WEBVTT 00:00:03.819 --> 00:00:08.119 The basis for my artistry is really my humanity 00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:11.839 first. I would say whatever I want to achieve 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:16.399 as a human comes first. And then my art, the 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:19.379 fact that I happen to be a pianist and that I've 00:00:19.379 --> 00:00:22.100 got this technique on this instrument or I've 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:24.780 got this voice that I can use on the stage and 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:28.239 so on. That's just a vehicle to try and achieve 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:36.399 those things. I'm really attracted to both the 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.659 meaning behind the pieces. How do we translate 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:43.679 an inert piece of musical notation into something 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.979 that has meaning for real living humans with 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:54.060 a beating heart? Impact is something I should 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:57.700 chase a lot more than recognition. I wish more 00:00:57.700 --> 00:01:00.600 musicians fly with their ideas and actually make 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.200 something that they own and that they can, you 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:06.640 know, move the needle in a way that benefits 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:10.000 artists and benefits our industry in real terms 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.280 rather than benefits institutions. Welcome to 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:18.480 another episode of Season 6 of The Piano Pod, 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:21.200 everyone. our season of creativity and connection 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:24.680 where we explore how artists are reshaping our 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:27.879 musical landscape with bold ideas and meaningful 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:31.099 storytelling. Today's guest embodies that spirit 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:35.459 in every possible way. Aida Lalu, a Moroccan 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:38.620 -born concert pianist, creative director, activist, 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:42.579 and thinker whose debut album, Mirrors and Echoes, 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:45.920 reimagines Ravel's memoir through an extraordinary 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.599 global lens. Her album weaves together piano 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.519 miniatures from five continents, revealing hidden 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.140 kinships across cultures, histories, and sound 00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:59.439 worlds, and offering listeners a new way to experience 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.319 classical music as interconnected, imaginative, 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:07.579 and deeply alive. Aida's career spans major stages 00:02:07.579 --> 00:02:11.319 around the world, from Wigmore Hall to Mozart, 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.240 but her artistry extends far beyond performance. 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:21.419 artivist, and entrepreneur creating new concept 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:24.719 models engaging in environmental and political 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.759 work, directing a one -woman show blending stand 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:31.939 -up comedy with classical piano, and actively 00:02:31.939 --> 00:02:34.960 challenging what institutional success means 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.740 for musicians today. In this conversation, we 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:42.219 dive into everything from Ravel's elemental sound 00:02:42.219 --> 00:02:46.800 world to artistic agency, intercultural storytelling, 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:50.539 activism, curiosity, and what it means to build 00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:54.620 a career with purpose, not permission. Before 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:58.060 we begin, thank you to our listeners and community. 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:01.759 Every rating, share, and subscription helps us 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:04.560 continue bringing these conversations to life. 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:08.439 Here's the new episode with pianist, creative 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:13.280 producer, and artivist, Aida Lalu. Mirrors and 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.310 Echoes. a global journey through sound, storytelling, 00:03:16.550 --> 00:03:20.009 and artistic purpose. Please enjoy the show. 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:27.169 You are listening to The Piano Pod, where we 00:03:27.169 --> 00:03:29.710 talk to the brightest minds in the industry about 00:03:29.710 --> 00:03:32.229 how they are bringing the piano into the future 00:03:32.229 --> 00:03:35.449 and thriving in a complex, ever -evolving world. 00:03:38.509 --> 00:03:40.930 Welcome to The Piano Pod, and thank you so much 00:03:40.930 --> 00:03:42.909 for being here today. I've been really looking 00:03:42.909 --> 00:03:45.590 forward to this conversation. Thank you so much. 00:03:45.610 --> 00:03:47.569 It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for the invitation. 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:51.289 Of course. And your album, your artistic vision, 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:54.590 and your work as an artivist and entrepreneur. 00:03:55.250 --> 00:03:58.629 I love those words. And then just so much to 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:01.569 explore today. But before we dive in, I want 00:04:01.569 --> 00:04:04.169 to start with the foundation of your artistry. 00:04:04.169 --> 00:04:08.020 Your work has been described as... imaginative 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:11.740 and poetic and unafraid of exploring sonority, 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.780 color, and inner voicings. So let me begin here. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:17.459 What drives your artistic choices? What is the 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:21.699 core mission or vision behind your music making 00:04:21.699 --> 00:04:24.639 today? Wow, what a deep question. We're really 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.300 stopping. Throwing me off the deep end, right? 00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:32.939 Well, I think the basis for my artistry is really 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:36.879 my humanity first. I would say whatever I want 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.639 to achieve as a human comes first. And then my 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.500 art, the fact that I happen to be a pianist and 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:46.680 that I've got this technique on this instrument 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:49.220 or I've got this voice that I can use on the 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:53.040 stage and so on. That's just a vehicle to try 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.600 and achieve those things. So that's my first 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:01.189 sort of... element of an answer and in terms 00:05:01.189 --> 00:05:04.810 of in concrete terms on the piano what attracts 00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:10.230 me I'm really attracted to both the the meaning 00:05:10.230 --> 00:05:13.449 behind the pieces so how do we translate an inert 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:16.910 piece of musical notation into something that 00:05:16.910 --> 00:05:20.209 has meaning for real living humans with a beating 00:05:20.209 --> 00:05:24.529 heart And then the other aspect that really fascinates 00:05:24.529 --> 00:05:28.810 me is the mechanics of sound production, making 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:33.509 beautiful sounds on the piano and just the myriad 00:05:33.509 --> 00:05:36.170 of ways we can approach that. So that's really 00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:39.990 interesting to me too. Wow. Yeah, but it really, 00:05:40.029 --> 00:05:45.029 those really show in your playing, whether that 00:05:45.029 --> 00:05:47.430 is the tone color or even the selection of pieces, 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:52.009 how thoughtfully curated. all the pieces into 00:05:52.009 --> 00:05:55.350 your album the latest album which is your debut 00:05:55.350 --> 00:05:58.990 album so let's dive into them so the title of 00:05:58.990 --> 00:06:02.069 your album is called mirrors and echoes you've 00:06:02.069 --> 00:06:05.689 taken ravel's miroir and set in a dialogue with 00:06:05.689 --> 00:06:08.860 piano miniatures from across Five continents. