is really
whipping me and I don't need any more people,
so this is not the time to take a new piece too.
to my friends or even to my teacher if I'm feeling
like already, you know, I'm already bounded by
my own inner critic. Wow, interesting. So much
to really discuss. But I'm just curious, like
you are already an accomplished pianist. I know
that. And also you have, we're going to talk
more about your recordings later on. So you are
a recording artist. How did you come to this
place? Like what's been your artistic journey
from traditional pianism? I'm sure it was a traditional
training and then now incorporating yoga, mindfulness
and somatic awareness. Well, I think I was quite
lucky that, you know, when I was a child, I was
given quite a few opportunities to do, you know,
to do dance. So I was always very sort of active.
And then I started to teach myself yoga when
I was 11 from the very famous Theos Bernard book.
And I was doing ballet and I was doing piano
and I was doing quite creative as a young person.
So I think that already informed my relationship
with movement through the dancing and the wonderful
synergy that dancing to music has, which is fantastic.
you know, medium. And then I got the scholarship
to come to the UK, where I had a kind of quite
traditional romantic pianism, sort of, not pushed
on me, but sold to me by my teacher, who was
Joseph Van Garten. He had been, you know, a mega
sort of Hungarian Jewish refugee, actually, in
London. and had a big career as a, you know,
Liszt and Schumann and all that. But because
of my background, I had already done quite a
lot of Latin American and Spanish repertoire
because I'm half Catalan. And so when I came
to London, I was already playing repertoire that
wasn't really being taught in the conservatory.
As it is, as you know, to this day, very, very
few people are playing Spanish music outside
of Spain. And and so I started to incorporate
this repertoire into my recitals, which at the
time was, I think, really, really stroke of luck
for me because no one was doing it. So that attracted
some attention. My teacher, you know, he was
OK with it. He did like Granados, but he wasn't
really, you know, he wasn't really somebody who
played Iberia or. Coyescas or anything like that.
And also in Venezuela, because I had a friend
who was a composer, I was actually very interested
in contemporary music. So I started to look at
some, you know, quite light -hearted like Bozza
and people who were a little bit, you know, off
the beaten track and just to explore. And we
were playing music by Venezuelan composers at
the time. So, you know, and some of them were
still around. So we were playing that kind of...
contemporary repertoire already and then when
I came to London I yeah as I said I started to
program a mixture of contemporary and classical
music sort of like I call it infiltration you
know so I was playing to very um mainstream audiences
you know in London San Martin in the fields you
know at the beginning you know doing all those
church rounds as we do here when we're young.
But I always was infiltrating some 20th century
music so that people didn't think, oh my God,
what's that? But they came to hear, you know,
King of Zen or some Mozart variations. And then
once they were sort of captured, then they would
just hear whatever else I played. So I would
play some Scalf or I would play some other repertoire.
And I found that that was a very successful way
of introducing new music into a mainstream kind
of concert hall audience as well. And then I
had these ideas of how to kind of renew the piano
repertoire. We're talking about 2000, I think,
or Leighton or Salsa Nueva. Let me check. 2005.
I had these ideas and I was wondering how can
I play more new music? I was playing new music
by Venezuelan composers, by people, by colleagues
at the conservatory. And then I decided to see
if somebody would be interested in this idea
that I had, which was to create a piano repertoire
based on popular styles. And that's how Salsa
Nueva and Rhythm and Blues came to be. pitch
the idea to Busy and Hawks. And, you know, it
was just a question of being in the right place
at the right time, I think. I wasn't like, you
know, an A1 list name in the concert circuit.
I mean, I was doing quite a lot. But I think
they thought, well, this hasn't been done before,
which I think it probably hadn't. And so I commissioned
all these composers to write piano music. inspired
by salsa. And then the next volume was inspired
by R &B and the blues. And that was, I think,
quite a kind of breakthrough in my career as
a musician, because then I also was editing,
producing, doing the whole thing, commissioning,
checking on the scores. making a recording, taking
on tour. It's a lot of work and a lot of heavy
deadlines. I'm sure. And the second one, the
second volume was happening when I was pregnant.
So that added a whole new light into the whole
process of like being really pushed, you know,
having a deadline looming over you when you're
going through pregnancy and then childbirth and
then, you know. breastfeeding and all that so
that's when you were like oh i need to incorporate
some of those like wellness into your well i
had already funnily enough before i had my my
daughter i had you know um taken a whole two
-year teaching qualification as a yoga teacher
so that actually happened just before I had Ananda
in 2008. So I had been doing a lot of training
with a really incredible, one of my mentors,
you might have heard of her. She's like a visionary,
pioneer of women's yoga. And she's written six
books, I think. And she's called Dr. Uma Dinsmortuli.
She's written a massive book called Yoni Shakti,
which is like a compendium of like yoga and women's
health. So I done a lot of trainings with her,
you know, while I was, you know, doing my music
and my teaching and everything. And then I took
this yoga diploma and then, you know, I was,
well, I was incorporating to my own daily life
and I could see the benefits that it was having
on my creativity, my energy levels, physically.
I've always very luckily naturally been quite
sort of relaxed. in my body so I know somebody
very stiff and then yeah and then you know that
kind of came into my teaching you know one -to
-one more specifically and then it has become
a bit more like incorporating into a group practice
also because you know as you know people are
suffering from performance related anxiety quite
a lot and after COVID and with everything in
the world it's you know it's You know, just anxiety
generally in young people, you know, the anxiety
is quite high. The stresses of the career, having
a career, whatever that means, you know, being
told what it means by somebody. And, you know,
the expectations, you know, can be quite... I'm
not saying that we have to sort of... This is
the wrong word. You know, it has to be, you know,
but the thing is that the yoga brings resilience.
We need to train people who are resilient because
we need this job. You need to be very resilient
and very flexible, don't you? So that comes with
the yoga as well. That's interesting because
our industry is not really known for being flexible
because the training is rigor and rigid. But
at the same time, when we think of career, yeah,
we have to be flexible, especially these days.
Yeah. Now, that's where your expertise in yoga
comes in. And that's amazing. But when you teach.
I know you are teaching this yoga mindfulness.
It's yoga and mindfulness for pianists. Yeah,
it's called the embodied. Well, I'm calling it
now the embodied musician and also the embodied
performer, because if you're a dancer or you're
an actor, you can also use a lot of, you know,
we have very similar issues that we are facing,
you know, tiredness, attention, fatigue, muscular
tension, you know, injury. anxiety, stress, and
all these things that lead to insomnia, perhaps
for some people, you know, etc. So it's all the
ramifications of these issues and where they
lead people as well. So yeah, so I have a class,
I'm doing workshops online, also on creativity
and your cycle for women, for female performers.