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:14.120 Yeah, so wonderful. And turning it into what 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:16.920 you've described elsewhere as a kind of a musical 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:21.019 treasure hunt. I love that. So what is this album 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:24.560 about? So before we go into details, could you 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.500 give us, our listeners, an overview of Mirrors 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:31.319 and Echoes? Sure. So the best way to describe 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:34.319 this album, it sounds a bit cliche, but it really 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:39.720 is a journey. because normally in albums let's 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:44.579 say there's maybe one overarching theme but maybe 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:46.459 we're going to explore different aspects of the 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:51.339 theme in a sort of ordered or sort of sectioned 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:54.420 approach whereas here the themes are explored 00:06:54.420 --> 00:06:56.980 in a much more organic way so they're much more 00:06:56.980 --> 00:07:00.319 implicit there's nothing so obvious however somehow 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.220 you do feel a connection through all the pieces 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:07.240 and those connections If I were to describe the 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:09.540 atmosphere behind the album, what it feels like 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:13.500 listening to it, it's very introspective. There's 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:17.699 a lot of space for, well, reflection, which we 00:07:17.699 --> 00:07:19.819 come into with the mirrors theme a little bit. 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:26.279 And also about feeling things within you that 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:29.500 you might have forgotten about. For example, 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:34.459 old songs, old rhythms, things that you've viscerally... 00:07:34.730 --> 00:07:37.790 may feel connected to, even though they are very 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:40.670 remote from, let's say, your everyday life, what 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:43.550 you listen to on a daily basis. So it's about 00:07:43.550 --> 00:07:48.230 reconnecting with, well, a deeper aspect of ourselves, 00:07:48.449 --> 00:07:51.970 let's say. And when I listen to this album, from 00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:54.209 the beginning up to the end, they have to be 00:07:54.209 --> 00:07:58.870 in that order. Yes, it doesn't work. I've tried, 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:01.850 but really the order is absolutely essential. 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:05.579 which means that when I have to do slightly shorter 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:09.579 versions of the recital, it's really putting 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:12.259 me in a pickle because I think very carefully 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:14.519 about what makes sense because I've conceived 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.500 these so carefully from start to finish. And 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:19.800 then if I have to do a 30 -minute version, I 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:21.699 have to start somewhere in the middle that makes 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:24.399 sense somehow, but I can't just pick and choose 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:29.240 the pieces. You're starting from Beethoven, but... 00:08:29.470 --> 00:08:33.649 It's Polonaise. Not a lot of people play Beethoven 00:08:33.649 --> 00:08:36.570 Polonaise. Yeah, it's very obscure. I'm kind 00:08:36.570 --> 00:08:40.090 of, this is me provincializing the Western classical 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:43.809 canon. I mean, if I had put any other piece by 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:46.629 Beethoven, it wouldn't have fit because the point 00:08:46.629 --> 00:08:51.470 is to disorient the listener a little bit. And, 00:08:51.549 --> 00:08:53.669 you know, you look at the program and you see 00:08:53.669 --> 00:08:55.929 Beethoven and Brahms and you're like, okay, familiar 00:08:55.929 --> 00:08:58.649 territory. And actually not at all because... 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:01.379 The Polonaise by Beethoven, who no one's ever 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:05.220 heard of. And then an obscure motet by Brahms 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:07.200 that doesn't even exist for the piano, that I've 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:10.320 transcribed for the piano. So it's really, I'm 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:14.059 kind of playfully putting everyone in a difficult 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:17.899 situation. Yeah, and a mission accomplished, 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:22.200 really. And then tell us more about... The pieces, 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:25.620 so composers, right? So the second piece, so 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.019 starting out with Beethoven's Polonaise in C 00:09:28.019 --> 00:09:30.840 major, then followed by... Are these French words? 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.779 This is not actually a French word. I'm assuming 00:09:35.779 --> 00:09:41.340 it's either Ukrainian words or something Slavonic 00:09:41.340 --> 00:09:43.480 or something like that, because it doesn't mean 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.169 anything in French. It must be the name of the 00:09:46.169 --> 00:09:49.730 dance itself. So yes, the Beethoven starts off 00:09:49.730 --> 00:09:52.309 as a sort of cartoon raiser. It's very much out 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:54.629 of character with the rest. The Beethoven is 00:09:54.629 --> 00:10:00.149 this really jokey sort of tongue -in -cheek composition 00:10:00.149 --> 00:10:03.149 that I use just to put everyone in a good mood 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:07.149 and act as a big contrast between that and the 00:10:07.149 --> 00:10:12.440 desolate sort of... very eerie atmosphere of 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:14.740 the piece that comes after. And that is really 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:16.480 the start of our journey. I mean, the bit of 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:30.899 it is just a cartoon razor. This dance piece 00:10:30.899 --> 00:10:34.360 by Armenian composer Spendi Arian was followed 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:39.080 by La Vallée des Cloches from Miroir by Ravel. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.600 Why you didn't put Ravel's pieces in order? So 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.539 one of the reasons was in order to accommodate 00:10:46.539 --> 00:10:51.480 that larger narrative. The other reason is I 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:53.799 feel that as a set they work really well, of 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.159 course, one after the other. But also each of 00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:00.799 them is so individual and so good at setting 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:04.279 its own little bubble and character that I think 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:07.720 putting them out of order is not, you know, sacrilegious 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:11.419 to me in a way that... you know, perhaps another 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:14.080 set wouldn't have worked as well. I think for 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.179 this particular selection of five pieces, they 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:21.139 can be taken apart. So I just, yeah, I just thought 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:23.600 they offered the perfect framework to build a 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.879 larger narrative because they're each so good 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.379 at transporting us to very different ambiences. 00:11:29.379 --> 00:11:33.399 Like, okay, what about just imagining a story 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:36.039 that links all of these very, very distinct elements 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:38.720 together? What might that? look like and sound 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:42.559 like. And that's basically what the album ended 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:49.139 up being. Wow. And yeah, almost like you're sharing 00:11:49.139 --> 00:11:52.779 your playlist. You know what I mean? What do 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:56.799 you mean by playlist? Like, for example, before 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:00.299 your time, there was a thing called cassette 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:02.919 tape. I don't know if you've heard of it. Yeah, 00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:07.649 yeah. I'm not that young, you know. Okay, good. 00:12:07.769 --> 00:12:12.809 Well, then I would create, we call it playlist 00:12:12.809 --> 00:12:16.389 now, but I would have a favorite songs or favorite 00:12:16.389 --> 00:12:20.370 pop songs, favorite piano music into this one 00:12:20.370 --> 00:12:23.450 cassette in the order that I want. And I would 00:12:23.450 --> 00:12:26.289 give this cassette tape to someone else. That 00:12:26.289 --> 00:12:28.529 sort of idea. Yeah, exactly. I mean, the album, 00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:31.049 if you want to think of it like that, yes, the 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:34.470 album is a playlist in that the order is as important 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:38.509 as what's on it. So yeah, it's a nice way to 00:12:38.509 --> 00:12:40.570 describe it. In fact, the whole project started 00:12:40.570 --> 00:12:44.570 as a playlist on Spotify. I was researching, 00:12:44.789 --> 00:12:50.490 this is totally kind of a separate avenue of 00:12:50.490 --> 00:12:54.370 the album, but I was researching folk music on 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:57.450 the piano. before having any idea about making 00:12:57.450 --> 00:12:59.730 an album or anything. This was just out of interest, 00:12:59.850 --> 00:13:03.250 out of curiosity. I was a little bit tired of 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:06.009 always, you know, hearing the same pieces when 00:13:06.009 --> 00:13:08.049 we think of folk music on the piano. We think 00:13:08.049 --> 00:13:11.009 Bartók, Kodály, that kind of stuff. And I thought, 00:13:11.029 --> 00:13:13.850 how about we find other traditions? How about 00:13:13.850 --> 00:13:16.490 Scottish music on the piano? Or, I don't know, 00:13:16.529 --> 00:13:19.360 traditional... like Andalusian music on the piano 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:23.080 and so on. And so I started just compiling these 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.720 things. And actually, a lot of the pieces I found 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:32.159 through that search ended up on the album. Because, 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:37.200 yeah, it sounded like all of these pieces from 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.460 very, very different traditions actually had 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:45.220 some sort of spiritual connection almost it's 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:47.220 like they were all tapping into something so 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:50.700 deep within our humanity that it didn't matter 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:54.080 where it came from it all sort of pointed back 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.519 to something very very fundamental in our human 00:13:56.519 --> 00:13:59.480 nature and I thought wow how fascinating that 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:03.700 you know a piece from Andalusia or a piece from 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:07.440 you know like Scotland or whatever can speak 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:12.820 to each other and resonate in you know in such 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:15.539 a deep way that was very interesting and I thought 00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:18.240 there's something there and that was one of the 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:23.320 sort of parts that led me to the album as it 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.559 is today is looking at folk music and the intersections 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:49.279 between these genres. I'm also curious to know, 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:53.080 you've done two arrangements in this album. One 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:56.340 is a piece, chorale piece by Brahms that you 00:14:56.340 --> 00:14:59.820 mentioned. And then at the end of this album. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:07.679 Yes, very good. Well done. Thank you. Yeah, it's 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:14.379 an Arabic music, right? Yeah, absolutely. I listened 00:15:14.379 --> 00:15:18.259 to the orchestral vocal version of this piece 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:23.259 this morning. Gorgeous. Played by Arab Symphony 00:15:23.259 --> 00:15:27.100 or something like that. I mean, this is a standard. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.320 It's like saying autumn leaves or something, 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.220 except it's from the 14th century. So everyone 00:15:33.220 --> 00:15:37.659 in the Arab world would know this song. And there's 00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:40.340 no strict arrangement. I mean, what we have maybe 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:44.320 is just the notation of the melody, but really 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.600 it's always transmitted through oral tradition. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:52.919 And so across centuries, people have just improvised 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.220 on it, made versions of it for their instruments, 00:15:55.460 --> 00:16:00.700 sung it. And so, yeah, there's not a particular 00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:05.700 sort of authoritative version. It's just so embedded 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:09.940 in the culture. Yeah, so I made my little, I 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:13.779 had a little play around with it and I ended 00:16:13.779 --> 00:16:18.000 up with a sort of Rachmaninoff impressionist 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:32.399 infused piano version. Did you learn to do this 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.460 sort of like a... doing your own way like arrangements 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:38.799 for example or playing by ear or maybe improvisation 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:43.639 as you were being trained as a musician? Yeah 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:48.139 I did have quite a lot of improvisation lessons 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:52.100 although they were quite formal classical improvisations 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:56.049 and I think that really helped me actually to 00:16:56.049 --> 00:16:59.490 engage with classical repertoire a lot more than 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:02.730 just doing my own improvisation. I just felt 00:17:02.730 --> 00:17:06.529 like I had suddenly a window into what a composer 00:17:06.529 --> 00:17:09.569 might think of when starting a piece of music, 00:17:09.630 --> 00:17:13.509 knowing how to create structure, how to create 00:17:13.509 --> 00:17:16.029 certain expectations, understanding the harmonic 00:17:16.029 --> 00:17:19.869 language. So I would say, yeah, ironically, my 00:17:19.869 --> 00:17:23.470 improvisation. lessons really help me understand 00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:26.329 written compositions better rather than like 00:17:26.329 --> 00:17:28.549 actually turn me into an improviser, which I 00:17:28.549 --> 00:17:31.250 wish I could be, but I'm just so terrified of 00:17:31.250 --> 00:17:35.029 doing it. However, I do enjoy playing around 00:17:35.029 --> 00:17:38.609 and I love arranging because I think in arranging, 00:17:38.670 --> 00:17:41.650 you have the freedom of expressing yourself, 00:17:41.750 --> 00:17:45.009 but it's like a little also intellectual puzzle 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:49.849 about how do you turn this given material into 00:17:49.849 --> 00:17:52.650 something new? And you take off the pressure 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:56.690 of having to do it in real time, which obviously 00:17:56.690 --> 00:17:58.750 you would have to do if you were improvising. 