I've been doing quite a few of these. And then
I have, yeah, a yoga class on a Monday morning,
which is not very good for the States, but, you
know, I could do it. If there was demand, I would
do it later. And that's every Monday, you know,
for people who want to kind of start the week
feeling purposeful and aligned with the energy
of the Monday morning, which, you know, sometimes
quite tricky. And, yeah, so I'm doing. both one
-to -one in my one -to -one teaching, where obviously
it can be more hands -on because, you know, obviously
with consent, because you can see something and
adjust it in a way that they feel it very, very
quickly. And then in these group classes and
then, yeah, in these workshops as well. Where
do you think these anxiety or tension come from?
from especially what among young musicians maybe
you already have answered but that we you know
I have several students and I want to help too
and there are many as you mentioned there are
many books many classes out there but maybe it's
not quite addressed from the get -go you know
there are solutions to the problems but maybe
they're not addressing the core of the issue
you know before it's happening as you said we
can stop from being happening you know what i
mean yeah the prevention well there are many
reasons i think you know quite a lot of it can
come from your family background you know the
kind of environment that you grew up in the kind
of expectations that have been placed onto you
you know You know, a lot of people take on a
career as a performer, as a form of, like, fawning,
you know, pleasing your parents or fulfilling
expectations from other people. It happens in
other careers, you know, like lawyers. And then,
you know, there are so many expectations, aren't
there, when you've gone to music college and
then you're faced with sort of these incredible
high standards. of of um perfection also fueled
by the cd industry you know and um and meeting
so many deadlines i think especially the first
year students i think there's like a sort of
first year student and post grads i think they
they both i think the worst affected because
then you know in the middle people have had some
time to adapt or make some choices hopefully
but at the beginning you know they come into
Music college and they don't really fully, they're
not fully aware of what they are going to be
dealing with or the expectations are going to
be. I see that a lot. And they're not prepared
for what's coming to them. And then, you know,
when they get to postgrad, they sort of feeling
like, oh, my God, if I haven't made it, made
it. Now I'm a failure. And, you know, there's
a lot to do with being compared to people, you
know, comparing yourself to your peers. The competition,
you know, also not getting anywhere. A lot of
rejection and not having to deal with rejection.
Having a good kind of lifestyle also that helps
one kind of deal better with obstacles, you know,
and that's what I mean, resilience. You know,
you have to, okay, accept that maybe that wasn't
what you expected. And now you have to get up
again. You know, try to learn from it. How do
we start again after a rejection or a perceived
failure? How do we deal with negative thoughts?
And I think the problem is that we tell students
it's all talking. So, you know, you read a book
or you go and see someone when you're anxious
and they'll talk, which is great. Obviously,
talking is... better than not saying anything.
So talking is one form of dealing with these
problems. But we now know from neuroscience and
from yoga and from alternative medicine and from
the people I train with that the best approach
is bottom up. The best approach with somebody
who's already very stressed and very anxious
is not to sit and talk or meditate, it's to move.
is to use the body as the tool to bring people
back into your center or into yourself, you know,
to feel your big muscles, to get the mind to
feel the body. And then the mind basically drops
down into the lower body. That's what we want.
We want people to be up because especially also,
you know, we're sitting all day. there's a lot
of stuff like circulation and energy channels
you know if you believe in yoga and chinese medicine
you know traditional chinese medicine and you're
better that have been blocked there's a lot of
blocking from the posture the breathing the pelvis
you know there's no circulation so the the approach
is that you you move people you you do certain
things to purge the negativity you know to release
the tension with the body through the body and
the breathing and then you lie them down to do
an incredible yoga nidra which is i mean you
know i have people you keep me coming to my yoga
class at nine o 'clock so they just got up and
at 10 o 'clock they're sleeping again because
you know the level of tiredness there's like
an epidemic of tiredness in all of us. And we
don't notice it because we just carry on. You
know, we're taught to just push, push, push with
toxic productivity. So I have people who are
so, they just gobsmacked that they fell asleep
at 10 o 'clock in the morning. They just can't
get over it. And then at college, now I used
to have a class of five, well, everyone, I say
90 % was asleep in the yoga nidra. And even now,
11 .45, So if I do a yoga nidra, yeah, sort of
12, 35, most of them will be asleep. Wow. You
know, Elena, I used to be a hardcore yogi, not
like you, but, you know, like I did like a vinyasa,
like a little athletic. So it was my work. Yeah,
it was my work. But, you know, since 2020, I
stopped. And then my life has not been the same.
It's, it's, it's, and then, you know, I encouraged
myself to do, oh, maybe I should do like an online
yoga thing, but it's not, it wasn't the same.
So I was so discouraged and I'm so, such a perfectionist
that everything has to be perfect in order for
me to continue. So I really do miss, but there's
something so beautiful about yoga where this,
you know, each class. just focuses on one part
of the body for example yeah and then especially
when it comes to the hip joint when that part
of your body opens up yeah i don't know what
happened to my brain right what what is this
thing about yoga that really Is it breathing
or is it this openness in your body? What is
it? Yeah, it is because, you know, the thing
also is that people go to the gym, you know,
they watch something online, you know, or Instagram
and they like do this. And I tell them, if you're
not breathing, it's not going to, the medicine
is in the combination of the breathing, the pace,
you know, in the case of coherent breathing,
it's this very specific breath ratio that is
like the magic formula too. regulate your nervous
system. And I knew you nailed it in the head.
It's the flow of prana. You know, it's making,
you know, in Chinese medicine, they believe that
the energy goes up and down. And, you know, when
it just stays stuck up or down, then we have
issues to do with our health. So when you're
in a yoga class, you know, when the breathing
is incorporated into the movement, you know,
so that's one of the best practices for strength
is, you know, moving breath. And my teacher,
you know, I trained with a few people, but had
very big influence was the shadow yoga school,
Shandor Remete, really incredible, incredible
teaching. And there's a lot of sequences where
I feel like Tai Chi or Qigong where you're moving
with the breath. So the mind is very, very busy
because it's busy trying to synchronize the breath
with the body. So it doesn't have time to go
into, you know, somebody said something about
me and I'm useless. And, you know, you get a
break from all that, don't you? And then there's
healing from... Just having that hour when you
didn't think about all the stuff that you're
not getting done or that you're not, and you're
just being in your body with your breath. And
yeah, you know, the law of correspondence is
the hips and the shoulders. So when you free
your shoulders, you're freeing your hips. When
you free your groin, your feet, you're freeing
your armpit, which is really important in piano
playing because, you know, most of us are like
this. Yeah, and this panacea, this balm, which
is the yoga nidra, giving people the permission
to have this profound opportunity drop into their
body and, you know, peel these layers of thought
and tension and deadlines and just like peeling
an onion, you go deeper, you go into delta. Now
they know that you go through all these different
brainwaves. which are incredible for your creativity
that in normal waking time we don't have access
to. So the yoga nidra is not just to fall asleep.