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:02.130 So yeah, my process to write this arrangement 00:18:02.130 --> 00:18:04.869 actually was a lot of noodling on the piano to 00:18:04.869 --> 00:18:08.609 try and find interesting chords and interesting 00:18:08.609 --> 00:18:12.009 rhythms and so on, and then piece it all together. 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:16.059 So I suppose, yeah, I did improvise some bits, 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:19.039 but in no way did this just flow out of my mind. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:24.500 I don't know, Mozart would just improvise. Well, 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.380 yeah, but it really, I'm very impressed with 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:34.259 your skills as an arranger. They're both wonderful 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:37.799 arrangements. Yeah, I wish that, are they available 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:42.329 as a score sheet music? Not at the moment, although 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:45.569 I would like to share them. So if you or any 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:48.490 of your listeners are interested in having them, 00:18:48.630 --> 00:18:51.690 they can send me an email and I'll send them 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:55.450 to them. Okay. And then your, I think the best 00:18:55.450 --> 00:18:58.750 way to be in touch with you would be your website 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:02.730 at aidalalu .com, correct? Yeah, there's a contact 00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:05.250 form on there. I'm also very responsive on social 00:19:05.250 --> 00:19:24.640 media. So what inspired you to reimagine Ravel 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:28.859 in this intercultural context, build these bridges 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:31.559 across cultures, rather than just playing, you 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:35.819 know, his pieces, five of them, and maybe other 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:39.220 pieces by him, for example, or other composers, 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:42.460 but in a chunk, for example, you know? Yeah, 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:45.319 of course. Well, I'll answer in two parts. First, 00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:48.519 Ravel, I feel, was extremely cosmopolitan in 00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:53.859 his musical writing. I had a teacher who said, 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.099 you know, Ravel is extraordinary in that he writes 00:19:57.099 --> 00:20:00.740 music of a certain nationality better than the 00:20:00.740 --> 00:20:03.680 people from that nationality. So, of course, 00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:06.960 he was half Spanish to his mother. So you can 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.920 trace that through there. But he also wrote Greek 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:13.859 songs. He wrote in the Romani style with Zigan. 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:19.079 He wrote the Chanson Madagascar, which is like 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.700 after Madagascar. I mean, this is just a small 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:26.000 example, but he just wrote in so many different 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.200 idioms. So I thought I was very much at home 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:34.960 with this composer and also my love for exploration 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.960 of music of different cultures. I don't think 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.539 he would have disapproved at all. I think it's 00:20:40.539 --> 00:20:43.960 very much up his alley. But also within the specific 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:48.950 opus, the miroir, I think there are so many influences 00:20:48.950 --> 00:20:54.910 that I can hear. So obviously, Alborada is in 00:20:54.910 --> 00:20:58.029 the Spanish side with a very clear Hispanic influence. 00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:02.529 But in La Valle de Cloche, for example, I personally 00:21:02.529 --> 00:21:06.009 hear quite Eastern influences. I hear sort of 00:21:06.009 --> 00:21:10.789 almost Tibetan temple bells or something ringing 00:21:10.789 --> 00:21:13.309 in the distance. I know some people think it's 00:21:13.309 --> 00:21:17.559 more Switzerland bells or... parisian bells we 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:19.720 have different theories floating around but for 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:24.259 me it's just so serene and so um out of time 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:27.700 that i really imagine myself in this sort of 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:33.119 um extremely meditative ambiences and for me 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:36.319 that can only be somewhere very remote um switzerland 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.140 perhaps but i think i'm a bit more eastern in 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:43.880 my imagination and then um there are also other 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:47.569 illusions things like I hear, I mean, through 00:21:47.569 --> 00:21:49.970 the harmonies that he uses in somewhere like 00:21:49.970 --> 00:21:54.269 Wasotrist, for me, this is very, very influenced 00:21:54.269 --> 00:21:59.849 by jazz and things that were coming out of, you 00:21:59.849 --> 00:22:01.930 know, the new wave of writing at the turn of 00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:05.470 the 20th century. Slightly more experimental 00:22:05.470 --> 00:22:08.670 with harmony, slightly less, say, classical. 00:22:09.670 --> 00:22:14.940 And of course, the... The two pieces that I haven't 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:20.279 spoken about so far, the Noctuelle and Une Barre 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:23.420 sur l 'Océan, also transport us to different 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:27.359 locations. Even though they're not specifically 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.119 named, we are very clearly in the forest in Noctuelle 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:35.859 and Boisotrist. And we are also just on the move 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:38.500 on a boat in Une Barre sur l 'Océan. So there's 00:22:38.500 --> 00:22:43.319 already this... idea of travel, of voyage. And 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:47.420 also, we have also different, say, stops in different 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:51.819 locations. So that's why I felt allowed in a 00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:56.460 way to expand on the message of this. Tell me 00:22:56.460 --> 00:23:00.900 more about other pieces as well. So Four Piano 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:06.900 Moves by Alexandra Tansman. And then also their, 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.859 oh, Scottish piece. what the fairy piper told 00:23:10.859 --> 00:23:14.720 me, Ronald Stevenson and Kaddish. Is that how 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.920 you say? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's also, 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:21.759 that was arranged by Siloti. Yeah, and there 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.019 are always links to Ravel. So some things I actually 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:27.819 found out after having done the program as it 00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:32.980 is today, I contacted the chairman of the association, 00:23:33.259 --> 00:23:36.119 Les Amis de Maurice Ravel, and he told me, oh, 00:23:36.140 --> 00:23:38.059 you know that Tanzman and Ravel were friends, 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:40.609 right? I said, oh yeah, of course I knew that. 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:43.130 I did it. But it turned out they were actually 00:23:43.130 --> 00:23:47.349 friends. I didn't realize that before I found 00:23:47.349 --> 00:23:50.210 this stylistic connection between Urnbach Solestien 00:23:50.210 --> 00:23:53.009 and the townsman. So what happens in my mind 00:23:53.009 --> 00:23:56.990 at this moment is we're checking the road on 00:23:56.990 --> 00:24:00.170 the boat in Urnbach Solestien. We are a bit disoriented 00:24:00.170 --> 00:24:03.250 because we've been on this mega adventure and 00:24:03.250 --> 00:24:06.869 we've been very much, you know. confronted to 00:24:06.869 --> 00:24:10.450 the elements, challenged emotionally and physically. 