I mean, whether you fall asleep or not depends
on your body and where you are, but it's more
like profoundly creative because you really are
exploring the kernel of your being. But not from
the mind's point of view. Wow. It's so deep.
And by speaking with you, I feel like, oh, this
is a sign. I need to get back into it. Yeah.
Maybe at this point what you need is to do a
different kind of yoga. Because doing vinyasa
now might not be what suits you. Because we change
and we're at a different place. So that kind
of yoga. might have suited you you know in your
30s or 40s and now you just feel that's not really
what i need you know my body doesn't want it
and and then we can adapt to changing needs as
well yeah i i think so too i'm in a different
stage of life where that sort of activity doesn't
suit me anymore so i need to find a different
path but Yeah, I need to breathe. I need to,
like you said, feeling like an onion skin, like
a little by little, like, you know, I need that
experience again. Yeah, and the coherent breathing
is wonderful for that because the way these wonderful
people, the doctors there in New York, Dr. Brown
and Dr. Gerbard of Breath, Body, Mind, the way
they teach it, because obviously they are doctors,
they're psychiatrists. So they know. all the
ins and outs of, you know, from the physical
perspective, what is happening or not happening
in the body and the mind. And they bring in these
practices to the West and also they're, you know,
they're using these practices in really kind
of extreme situations of where people are experiencing
severe trauma, like war and catastrophe scenarios
like the earthquakes. I think they understand
this idea that you have to get rid of something
first, you know, before you put the other stuff
in. You can't put a new thing if you're blocking
it with all the old stuff that is just running
around. And then the way, you know, the coherent
breathing, which is pranayama, but you know.
explain me in a different way this this breath
is ratio of breathing um that very related to
the role of the vagus nerve as well you know
that creates this balance so you know it's not
like you're going to do this yoga and come out
to play and you'll be like a zombie because you
know what i mean it's not it's it's you are like
really balancing the stress levels which are
usually like that for most people and these are
the you know the relaxation um response you're
trying to bring them into relationship so when
you come to perform you'll be not over sympathetic
or parasympathetic you know you'll be balanced
so you can make better decisions you have better
responses in the muscles you're not in flight
or in fight hopefully and that's something i
work a lot with in my class the nervous system
and How what sort of like positive effects do
you see from like after teaching several classes
or maybe a semester or something? And then do
you see any transformation in your students?
Well, I ask them after the sessions to, you know,
to fill the questionnaire. So it's like a before
and after. And you can see quite a lot of. really
positive responses but you can even see it after
a session as you know when you go to a yoga you
feel immediately better after and that you know
your face looks your eyes are clear and so I
tend to get a lot of feedback on people feeling
more I think more courageous and more, I think,
more energized, more inspired and more relaxed
as well. And I've had some very beautiful feedback
of people doing the final relaxation of the nidra
and feeling really interesting things happening
in the arms, people with injuries. You know,
doing this, this coherent breathing, they really
describe very beautifully. I can send it to you
late if you want to. The feeling of, you know,
what's happening in the arm and light and it's
very beautiful. Yeah. So it has, yes, you know,
some people are very sensitive. Some people take
longer, you know, some people are more cynical.
Some people are more rational, you know, so you,
you know, you also depends on. where you are
in your perception of what the yoga is as well
you're going to bring that into it yeah absolutely
wow thank you for sharing all this it's very
inspiring now then but before we talk about your
career as a musician let's talk about this taboo
topic in in our industry especially this menstrual
cycle so when we talk about you know, female
in this context, obviously we are referring to
those who are biologically born female. It's
something, you know, menstrual cycle is something
that we experienced nearly half of our lives.
You know, if we were to live in, you know, our
eighties or nineties, right. And then it's rarely
discussed. And then when you think of like athletes,
I'm sure there are expertise of all sorts of
kinds to help them. to prepare for this the game
of the century right but then in our industry
there's no talk like hush hush absolutely and
yeah and i wonder you know like even if i was
much younger starting the cycle and then if i
had a more information more support and it would
have been a different experience for all of us
and that's why i wrote my book I wrote this book,
My Dear Period. Oh, that is great. For young
girls. I did all the illustrations, but that's
another conversation. How did I do that? You
did? I did all this drawing. Oh, you're so multi
-talented. Oh, really? You can see why the algorithm
hates me. Not because of the talent, but because
of the diversity stuff. I wrote this book because
I, through my yoga, I also... have been working
a lot with young girls for many years and their
moms. And a lot was coming out in this session
because of my daughter. You see, I did that also
to give her a girl's circle. So I was meeting
girls to do yoga and coming of age stuff every
week for quite a few years. So I learned a lot
about what was happening in the school. how people
talk or didn't talk about the period, how they
felt about the body. And it was alarming because
this is happening now. You know, the taboo when
we were young, in a way you took it for granted
because, you know, just imagine my mom, I mean,
her background in terms of body literacy was
zero, you know, and you didn't expect that. But
even for me growing up, it wasn't a subject.
that was explored or welcomed in my environment
or even with my friends. So we already have experience
of what it's like not to have this kind of body
literacy tools. So obviously, when you go to
conservatoire, it's going to be the same because
all those girls have been brought up mostly in
families where this subject is. ignored or dismissed
or very likely like you know here's a pad don't
talk about it you know hush hush throw it in
the bin and so it is to be expected I mean I
taught a class for dancers the other day which
you you know you think as you say athletes they're
going to be really clued up they had no idea
about whether or not they were ovulating what
a cervical fluid was, how to track the period.
I mean, they were all, you know, on the pill,
not knowing what the pill, you know, really is
doing to your body, etc. So it's actually widespread
taboo. And that's why, you know, movements like
Celebration Day for Girls exist, which is a fantastic
workshop created by Jane Bennett in Australia
to give this sort of... girls a chance to have
a proper right of passage around monarchy, which
is first period. And so, of course, it's taboo
because, you know, the music business traditionally
has been very, very misogynistic. I mean, the
music business still now, you know, I read lots
of stuff from the New York Philharmonic. There
was a whistleblower, I'm sure you know her. I
mean, you know, dishing all the dirt on how absolutely
appalling it is. You know, even the Berlin Philharmonic,
I think they only had one female player with
Karajan. So it's not a surprise that women are
thinking that to succeed, they have to behave
just like a man. That's the standard, you know,
I have to be, you know, exactly the same. I have
to have the same hand span. I have to make the
sound of a male pianist. You know, women go to
play, you know, and they're told, project, project.
And I'm like, project what? What? What is project?