00:24:11.049 --> 00:24:13.869 And then the Tanzman comes as this moment to 00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:17.190 center back on yourself. It's very introspective. 00:24:17.210 --> 00:24:21.890 It's only one minute long. It's quite psychological, 00:24:21.930 --> 00:24:26.150 I would say, as a piece. So it just bridges this 00:24:26.150 --> 00:24:30.130 exteriority theme with the more interior theme 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:33.450 of the next few pieces. So that's a nice bridge 00:24:33.450 --> 00:24:37.059 to Wasotrist and so on. which are a lot more 00:24:37.059 --> 00:24:41.720 intimate and one could say even oppressive in 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:50.700 some ways. Ronald Stevenson is a Scottish composer 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:55.240 with a huge output for piano. You might know 00:24:55.240 --> 00:25:01.039 him for his huge piece, Fantasy on the SCH, which 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.549 is 18 minutes long. This is a solo piano piece 00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:10.589 and it lasts one hour and 20 minutes. So this 00:25:10.589 --> 00:25:14.769 guy is used to huge large scale pieces. So it's 00:25:14.769 --> 00:25:17.789 slightly ironic that my piece that I included 00:25:17.789 --> 00:25:22.349 on his album is about 50 seconds long. But I 00:25:22.349 --> 00:25:25.170 included it partly because it's an example that 00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:28.190 you can play something that sounds Scottish on 00:25:28.190 --> 00:25:32.349 the piano. And partly because... I mean in this 00:25:32.349 --> 00:25:34.730 piece we're transported to the forest there's 00:25:34.730 --> 00:25:37.450 a fairy nearby we really feel like we're in the 00:25:37.450 --> 00:25:41.170 forest and it's great in that section of the 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:43.829 album because we are in the forest very much 00:25:43.829 --> 00:25:47.569 with Wasotrist that little piece and Noctuel 00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:51.089 it's like this supernatural forest where things 00:25:51.089 --> 00:25:53.529 happen you see little beings they're not quite 00:25:53.529 --> 00:25:57.539 sure if they're real or not So yeah, I just found 00:25:57.539 --> 00:26:00.640 it by chance again through research, and I thought 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.779 this is the perfect piece for that section of 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:08.180 the album. Wow. And then followed by Malagueña, 00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:13.339 by Lecone. No, after the Nocturne, then that's 00:26:13.339 --> 00:26:17.119 the Malagueña, right? And then followed by Cara. 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:22.539 Cara, yeah. Yes. So should I introduce? And you 00:26:22.539 --> 00:26:26.680 asked about Kadish as well. Yes. So Kara Karayev 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:30.099 is an Azerbaijani composer. Okay. Apparently 00:26:30.099 --> 00:26:34.480 the most famous composer from Azerbaijan. I came 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:37.140 across his work by chance when I went to compete 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:40.220 there. I was invited by Morocco to represent 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:42.740 the country in a sort of international competition. 00:26:46.279 --> 00:26:49.559 I played this piece for the competition, actually 00:26:49.559 --> 00:26:51.819 because it was the easiest of the ones you could 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:56.440 choose from to perform. We had a list of things 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:00.619 we could choose from. And then I actually thought, 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:06.019 hmm, this is so broody. And this is so kind of, 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:12.559 yeah, almost like full of repressed passion in 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:16.470 a way. And it's so... You see it, it's calm on 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:19.369 the surface, but there's so much inner turmoil 00:27:19.369 --> 00:27:23.450 that's just repressed in there. And then I thought, 00:27:23.569 --> 00:27:26.410 well, we need some sort of link between the forest 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:30.309 and the explosive world of Andalusia and southern 00:27:30.309 --> 00:27:34.109 Spain. And I thought, that's actually a very 00:27:34.109 --> 00:27:37.289 unlikely link, but it works exactly perfectly 00:27:37.289 --> 00:27:42.039 because you've got... yeah this seemingly broody 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:45.960 seemingly monotonous texture but then that's 00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:49.980 the perfect link for the um the start of my laguna 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:51.940 i don't know if you remember how it starts but 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:55.079 it's like really dark pour it's done then like 00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:57.440 gain in intensity and before you know it you're 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:01.559 like like full of um you know explosion virtuosity 00:28:01.559 --> 00:28:05.619 passion typical spanish stuff so Yeah, that's 00:28:05.619 --> 00:28:08.059 why it exists. It's so funny. My explanation 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:10.579 is so much longer than the piece itself. No. 00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:16.059 It's totally like that for the album. And then 00:28:16.059 --> 00:28:19.019 we're in the Spanish section, of course, with 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:22.799 Malanguena, Andalusia, sorry, Alborada, Andalusia. 00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:26.240 And then I thought, okay, we've had this, you 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:30.779 know, explosion of, you know, personality fire. 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:37.289 But then we... In the journey, we've met with 00:28:37.289 --> 00:28:40.490 our deepest emotions and we've confronted them 00:28:40.490 --> 00:28:42.890 and we've expressed them in this flamboyant way. 00:28:43.470 --> 00:28:47.029 Now, we've kind of come full circle. We come 00:28:47.029 --> 00:28:49.730 from contemplation, but then we need to kind 00:28:49.730 --> 00:28:52.930 of make sense of that and digest that and say, 00:28:53.029 --> 00:28:57.609 okay, who am I as a person in the end? And that's 00:28:57.609 --> 00:29:00.069 why the last section of the album is actually... 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:03.259 still infused, so we're still informed by this 00:29:03.259 --> 00:29:06.359 passionate outburst, but we're now back into 00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:11.380 an interior mode where we kind of reflect on 00:29:11.380 --> 00:29:14.420 these things. So the Kaddish and then the arrangement 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:17.839 of Lama Badai Yetetenda, you will still find 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:22.440 reminiscences of the explosive verse of passion, 00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:27.299 but it's done in this almost like ritualized 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:35.700 sense of Yeah, like a prayer almost. I don't 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:38.359 know if you know the Sufi tradition of dancing. 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:45.380 So for them, in the Sufi tradition, dancing is 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:49.660 like a form of worship. It's a form of spiritual, 00:29:50.099 --> 00:29:54.960 almost enlightenment or meditation. And that's 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:58.920 very much the end of the album's vibe. we are 00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:01.859 back into celebrating our body, but in a sort 00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:04.059 of connected way also to the spiritual world. 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:07.700 So it's not just, you know, just the earthly 00:30:07.700 --> 00:30:10.339 sort of explosions of passions. We're also just 00:30:10.339 --> 00:30:14.859 coming back to what it means from a spiritual 00:30:14.859 --> 00:30:19.279 perspective. I don't know if that makes any sense. 