I mean, you know, just to, you have to kind of,
I call it meat and two veg, you know. You have
Sunday lunch in England, you have meat and two
vegetables, and it's like really heavy and, you
know, makes you feel really full, not healthy,
unnecessarily. And so I just, they just have
this kind of expectation. And so how could you
even be brave enough to mention? that you have
a cramp and maybe you don't want to come to your
lesson or you can't practice you know so so i'm
now calling it bringing the m in the m of m of
menstruation into music that's what i'm calling
bringing the m of menstruation into the word
music so as you say athletes now have so much
more knowledge they're taught to track their
periods famously in the british in the football
teams, the female football teams, and they are
adjusting the training. So they're making the
most of each phase of the cycle. It isn't that
having your period is worse than being, you know,
in the follicular phase, which is pre -ovulation.
So basically there are four phases and they're
like the seasons. There's inner winter, that's
when you bleed. Then there's inner spring, which
is the follicular. which is before ovulation,
when the energy starts to surge. Then there's
the ovulatory phase, which is when you ovulate
and your hormones are at their top peak. And
then there's the premenstrual phase that we know
very well as women. When everything gets a little
bit, you know, the hormones start to change,
estrogen drops, you know, progesterone rises.
And then there's the bleed when the hormones
are a bit more like flat. And they are just different.
They're not worse or better, but they have different
strengths. And so my students, if they have a
really bad period, they can call me and they
can say, I really feel really not well. And we
will make up the lesson. And if they come to
the lesson with a really heavy period. We will
do other things. We won't play through, you know,
the Schumann sonata in G minor when you have
a really heavy period, you know, at full speed
or Bartók sonata, you know, first movement. We
don't want to do that. We work in a different
way. And also, I'm telling, I actually got an
award show coming up in December of how to show
up for a performance during your winter. So how
do you, again, because we don't have the luxury
of telling a concert promoter, sorry, I got my
period. Can I change it? You know, so this is
what people don't understand. We are different.
That's why I'm approaching performers and menstrual
cycle awareness. We're in a different category
because you can sync your diary, you know, most
women kind of manage to with a... period with
the menstrual cycle but when you have a gig that
has been planned for two years you can't change
it so you have to manage you know with your period
with the cramping with whatever comes with it
then how do you do it and so that's what's interesting
how do you pace your cycle if you know that you
have this exam this first performance this important
meeting on the day of your bleed or around it?
What can you do to prepare yourself so that you
can do your best? And how can you use the incredible
gifts that come with the bleed in your performance?
Because we have other gifts. Each part of the
cycle comes with a different set of tools and
powers. And so if you know they're there, you
can use them at different times. Like we were
saying, you know, if you're very premenstrual,
you're already like very critical. You're hypercritical,
you know, to yourself. So it's a really good
time to edit something or to clean up a document
or to make decisions, you know, tidying up. But
it's not a good time to kind of get out there
and play to people because you're not. you know
you're already receiving a lot of criticism wow
that's incredible i wish i knew this when i was
much younger and then now you know obviously
i'm in over a certain age and it's uh in a different
phase of my life so maybe you can still use the
moon so women who are postmenopausal yeah we
will be using the moon as a sort of anchor you
know not like a fixed thing but you know You
can use the moon and go, okay, oh, I'm feeling
there's this big full moon happening here and
I'm feeling the opposite. You know, I'm feeling
really low. I'm having a really sort of tough
time. Or, you know, the energy of the moon is
waning. So, you know, because we still have hormones.
It's not that we don't have hormones. It's just
a different level of operations happening. Right
now it's like I'm in the perimenopause. Okay.
toward the end, but it's like ups and downs.
It's just the experience is incredible. The moon
can help you. The moon really can help you because
women who are in perimenopause, when your cycle
starts to, you know, be very erupting, the moon
can actually give you a little bit of a feeling
of grounding because you can at least look at
nature and the moon as well to get that feeling
of, well, I know what I am. You know, there's
like a... you know, waxing moon or crescent,
you know, it's still sinking. And some women
come back to a more regular cycle in perimenopause
through using the moon. They do. It's really
interesting. It's like your body kind of sinks
with. Wow. Yeah. And it's tough. It's tough because
it's like you're in the premenstruum all the
time. all the time yeah yeah yeah but you know
at the same time i i'm the kind of person to
embrace the nature because i think living this
long is already a privilege you know and so yeah
it is a privilege so i embrace the aging process
and i'm not afraid and sometimes oh it so sucks
you know it's not really cool to experience the
aging but but I take it positive so that's why
I'm asking like you know I want to somehow incorporate
the knowledge or I want to study a little bit
more so that I can really give that gift that
to my students you know young students who are
about to experience and enter into this phase
of their lives and it's gonna they're gonna have
this relationship this this menstrual cycle this
relationship for a long time that they might
as well we have like 430 cycles periods they're
about yeah well that's why i wrote the book the
root the book is there you know on amazon everyone
so that okay in the u .s so people can feel empowered
and empower their daughter You know, to have
all the right language, to have the knowledge.
There's lots of spaces to write things down in
the book, to reflect. It's like a sort of journal.
And, you know, to change the narrative that they
do know where they are in this cycle and what's
happening. And obviously the book is for young
girls. But, yeah, I think I am working on, you
know, I'm going to have some trainings in the
UK about. the embodied pianist and musician for
music teachers. And I think the next one is going
to be for, you know, for teachers of female students
as well, just to how to, how to understand that,
you know, if you have a student in, you know,
you remember, you know, in different phases of
the cycle, they are, you know, have different
abilities that we can call upon, or, you know,
we can give different homework or different tasks
or, yeah. But if, You know how to manage better.
I think as female artists, it's such an eye -opening
experience because oftentimes it's been a disadvantage
because we weren't taught how to. really deal
with right so yeah exactly it's not because it
is a disadvantage well the patriarchy wants us
to think that it is a disadvantage that's right
that's right and it actually isn't it's it's
it's a incredible you know if you look at nature
how nature creates nature creates in a cyclical
way nature doesn't create in a linear way you
know if you look at all the processes of the
you know the life cycle it's also a cycle you
know and then you know it keeps changing it keeps
repeating it keeps evolving you know and that's
the same so it's it's um we feel that it's a
disadvantage because we have such little information
about also the creative cycle is the same the
creative cycle is not linear You know, when you're
writing a book or practicing, not every day is
the same as the other one. That's imposed by
this patriarchal lens that you have to be. And
even men, they do have hormones. You know, they
do have cycles. They're just smaller. So this
expectation that young people have, you know,
that they have to practice every day the same
amount of hours at the same, you know, it's like
driving a car at full speed the whole time. You
don't do that. You know, you change the speed.