00:30:20.039 --> 00:30:22.259 No, no, no, no, no. It just makes sense. And 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:25.059 then the last piece, the last song, Lama Bada 00:30:25.059 --> 00:30:32.180 Yata Hanna. Yes. What does it mean? So the title 00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:36.259 is, if I translate it as something like, when 00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:41.000 my beloved was walking. And the song is just 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:45.039 a very simple, beautiful poem about just this 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:48.680 vision of your beloved walking and how they're 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:53.420 far away from you. And you find it so cruel that... 00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:57.579 You know, you're not with them. And it's kind 00:30:57.579 --> 00:31:01.400 of this sort of love song. But there's also spiritual 00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:04.619 undertones about the love for God and the love 00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:10.480 for beauty. It's a beautiful little song. It's 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:13.299 difficult to kind of translate it in a way that 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:16.700 makes sense. But you can find some translated 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:21.099 lyrics on Wikipedia if that helps you a little 00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:24.000 bit to understand. what a song is about it's 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.819 very much an ambience but why you wanted to end 00:31:27.819 --> 00:31:32.240 with that was there those two pieces right so 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:36.279 was there did you have some sort of yeah did 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:42.119 you have a some sense of like a spiritual message 00:31:42.119 --> 00:31:46.160 not in the oh this is what it means but more 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:51.279 like in a you know hint or suggestive way that 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:55.819 you wanted to include the spiritual message or 00:31:55.819 --> 00:32:01.440 spirituality of who you are definitely so i mean 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:03.880 there's a very big spiritual element in the whole 00:32:03.880 --> 00:32:08.640 album and um also i think different spiritual 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:11.380 traditions are referenced throughout it so of 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:13.940 course we've got the christian tradition with 00:32:13.940 --> 00:32:17.069 the motet we've got the Jewish tradition and 00:32:17.069 --> 00:32:20.210 we've got also the sort of Islamic tradition 00:32:20.210 --> 00:32:25.490 with that song. It's kind of, yeah, a journey 00:32:25.490 --> 00:32:27.309 through spirituality but in a way that's not 00:32:27.309 --> 00:32:29.910 particularly attached to any tradition. Perhaps 00:32:29.910 --> 00:32:32.950 in a way to just show how much similarities, 00:32:33.309 --> 00:32:37.470 how many similarities there are between the essences 00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:42.670 of all these traditions. Yeah, so I guess we 00:32:42.670 --> 00:32:45.940 start... the album in a contemplative space and 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:48.859 we finished the album in a contemplative space 00:32:48.859 --> 00:32:53.880 as well. To me, I mean, my relationship with 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:55.980 spirituality, let's say, is something that's 00:32:55.980 --> 00:33:01.819 very practical and very embodied. So I think 00:33:01.819 --> 00:33:05.059 of the album very much as also a reflection of 00:33:05.059 --> 00:33:10.019 how we use spirituality, which is very much embedded 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:13.769 in the world we live in. you know, feeling at 00:33:13.769 --> 00:33:17.190 one with nature, feeling at ease within yourself 00:33:17.190 --> 00:33:20.450 and connected with the broader world or your 00:33:20.450 --> 00:33:26.250 fellow human beings. Yeah, it's kind of my sort 00:33:26.250 --> 00:33:31.329 of relationship to spirituality. And it may be 00:33:31.329 --> 00:33:34.269 that some people view the end of the album as, 00:33:34.450 --> 00:33:37.970 well, a way to bridge different traditions together 00:33:37.970 --> 00:33:43.140 or just a way to celebrate. this part of spirituality 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:46.940 that is attached to beauty and attached to love. 00:33:48.059 --> 00:33:51.240 So there's no one way to see it, but yeah, this 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:54.500 is what I have to say on this topic. No, but 00:33:54.500 --> 00:33:56.559 you know, there's no one way to see it. Exactly. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:01.299 That's why just, that's why there's music exists 00:34:01.299 --> 00:34:03.960 and that we can see it in a different ways and 00:34:03.960 --> 00:34:07.799 everybody has different ideas or feelings from 00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:12.059 listening to this one album. Right. Yeah. So 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:14.760 you're also deeply engaged with environmental 00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:18.119 issues, using music as a way to think, respond 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:20.920 and act within the larger conversation around 00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:24.239 climate change. Well, I think the root cause 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:30.059 of climate change is that we've lost our feeling 00:34:30.059 --> 00:34:32.800 of being connected to nature. Because if people 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:36.250 were really... still had this connection, there's 00:34:36.250 --> 00:34:38.710 no way they would hurt the natural world in the 00:34:38.710 --> 00:34:41.510 way that we do. The problem now is they don't 00:34:41.510 --> 00:34:43.309 understand that they're actually hurting themselves. 00:34:45.050 --> 00:34:49.369 For me, climate change is a psychological issue 00:34:49.369 --> 00:34:51.710 to start with. It's the fact that we've become 00:34:51.710 --> 00:34:55.889 alienated from a part of ourselves, which is 00:34:55.889 --> 00:35:00.199 nature. So yeah, I guess that's just my two cents 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:04.239 on this issue as an artist. And that then manifests 00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:08.320 itself in all the forms of destruction that we 00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:11.860 see on an economic scale with exploitation, on 00:35:11.860 --> 00:35:15.300 an ecological scale with deforestation, habitat 00:35:15.300 --> 00:35:21.360 loss, exploitation of animals, industrial farming, 00:35:21.539 --> 00:35:25.389 all of that. um and just the way we eat the way 00:35:25.389 --> 00:35:29.289 we travel i mean all of that is just for me it 00:35:29.289 --> 00:35:32.050 stems from the basic sort of lost connection 00:35:32.050 --> 00:35:36.429 between us and nature so yeah there is a lot 00:35:36.429 --> 00:35:41.869 of nature themes in the album um which also connects 00:35:41.869 --> 00:35:44.190 to spirituality because as i said for me climate 00:35:44.190 --> 00:35:46.809 change is first and foremost the let's say spiritual 00:35:46.809 --> 00:35:51.639 psychological problem it's it's just a very subtle 00:35:51.639 --> 00:35:55.579 but powerful message that is included in this 00:35:55.579 --> 00:35:59.679 album yeah so congratulations it came out a few 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:04.449 months ago right Yes, just it's going to be about 00:36:04.449 --> 00:36:07.050 two months in a couple of days. Yeah. Oh, wow. 00:36:07.349 --> 00:36:12.469 Today is November 13th. By the time this episode 00:36:12.469 --> 00:36:15.570 will come out, it will be February 2026. But 00:36:15.570 --> 00:36:19.989 wonderful. And so far, what sort of feedback 00:36:19.989 --> 00:36:23.969 did you receive? Yeah, a lot of positive feedback, 00:36:24.070 --> 00:36:26.550 actually. I've been very lucky with the reception. 00:36:27.449 --> 00:36:31.250 I didn't expect anything like that as a first 00:36:31.250 --> 00:36:36.969 album from a relatively unknown artist. I was 00:36:36.969 --> 00:36:42.010 told that I'd be lucky if I got one review or 00:36:42.010 --> 00:36:46.110 something. But then I got two radio features 00:36:46.110 --> 00:36:49.789 from BBC Radio 3. It got selected for record 00:36:49.789 --> 00:36:52.210 review as well as one of the host's favourite 00:36:52.210 --> 00:36:56.650 albums of the week, which is crazy. Then I got 00:36:56.650 --> 00:37:00.250 invited to podcasts like yours. I was very fortunate 00:37:00.250 --> 00:37:03.530 to have these invitations and share my vision 00:37:03.530 --> 00:37:06.869 and my, you know, this work that I've done. A 00:37:06.869 --> 00:37:10.289 couple of articles as well. So it's been great. 00:37:11.349 --> 00:37:15.750 I was certainly very surprised. Oh, but, you 00:37:15.750 --> 00:37:20.670 know, obviously you well deserve and well done. 00:37:20.829 --> 00:37:24.079 So congratulations. Thank you. For listeners 00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:27.019 who want to explore this album, and which you 00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:32.219 all should, please go to any music streaming 00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:36.000 services. And the title of the album is called 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.800 Mirrors and Echoes. And the physical copies are 00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:44.179 available also? Yes, you can order them on the 00:37:44.179 --> 00:37:47.300 label's website. So that's Resonance Classics. 00:37:47.780 --> 00:37:50.940 And I'm pretty sure they ship worldwide. But 00:37:50.940 --> 00:37:53.849 I'll have to check that. Okay. Yeah, and then 00:37:53.849 --> 00:37:58.269 I will make sure to insert that into the show 00:37:58.269 --> 00:38:34.630 notes as well. Now that brings me to a different 00:38:34.630 --> 00:38:38.230 but connected question, understanding who you 00:38:38.230 --> 00:38:40.550 are behind all of this. So because listening 00:38:40.550 --> 00:38:42.949 to Mirrors and Echoes, it's clear that your artistic 00:38:42.949 --> 00:38:46.050 choices come from a very specific sensibility 00:38:46.050 --> 00:38:48.710 shaped by where you come from and the people 00:38:48.710 --> 00:38:52.570 who guided you. So you were born in Casablanca 00:38:52.570 --> 00:38:55.809 and started piano at age five. What do you remember 00:38:55.809 --> 00:38:58.869 about your earliest connection to music? Really 00:38:58.869 --> 00:39:02.219 listening. was my first connection to music I 00:39:02.219 --> 00:39:07.239 think. You know, to my mom sing songs and teach 00:39:07.239 --> 00:39:11.039 songs to me but also in the car I was just bombarded 00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:14.239 with recordings of like Marta Argerich playing 00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:16.539 the Schumann concerto or Tchaikovsky concerto 00:39:16.539 --> 00:39:20.039 or Glenn Gould play all the inventions and symphonies 00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:23.239 of Bach. These are the sort of core memories 00:39:23.239 --> 00:39:27.849 I have as a child growing up. I very much loved 00:39:27.849 --> 00:39:32.409 listening even before I even started piano. I 00:39:32.409 --> 00:39:35.710 just had this connection with the material but 00:39:35.710 --> 00:39:39.550 also I guess the social connection that my mom, 00:39:39.670 --> 00:39:43.010 you know, she used this to deepen her connection 00:39:43.010 --> 00:39:45.809 with me so we shared this. I think it really 00:39:45.809 --> 00:39:50.860 anchored that love even more. My dad also likes 00:39:50.860 --> 00:39:53.519 music very much, although it's not so much classical, 00:39:53.579 --> 00:39:56.300 but we also, again, in the car, I've got my classics 00:39:56.300 --> 00:40:00.139 that my dad always plays. So that's super nice, 00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:03.639 you know. Every now and then I just put on a 00:40:03.639 --> 00:40:09.239 playlist and it's like a time machine. So yeah, 00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:11.900 that was my earliest connection to music, I would 00:40:11.900 --> 00:40:15.840 say. And then I started piano lessons. Actually, 00:40:15.940 --> 00:40:18.900 I had sort of classes to introduce music to children. 00:40:18.980 --> 00:40:21.260 I think you have that in the States a lot, probably. 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:25.960 Just, you know, basic children's group with like 00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:28.420 a teacher with like basic musical instruments 00:40:28.420 --> 00:40:31.519 and we clap and sing songs, whatever. And then 00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:35.900 I started formal piano lessons at five with a 00:40:35.900 --> 00:40:39.780 Ukrainian teacher. I wanted to play violin, but 00:40:39.780 --> 00:40:42.820 my mom said it's harder, so I should start with 00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:45.300 the piano. And unfortunately, I never made it 00:40:45.300 --> 00:40:50.059 to the violin. Piano was hard enough, but also 00:40:50.059 --> 00:40:53.400 probably you fell in love with the instrument, 00:40:53.579 --> 00:40:56.139 right? It's a great instrument. I kind of wish 00:40:56.139 --> 00:40:58.699 I could play violin too, though. But, you know, 00:40:58.760 --> 00:41:03.880 who got one life? And a piano, with piano, we 00:41:03.880 --> 00:41:06.969 have too many repertoire, too many. piano pieces 00:41:06.969 --> 00:41:09.869 out there. You can't even accomplish all of them 00:41:09.869 --> 00:41:12.590 in one life, you know? Yeah, exactly. There's 00:41:12.590 --> 00:41:17.750 enough work for one person. Then your training 00:41:17.750 --> 00:41:22.590 took off and from Morocco to the famous Yehudi 00:41:22.590 --> 00:41:26.449 Menuhin School in England, right? Yeah, so it 00:41:26.449 --> 00:41:29.389 was created by Yehudi Menuhin, the violinist. 00:41:29.829 --> 00:41:35.210 He's actually buried there. Crazy to think about. 00:41:35.309 --> 00:41:39.670 It was his house. And he started the school in 00:41:39.670 --> 00:41:42.590 the 20th century with, I think, 10 students or 00:41:42.590 --> 00:41:45.570 so in London. And then he moved to Surrey. And 00:41:45.570 --> 00:41:48.429 at the time I was there, it only took around 00:41:48.429 --> 00:41:51.769 maybe 70 students from all over the world from 00:41:51.769 --> 00:41:57.570 age 8 to 18, 19. And I was selected to go there 00:41:57.570 --> 00:42:02.780 after an audition in the autumn of... 2013, I 00:42:02.780 --> 00:42:05.679 think. Then I was there in 2014 at the age of 00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:10.039 15. It was a very formative experience to be 00:42:10.039 --> 00:42:15.059 just surrounded by music and by extremely talented 00:42:15.059 --> 00:42:19.460 young people from all over the world. It was 00:42:19.460 --> 00:42:22.840 very demanding, but I liked that because I was 00:42:22.840 --> 00:42:29.420 there to learn. The level of teaching there was 00:42:29.420 --> 00:42:33.250 phenomenal. People there were there not because 00:42:33.250 --> 00:42:35.610 they were paid great or anything, but because 00:42:35.610 --> 00:42:37.969 they just loved to be there in this institution. 00:42:38.510 --> 00:42:42.690 And so we got the best of the best of musical 00:42:42.690 --> 00:42:45.369 teachers, from people who thought theory or composition 00:42:45.369 --> 00:42:48.570 or things like that, to piano teachers, to harpsichord 00:42:48.570 --> 00:42:51.989 teachers, improvisation teachers, chamber music. 00:42:52.110 --> 00:42:55.469 Everyone was just on such a high level. It was 00:42:55.469 --> 00:42:57.889 honestly the privilege of my life to attend that 00:42:57.889 --> 00:43:05.699 school. Wow. Such a very significant age to really 00:43:05.699 --> 00:43:11.099 learn music, right? 15, 16, 17. Well, people 00:43:11.099 --> 00:43:14.059 usually go, this is considered late because most 00:43:14.059 --> 00:43:17.260 people go there in primary school sort of age. 00:43:18.159 --> 00:43:21.340 It's the minority of students that come for sort 00:43:21.340 --> 00:43:25.460 of the finishing touch of their education. So 00:43:25.460 --> 00:43:28.599 at 15, I mean, it's quite a late age to really 00:43:28.599 --> 00:43:31.119 like. learned from scratch but I didn't obviously 00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:33.460 I didn't come from scratch like I had I had won 00:43:33.460 --> 00:43:36.079 a lot of competitions I had had serious training 00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:39.880 in Morocco but it was let's say some people like 00:43:39.880 --> 00:43:42.159 most of the school actually come there much earlier 00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:46.420 so I was one of maybe five or six people who 00:43:46.420 --> 00:43:52.559 joined at that age at that time um but yeah for 00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:56.630 me it was enough um because Yeah, it's enabled 00:43:56.630 --> 00:43:59.030 me to live my life as a kid, like a normal kid 00:43:59.030 --> 00:44:01.989 in normal school and then come there for inspiration 00:44:01.989 --> 00:44:04.429 and learning. I think that was the right balance. 00:44:04.510 --> 00:44:06.469 I'm not sure I would have liked to be there from 00:44:06.469 --> 00:44:11.070 such an early age. Wow. Then that fast forward, 00:44:11.210 --> 00:44:16.989 you got into Cambridge. Yeah. And then later 00:44:16.989 --> 00:44:20.650 to Guildhall, which is a very, very prestigious 00:44:20.650 --> 00:44:23.349 school with and graduated with distinction. So 00:44:23.349 --> 00:44:28.400 how did these two. environment shape you academically? 00:44:28.860 --> 00:44:32.059 Cambridge was great because I mean it's Cambridge 00:44:32.059 --> 00:44:36.780 it's like you know Hogwarts almost in terms of 00:44:36.780 --> 00:44:39.300 like I don't know I'm always a very I was always 00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:42.760 a very academically driven person so going to 00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:45.460 like such a center of academic excellence and 00:44:45.460 --> 00:44:49.000 be able to meet you know specialists in the field. 