Even in a car, it's not the same. You know, you
have to adjust. You have to change gear. Exactly.
So in a creative life, when to change gear is
very useful to know it, when to push. And if
you have to push in a moment that you feel that
you have less energy, how to deal with that,
you know, how to help. yourself as we're saying
if you're having a very you know heavy period
or you're you know having a long cycle because
you're in perimenopause and you're an artist
and you're on tour and your period last 15 days
like as perimenopause how to deal with it to
make this experience you know less disempowering
and and you do that by how you prepare before
the event And on the day, you know, like delegating,
asking for help, even simple things like that
can make a big difference, you know, in how we
are managing performing with a cycle. Wow, this
is incredible. Thank you. Yeah. And then can
you show me your book again so that people can
see? It's in Amazon in the US. And you can just
get it in the US. They deliver it to your doorstep.
And it's just for girls and their moms or the
caregiver or auntie. And it's a present that
you can give to your goddaughter. And it has
a lot of, let me show you, it has a lot of spaces
for, you know, lots of questions and good places
to... To draw, for instance, that's a blank place
to draw. And then they have draw your menarche
party outfit. And then just, you know, making
decisions about what would you like to do planning
your first period. This is, you know, some yoga,
tension releasing. And then these leaves are
for you to write down what you're wanting to
release today. So there's a lot of journaling
also and games that are incorporated. So it's
very child friendly. So it's about, you know,
between eight and even 14, depends on the child.
Oh, wonderful. It just looks beautiful. And I
didn't realize that you have this gift of drawing
too. Well, I just did them because I did a training
and I did actually the menstrual, the menstruality
leadership training with Alexandra Pope. They
had people doing a lot of visualizations. And
after the visualization, they wanted us to draw.
And I was being very rational and quite closed
in for some reason during that weekend. And I
just, I thought, oh my God, you know, I can't
believe I'm having to do this. And I had a lot
of resistance, which is interesting. You know,
I could draw, I drew with my daughter, but not.
And then I just thought, you know what, I'm here.
I've loved all these days. I'm just going to
go for it. And then this drawing started to kind
of come out of these visualizations. And that
led to me thinking, how can I explain to somebody
else what I like, the drawings that I want for
this book? And I thought it was going to be so
difficult that I just thought, well, I'll just
do it myself. And I did. Wonderful. But it happened
out of... It happened out of a five -day retreat
where we used visualization as a tool. Because
you know athletes use it, and I'm teaching musicians,
it's really good for us to use visualization
to manifest the highest outcome as well. Visualization,
hmm. Yeah, you know, like the athletes, the gymnasts,
they visualize for many more hours than they
actually practice. at the power of the yeah so
it's really important that we do that as well
yeah you're right yeah i've talked to psychologist
um on this podcast and he mentioned and as well
yeah uh yeah yeah now i want to go on more about
all these wonderful physical topics but i also
want to you know talk about your recordings and
um So you briefly mentioned at the beginning
of this episode. So you are a champion of commissioning
and introducing new piano music for decades.
You know, I listened to your albums, like, for
example, Piano Icons for the 21st Century. That
album came around 2000. Yeah. And then Salsa
Nueva, you mentioned in 2014. I totally enjoyed
it. And then Out of the Blues. And the Soler
one as well. That's right. Soler, actually, I
interviewed Haik Arsenian. He's a New York -based
pianist, and he did extensive research on this
composer, Antonio Soler. Ah, that's amazing,
yeah. Yeah, I'm going to connect him to you because
he, yeah, he wrote this, I think his doctorate
degree, he wrote a dissertation about this composer.
Oh, fascinating. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that,
yeah, his book is now published in Spanish as
well. Okay, I'd love to connect. Yes, thank you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. So tell me
how... So even like contemporary pieces you commission
and perform, they're not too avant -garde. So,
you know, most of them are super tonal and really
invites much wider audience, I think. So how
do you pick and choose? And also the piano icons
were slightly different. That was very sort of
highbrow, you know, that was more to do with
like... portraying composers' different interpretations
of spirituality and nature, you know, so there's
the Janacek. And then I commissioned this piece
by John Tavenner, who, you know, was a very big
composer at the time. And that is a whole story
of how that happened to be and the issues that
came up through the whole of that commissioning
period for that. And, yeah, and he wrote me a
piece that was... quite difficult because it
was, you know, quite long, I think 20 minutes.
And then when I saw the score, like, you know,
I had five pages of continuous trills. I wasn't
so pleased with it, but anyway. And then, you
know, I had to ask permission from Arvo Pert
to write this piece. So that they, you know,
and so I put this, this was like a... a big breakthrough
for me because it was commissioned by the City
of London Festival and there was a lot of stuff
going on and yeah and so I wanted to present
different styles so there was Montpau and then
there was Sculptor then there was the Janacek
which is quite big and the Tafna and then from
that I think I went into the Soler in Catalán
and you know people play a lot of Scarlatti but
again hardly anybody knows Soler and His music
is exhilarating, isn't it? It's just so fantastic
and so crazy with all these modulations, you
know. And then came the sort of, and then I had
recorded music by Diana Rismendi, who's the,
she's the artistic director of the Festival Latinoamericano
de Música in Caracas. And she's been writing
for me for many years. And so I've been doing.
you know, some recordings for her as well, which
are, you know, part of a sort of like recordings
of all her music. And then I did this Salsa Nueva
and the Out of the Blues because I wanted, I
was seeing, because I used to teach kids, you
know, before I taught at college, how it was
very difficult for really young people to relate
to some of the classical, you know, repertoire.
How does that really connect with somebody who's
10? You know, how did they connect with a Mozart,
you know, divertimento or something? I mean,
what is that saying to the actual life, everyday
life and the school life? So I wanted to come
up with something where young people would be
kind of feeling that it was cool. It was cool
to play this music because, you know, it was
a bit of like boogie and blues and stuff like
that. In fact, when I taught, I showed this,
I did a workshop with Epta China at Trinity College
last year, and they loved the rhythm and blues.
You know, when they heard the pieces and when
they heard about it, they just... Oh, my goodness.
They all wanted to buy it. Because as soon as
they heard that it had R &B bass pieces, they...
Is that from Out of the Blues? Yeah, this is
called R &B Connection. This is Bluesy and Hawks.
But I think you buy through shorts, actually.
It's quite complicated. And this is, you know,
new commissions by people like... Sally Beamish,
Nicky Yeo, David Rosenblum, he was the head of
the Dean at CalArts. He did a lot of really also
contemporary jazz. Anna Lara from Mexico, you
know, Elena Katz -Chernin, lots of different
people writing me pieces that were sort of blues
and R &B and sort of jazz inspired. And I thought,
you know, young, young musicians would really
like this because they would feel... That's what
they're listening to. They're listening to R
&B. Now rap more and rock and pop music. So these
are a compilation of all these composers who
wrote for you and then geared toward more intermediate
students? It's 17 pieces in this one, yeah. So
that was also what happened, that the first,
the Salsa Nueva, was supposed to be also like...
For up to grade five, I think we said at the
beginning, but it wasn't because we had people
like Javier Alvarez who wrote me a really difficult
piece, wonderful piece, but really difficult.
And then Gabriel Ortiz also wrote a really difficult
piece, wonderful, but not at all great. I mean,
grade eight, maybe. But not really. So the second
time we learned a lesson, so we had to be really
tough with the composers, you know, about the
length and the difficulty. So it would be more
like grade five. And so we were more successful
in the rhythm and blues that it can be played
by, you know, younger people or people that are
not at college. A lot of the salsa nueva would
be like almost, yeah, you have to be really good
at also reading. you know technique and yeah
you have to be grade eight up or semi -professional
some of them are maybe grade six seven but the
minority and also because you know with all these
rhythms it's quite difficult if you're not familiar
with latin you know clave montuno all this and
also my my one of my really strong remits for
this was that i wanted to include as many women
good I noticed that so you have the Diana Rismendi
I push really hard and I think we managed to
do half and half so I think I have the same number
of women as men over the two volumes so I feel
that I wanted to give a voice to loads of composers
also that were not from the usual countries you
know So that they were from, you know, the global
south or nationalities that perhaps weren't so
well known in Europe or in the US. And so that
also we managed to have quite a lot of Latin
American female composers involved in this. And
I was really pleased with that. Because now,
you know, now it's more popular, you know, for
people to record music by women and play music
by Latin American. This is 2005. I know. It wasn't
really happening then. In fact, the review from
the Grammar, I think this was Salsa Nueva was
kind of, if I may say so, a bit ahead of its
time. Yeah. Totally. Yeah, because it was also
contemporary music and short pieces. It wasn't
a sort of people pleaser, although, you know,
some people loved it. Anyway, so I was really
pleased that we managed to get all this wonderful.
women composers but where does because you know
finally in 2020 i think this uh diversity of
of recordings and female composers and so on
just happened all of a sudden just it really
broke out yeah you know but before then well
yeah i guess only a handful like including yourself
so i wonder where that did that inspiration come
from or it was just your I think my roots, because,
you know, I grew up in Venezuela, so I was surrounded
by Latin music, salsa, you know, whether you
liked it or not, you were exposed to it 24 -7
in all the buses and blaring out of every single
loudspeaker in the street. And I actually really
love salsa and I love dancing. So, and then,
you know, I grew up with knowing about all these
Latin American composers. And then I heard, as
I came to Europe, I started to listen to more.
You know, Tania Leone, who I'm so honored that
she wrote Tumba, which is played a lot, apparently.
It's become really popular as a piano piece.
I know. But did you commission her? Yes, I commissioned
her. That piece? That's a very famous piece?
Yes, I commissioned it. And I think she dedicated
it to... Did she dedicate it to Celia Cruz? Let
me just... Tumba is dedicated to Celia Cruz.
Oh, my goodness. It's a really famous Cuban salsa
singer. Is that the music score that... Tania
wrote. Yes, the score that Tania Leone wrote.
But these are the compilation from your album?
So it's part of... So do you also... So did you
publish the scores as well? Yeah, this is...
So that was why it was such a great project because...
We not only commissioned, but we published all
the scores with Busi and Ott. They got paid to
write, but they also were getting a commission
because I wanted the composers, I was very much
advocating for the composers. You know, normally
you commission a piece, it gets played once,
maybe twice if you're lucky, and maybe the composer
gets a little bit of money depending on nothing,
just the performance. So I really wanted to make
sure that they got more than just the first performance
and that the music was going to live on and be,
you know, available to all around the world,
which it is. And yeah, so that they're all printed.
So you can get the scores from Busy and Hawks
for shots. I think in the States, yeah, if you
go to Busy's, they'll tell you where to get it.
I think it used to be Hall Leonard who distributed
them in the States. You have to send me those
links and then I can put it in a show notes so
that people can take a look and purchase. And
it's really great for piano teachers when you're
sort of desperate with trying to find repertoire.
And even now, for instance, at Trinity, we have
some requirements in the exams, which is brilliant,
depending on the year that they have to play
a piece by a female composer, which is really
great. or a living composer. So this meets both
of those requirements as well. And, you know,
if you give a 10, 11 -year -old boy a piece that
is a boogie, they're going to be quite happy
to play it. Oh, definitely. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
That's exactly what they're asking, always. Yeah,
or something that sounds like, you know, R &B
or rap. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But it's still good
music and it's still written by a really good...
composer for the pianos it's not an arrangement
that you just downloaded off the internet wow
that's cool so i know you mentioned you're of
venezuelan origin and trained in europe as well
and which in currently you live in the uk and
which must have given you a rich perspective
on music and an identity and so on and how do
you think that experience or yeah experience
shaped your approach to tradition and artistic
freedom I think, you know, I brought with me
what I had from my home. I mean, you know, we
were a family of immigrants. So, because, you
know, my parents, for different reasons, both
ended up in Venezuela. My dad was fleeing Spain
after the war. And, you know, all the Europeans
were, a lot of them were escaping. So Venezuela
became like a safe haven, a paradise. You know,
we welcome everyone. So I was bringing that experience
of coming from an immigrant family and becoming
an immigrant as well, you know, myself in a different
country. And it was, you know, it's an incredible
experience, but it was tough. It's tough. So
now, you know, when I have foreign students,
I know exactly what they're going through, you
know, at 18. You know, it's not a picnic, not
all of it. And, yeah. My identity, I don't know,
you know, it's been very difficult in Venezuela
with this dictatorship. So I haven't been able
to go back for many years. I sort of refused
to play since 2016. And then my mom passed away,
so I didn't feel I could go back. I'm hoping
that soon when this is over and we get rid of
the baddies. I would love to go. I mean, I'm
already now to go and do some work there. There's
so much good work. There's so much talent. Oh
my God, talent in Venezuela. It's just out of
this world. So as I was talking about identity,
that's really difficult because, you know, I
was already born in a country, but didn't have,
you know, any family from that country or my
family was in Europe. And now I'm in a country
where I kind of made a... You know, I have a
child and I'm made out of family. But, yes, but
it's not, my roots are not here. Although, you
know, I feel, yes, because I don't really feel
I belong to a particular country. I'm not sort
of, I don't have an identity as such like, you
know, if somebody said something bad about England
or Venezuela, I'd be. mortified you know I could
take it because you know when you're an immigrant
you can become quite critical of everyone because
you're not moving around yeah it's sort of really
I mean England has been you know was Mecca wasn't
it for many years for musicians and everybody
came to London all the great people used to come
to London and so there was a vast amount of stuff
that was available In terms of concerts, you
know, I had all the greatest people. When I was
at college, I had, you know, Segovia, Polini,
you know, Michelangeli, Richter. I mean, I had
all of them, you know, when I was at college.
And, you know, it's a very thriving city for
art still now, really fabulous. So, but it is...
yeah it's quite tough in its way i think if you're
a foreigner to kind of break through some of
it as well yeah it's it's it's tough to be a
foreigner i'm myself i'm always a foreigner yeah
foreigner in this although i'm american now but
you know what i mean like and then i was you
know born raised in japan but i'm of a south
korean descent you know race -wise so I've been
always a foreigner but gives a different perspectives
on life yeah it does it gives you a certain distance
as well doesn't it that you can see a little
bit from the outside yes yeah yeah yeah so that
makes people like us unique and maybe that's
one of the reasons of being creative I don't
know but I'm sure I mean the only thing I don't
have a lot of distance is when people in England
or you know in Europe think they understand the
situation in Venezuela, which they don't. You
know, it's like sort of armchair socialism, you
know, like I call it muse socialism. People are
very, very wealthy, you know, projecting the
ideal into, you know, what's happening in Venezuela.
And I have very little patience for that because,
you know, that's unfortunately not what we have
going on there. But in general, yeah, you can
go to a country and you can just see, OK, this
is great, but I'm not sure this is so good. And
you don't have that feeling of, oh, I have to
be, you know, allegiance to everything that happens
in this place. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Now, oh, my goodness, we have like a few minutes
left, but I want to ask this very important question.
You've spoken about 19th century biases that
still define. what pianists and their repertoire
should look like, go for it, please. Go for it.
Like, are you sure you're going to unleash me?
I really don't believe in it. I, you know, I,
I have never, well, as I'm saying, my, my, one
of my piano teachers was very, very, yeah, that
was his repertoire. You know, he was, you know,
playing all the big romantic works and, And I
am kind of more of a belief that you have to
really love what you're playing because you're
going to spend hours and days and months and
years with this piece. And if you're not really
convinced it suits you and is for you and you
love it, you shouldn't be made to play. So I
give my students quite a lot of flexibility.
choosing the repertoire. I mean, in fact, sorry,
this is probably going to stop me from ever going
to the States and Juilliard, but I had some students
auditioning for Juilliard. I was appalled at
the repertoire they were asking. It was just
the same repertoire that would have been asked
probably in, you know, I don't know, 1920 for
people auditioning. It was, you know, the study.
the whole sonata romantic. And then at the end,
you can put something else in it. There was little,
very little artistic freedom. And, you know,
people are expected, like, if you don't play
Tchaikovsky, you're no one. If you don't play
something carnival, you know, if you don't, it's
like technique and traditional repertoire, like
seem to go hand in hand. And of course, I love
Bach, you know, I love some of the... traditional
but not all of it and not every piece by every
composer so for instance with Schumann that I
was born and you know brought up by my teacher
Weingarten on Schumann I don't like Carnival
I just don't like it I just don't feel like I
can relate to it as a person you know I just
feel it not oh Papillon I can see how it's charming
but I wouldn't I just don't feel it necessary
for me to know Carnival to feel that I'm a really
accomplished pianist or you know so I think there
is so much music even Janáček nobody plays it
fantastic music and there are so many neglected
composers you know still in repertory in college
And then, you know, you end up going to a concert,
you always hear the same music, you know, you
hear the same Beethoven sonata played a thousand
times, the same Chopin ballad, you know, same
Rachmaninoff. Where is all the other music? I
mean, like even the Chopin mazurkas. Why is that
worse than the first ballad? I think they are
some of his best. Oh, mazookas are the best.
And the nocturnes. And it's like, oh, no, you
have to play the scherzo. And, you know, you
have to. Why? Yeah. There are only four scherzos.
And then by how many thousands of pianists, right?
Yeah. I know. It's a little bit, I think, tiresome.
I feel that we have this kind of, you know, you
go to a competition and then, you know, people
play. the same repertoire. You have to prove
something. Like, you know, if you don't play
a Chopin study, you're not a good pianist. Well,
I disagree. I disagree. But to break that mentality,
it took me a while. Yeah. Because constantly
that sort of mindset was fed by institutions.
Yeah. It took a long time. But isn't it also
fed by competitions? Because the competitions
are pushing a certain repertoire as well. So
I think the conservatory feels that they have
to manufacture pianists who are going to be able
to meet those requirements of what being a concert
pianist. Of course, there are people who are
different. Pierre Laurent Emard, you know, the
French pianist who plays lots of Ligeti. And
they said that, you know, he chose different
repertoire. So people do choose. And, you know,
people like Richter, he played what he liked.
I mean, you know, he played big game, but I don't
think he would have played something because
somebody said you have to. So I think Michelangeli,
you know, played. And people like Brendel, you
know, he didn't play certain things. He didn't
have time because he played so much. So I just
think that it is a dangerous thing to create
this mould that doesn't fit everybody. And that
doesn't mean that they don't have talent because
there are a lot of pianists who are incredibly
talented, but it just doesn't really suit them
to play a certain repertoire. And then you're
making such a big effort to get such little gain
because that's not what they would play their
best. So I think as a teacher, I think that the
real art is to find the repertoire that suits
the pianist at the stage they're at. I think
that's a real trick. And I hear it when I'm a
jury in competitions. You know, you hear it.
You have all these young musicians coming, like
in the BBC, young musicians, and you can see
what the teacher chose. And often it's a mistake
because they're choosing something like... a
study, really difficult study, or a prelude on
fugue, which, you know, is not everybody's cup
of tea to play in a competition first round.
And you think, but why did you, or just one piece,
like a scherzo, when they could have chosen,
you know, three other things, like a Debussy
prelude, you know, a Chopin, you know, a more
varying repertoire that makes you get a better
view of what this... this musicality of this
person is like yeah yeah i know i know yeah everybody
feels that but somehow still we follow tradition
yeah i know i think i mean you know it's a technique
it's like ballet you know my daughter she's starting
to be a contemporary dancer they have ballet
every day because the ballet gives you a certain
technique you know it's a different type so i
agree totally that i'm not saying don't play
traditional repertoire Question your choices
of why you think you have to play something that
you don't love and doesn't suit you because someone
is thinking for you, saying you should or you're
not something. I don't think for me that. I mean,
I was luckily too rebellious. I put up with it
up to a point and then I was like, no, I'm not
playing that. I don't like it. You know, I don't
like it. You're an incredible artist on so many
levels. So how would you like your artistic legacy
to be remembered? You're still very young, but...
This is so difficult for me to answer. I suppose
what I feel, I mean, in terms of my teaching,
of my piano teaching or my musicians. What I'm
trying to do more and more is really how can
I help this person be the best version of themselves
that they can be and find the path that best
suits them in this profession, you know, that
suits them individually, like the repertoire
that really they can shine in. That's what I
feel. It's probably becoming more my train of
thought as I go in and think, how can I really
help this person fulfill their dreams or be more
confident in themselves, you know, believe in
themselves, you know. Be more empowered physically
as well, you know, in how they are presenting
themselves to the world as an artist, you know.
How can they become a better artist, really?
Not even a better pianist, but a better artist.
And sort of shake it up a little bit. You know,
the thinking in the institution as well. Right.
Yeah, but in the end, you know, it's very difficult
because they do have to earn a living. And earning
a living as a concert pianist, as we know, and
as we know, is sort of dictated by the expectations
of what you have to be or play to get that. Yeah,
I'm not sure that answers your question. And
yes, a big question, Yukimi. I suppose my ego
is not so big to feel, to kind of think that
I'm going to be remembered, like, you know, a
legacy. I suppose there'll be the books, and
I do have a project, whether they'll let me do
it or not, something else. But, you know, remembered
by someone around you, for example, not a big
one. Well, I suppose I can have a laugh at my
expense. yeah I suppose I suppose I'd like them
to think that I did have I was on their side
and I was a champion and had the best interest
at heart I think that yeah I'm supposed I'm championing
my students not so much imposing myself from
a different you know from a hierarchy of Do this,
do that, because, you know, it's more like coming
to the level and thinking about where they are
and, yeah, and offering support. So I suppose,
yeah, I'm supporting them. They're supportive.
Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you so much. We're going
to meet you soon, aren't we? Oh, yes, yes. I
can't wait. I can't wait. I have so much to ask
beyond this conversation. I mean, this conversation
flew by so fast. I felt like it was only five
seconds. Me too, actually. Me too. Yeah? Oh,
wonderful. And I love knowing that you were a
yogini. I love that. I need to know more about
you and your yoga and all that, your path. yeah
i mean i mean compared to you i was but i i but
i continued for 10 years in the gym it was a
gym but the teachers were great you know new
york you'll find the best teachers yeah sure
yeah sure you know so it was intense and i enjoyed
it uh i want to get back into it but in a different
setting not that intensity you know ashtanga
vinyasa all that sweaty stuff in the body as
it's hard yeah yeah it's just too intense it's
it's sometimes it just works against your mind
too because it's so intense so i want to do something
that is i'll send you something to your kidney
i'll send you something and and you know i mean
there's no reason why you know my class couldn't
be in the afternoon so it would be in the morning
in the states i just have to know that um there's
a couple of people coming right or you if you
can record it then i would love to record it
yeah that's right yeah i could yeah yeah and
we you know we go with the moon as well so we
we used that would be nice yeah we're using the
cycle of the moon as well in the class to do
certain things yeah i love that anyway but before
you go um do you have anything to promote um
Yes, I think I have promoted my books quite well.
But any something that is, I know there's an
eco -poetry collaboration with Dom Berry. Well,
we did that in Dartington. It was quite interesting
because he's an eco -poet. Dom, Dominic. And
what we did is we used these poems to create
an evening of poetry. Actually, also, we had
a mindful bell. So I used Tishnath and pebble
meditation throughout the performance to bring
people back into their breathing. And it was
a really good experience because the poems are
amazing. It was like a response to the climate
topic. but yeah i mean in terms of what i'm promoting
um yeah i'm doing you know i'm writing i think
about this and you know the embodied musician
and then and i and i'm you know i have sessions
that workshops are coming up online um for you
know teachers who want to know more about how
to use um movement and coherent breathing with
the students and that would be online so that
would be available to people everywhere. Yeah.
And what's the best way to stay in touch with
you? The best way is to just email me at my email,
which you could, you know, use if you like. Find
it on a website? On the website as well, which
is elenariu .co .uk. And then, you know, I'm
playing and I'm doing these workshops around,
you know, menstruality and creativity. That's
awesome. You know, it's a really interesting
topic. for female performers. So maybe you'll
come and do them in New York. You never know.
Yeah, that would be amazing. When you come in
January, please do. Now, we have one more thing.
Rapid fire questions. This is a fun question
I'm going to ask and I want you to answer each
question as short as possible. Okay? Alright,
so level one. What's your comfort food? My comfort
food? Chocolate. Great. How do you like your
coffee in the morning? I don't drink coffee.
Oh, good answer. Cats or dogs? Cats. Okay. Sunrise
or sunset? Sunset. Summer or winter? Both. Oh,
great. Good answer. Now, level two gets harder.
What skill have you always wanted to learn but
haven't had a chance to? Skiing. What is your
word or words to live by? I am worthy of this
space. Ah, beautiful. Favourite venue you have
ever performed in or dream venue? Actually, I
really enjoyed a performance at the Royal Festival
Hall. I really enjoyed that performance there.
What is the most important quality you look for
in other people? Joy. Name a composer you wish
more people knew about. Wow, that's difficult.
Well, all the ones in my books. Yeah, great.
Good answer. Level three, two more questions
to go. Name one piece in your current playlist.
It doesn't have to be classical. Okay. Well,
I don't really have a playlist, but let me see
if I can quickly think of one. Actually, you
won't believe this, but because my daughter has
been listening to this, she listens to very different
stuff because she's a contemporary dancer. And
don't ask me who is it by, but she's been playing
this track that I've been continuously dancing
to, which is this. And I won't remember. He's
got a terrible name. Teenage Dirtbag. What? It's
a really good piece to dance to. I'm sorry, but
that's what it's called. Okay. I'll look it up.
And, you know, mostly, yeah, I mean, yeah, I
don't really listen to a playlist as such. I'll
just kind of. hear something and then and then
and and you know as i said she has a playlist
so i listen to lots of things from her playlist
yeah oh with strange names like that one yeah
i'm looking forward to listening all right yes
last question fill in the blank music is blank
soul food soul food yay ding ding elena You won.
That was beautiful. Thank you so much for joining
us. You're fantastic. And you're sharing your
wisdom, artistry and incredible energy. It has
been such a meaningful conversation. So to our
listeners, if you'd like to learn more about
Elena's work, visit Elena Ryu. Thank you for
tuning in. Please subscribe, rate, and share
this episode. Your support helps us continue
connecting through music, story, and creativity.
Until next time. time this is Yukimi song and
you're listening to the piano thank you Elena
thank you so much I'll see you soon I hope yes
see you very soon thank you bye