00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:52.539 All my lecturers were just so brilliant. And 00:44:52.539 --> 00:44:54.960 I could just meet them for supervisions on one 00:44:54.960 --> 00:44:58.960 -to -one. You're sat with them in a room with 00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:01.079 maybe one other student and you have to discuss 00:45:01.079 --> 00:45:03.320 their work and sometimes criticize their work 00:45:03.320 --> 00:45:08.219 to their face. And then they criticize your work 00:45:08.219 --> 00:45:13.139 with their towering amounts of knowledge. That 00:45:13.139 --> 00:45:17.579 was fantastic. Yeah, it just really broadened 00:45:17.579 --> 00:45:21.980 my... I mean, I already had such a broad idea 00:45:21.980 --> 00:45:24.760 of what music could be when I left Menuhin School. 00:45:24.880 --> 00:45:27.840 I realized that it's not just about executing 00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:32.199 a musical text. Music is so broad that almost 00:45:32.199 --> 00:45:35.719 any skill set, any personality type will fit 00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:40.079 somewhere with the music. In Cambridge, it was 00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:44.489 just even more of that. sort of idea being reinforced 00:45:44.489 --> 00:45:48.210 in that i looked also at how it fits with other 00:45:48.210 --> 00:45:52.210 disciplines um you know obviously any university 00:45:52.210 --> 00:45:55.750 now is very big on intersectional studies and 00:45:55.750 --> 00:45:57.690 things like that so you see intersection with 00:45:57.690 --> 00:46:01.829 for example music and colonialism or like um 00:46:01.829 --> 00:46:05.289 how musicology was shaped the very science let's 00:46:05.289 --> 00:46:08.480 say of musicology was shaped by ideologies that 00:46:08.480 --> 00:46:10.699 were going around in the Chinese century and 00:46:10.699 --> 00:46:12.780 how that influenced the very knowledge that was 00:46:12.780 --> 00:46:18.460 produced, all the focuses of that science. Cambridge 00:46:18.460 --> 00:46:23.920 was great to allow me to look critically on a 00:46:23.920 --> 00:46:27.960 meta level at any sort of discourse that I encounter. 00:46:28.500 --> 00:46:32.039 Not just seeing what the argument is and what 00:46:32.039 --> 00:46:34.679 it's doing, but also asking why is this argument 00:46:34.679 --> 00:46:38.539 being made in the first place? What informs that 00:46:38.539 --> 00:46:42.360 point of view etc so that was absolutely great 00:46:42.360 --> 00:46:45.119 and also I met people from other subjects which 00:46:45.119 --> 00:46:48.239 is very enriching for me so I could have conversations 00:46:48.239 --> 00:46:51.619 about politics or economics or anything because 00:46:51.619 --> 00:46:54.519 everyone is kind of there and interested in everything 00:46:54.519 --> 00:46:59.780 and then at Guildhall very different vibe obviously 00:46:59.780 --> 00:47:04.960 back to very narrow music focus but it's a fantastic 00:47:04.960 --> 00:47:07.780 group of people great connections within the 00:47:07.780 --> 00:47:12.579 music industry and yeah I think I'm happy I did 00:47:12.579 --> 00:47:16.659 it in this order because it just allowed me to 00:47:16.659 --> 00:47:19.380 take things I learned and gild her with a pinch 00:47:19.380 --> 00:47:22.539 of salt sometimes like I think if you go straight 00:47:22.539 --> 00:47:25.400 to a musical institution sometimes you can feel 00:47:25.400 --> 00:47:27.559 like what your teacher says is the end will be 00:47:27.559 --> 00:47:31.099 all and if they say something that's it that's 00:47:31.099 --> 00:47:34.139 the truth from God you know that's been applied 00:47:35.840 --> 00:47:39.460 But having had this background in Cambridge of 00:47:39.460 --> 00:47:42.300 being used to questioning everything or contextualizing 00:47:42.300 --> 00:47:46.699 everything, it was useful in sort of surviving 00:47:46.699 --> 00:47:50.320 the music profession and looking at it a bit 00:47:50.320 --> 00:47:54.760 more critically. Well, I can tell from the way 00:47:54.760 --> 00:47:57.619 you explained to me. to us about your album. 00:47:57.840 --> 00:48:00.780 So I almost wondered, your undergraduate degree 00:48:00.780 --> 00:48:03.519 in Cambridge, did you double major in anything? 00:48:03.719 --> 00:48:07.599 Or did you just focus on music? So in the UK 00:48:07.599 --> 00:48:10.460 system, there are no such things as... Oh, I 00:48:10.460 --> 00:48:13.139 think in Cambridge, you can double major. Other 00:48:13.139 --> 00:48:15.400 universities you can, but in Cambridge, I just 00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:19.559 did music. But again, it's applied in such a 00:48:19.559 --> 00:48:22.380 broad way that if you wanted... I mean, I did 00:48:22.380 --> 00:48:26.599 my... One of my essays was about ASMR. And the 00:48:26.599 --> 00:48:29.659 cultural sort of underpinnings of that and implications 00:48:29.659 --> 00:48:34.360 on classical music of the time. But other people 00:48:34.360 --> 00:48:37.440 did things to do with economics or colonialism. 00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:42.599 So you say we're studying music, but really we 00:48:42.599 --> 00:48:45.679 can study anything, just as long as there's some 00:48:45.679 --> 00:48:48.960 sort of musical link. Wow, that's brilliant. 00:48:49.360 --> 00:48:54.139 How fortunate. Then any memorable teachers you've 00:48:54.139 --> 00:48:58.380 had in the past? yeah I would like to say yeah 00:48:58.380 --> 00:49:00.460 all my teachers were memorable in one way or 00:49:00.460 --> 00:49:06.400 another um yeah I mean I can't possibly you know 00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:09.880 pick some because it would be it would feel sacrilegious 00:49:09.880 --> 00:49:13.019 to pick one or two over the others so I'll just 00:49:13.019 --> 00:49:16.059 say yeah I've had really fantastic teachers and 00:49:16.059 --> 00:49:20.059 I've put um for my most direct influences I've 00:49:20.059 --> 00:49:23.800 written an acknowledgement section um on my blog 00:49:23.800 --> 00:49:28.019 um which kind of gives personal thanks to some 00:49:28.019 --> 00:49:29.960 of them and what they've brought me and I've 00:49:29.960 --> 00:49:35.139 put into the album. Wonderful. Then, since then, 00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:38.780 you've performed everywhere, you know, to Azerbaijan, 00:49:39.480 --> 00:49:43.159 Ibiza, Morocco. Is there a concert experience, 00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:46.820 small or big, doesn't matter, that remains unforgettable 00:49:46.820 --> 00:49:49.340 for you? Something that changed or confirmed 00:49:49.340 --> 00:49:51.699 something about your relationship to performing 00:49:51.699 --> 00:49:56.289 or music? Oh, that's a big question. I think 00:49:56.289 --> 00:49:58.510 a lot of concerts are memorable just for different 00:49:58.510 --> 00:50:01.530 reasons. Obviously, Wigmore Hall is very special 00:50:01.530 --> 00:50:04.550 because, well, the piano was fantastic for one. 00:50:04.750 --> 00:50:08.349 Wigmore Hall piano is insane. The acoustics were 00:50:08.349 --> 00:50:12.329 great. And also the occasion was incredible. 00:50:12.489 --> 00:50:15.989 So it was the graduating sort of concert. And 00:50:15.989 --> 00:50:19.429 the hall is kind of the entire school watches 00:50:19.429 --> 00:50:23.510 you play. Normally, when the school watches you 00:50:23.510 --> 00:50:26.050 play, everyone's kind of in a criticising mode, 00:50:26.230 --> 00:50:29.610 like, oh, you've missed a shot there, or you've 00:50:29.610 --> 00:50:32.690 made a mistake or something. But at that moment, 00:50:32.769 --> 00:50:34.730 the whole school is just there to celebrate your 00:50:34.730 --> 00:50:37.409 achievements. And so you just walk onto the Wigmore 00:50:37.409 --> 00:50:40.190 Hall stage with a thunderous applause and people 00:50:40.190 --> 00:50:42.349 shouting and screaming. It feels like you're 00:50:42.349 --> 00:50:47.489 a rock star. So that was really fun. The stand 00:50:47.489 --> 00:50:52.920 -up comedy things I did. were also super super 00:50:52.920 --> 00:50:57.380 fun just because yeah it was such a wholesome 00:50:57.380 --> 00:51:02.179 and genuinely fun moment and one that i felt 00:51:02.179 --> 00:51:06.400 i had a big part in actually creating because 00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:10.340 i really felt like i had created a show not just 00:51:10.340 --> 00:51:12.340 played some pieces but created something new 00:51:12.340 --> 00:51:17.719 and then yeah a lot of a lot of others i mean 00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:39.849 it's too many to count Are we feeling good? Just 00:51:39.849 --> 00:51:42.090 to introduce myself, my name is Aida Lakhloo, 00:51:42.230 --> 00:51:44.449 I'm a concert pianist. The funny thing though 00:51:44.449 --> 00:51:46.429 is that I did not want to be a pianist growing 00:51:46.429 --> 00:51:48.909 up. I actually wanted to be a brain surgeon, 00:51:49.130 --> 00:51:53.489 but my parents were not supportive. They didn't 00:51:53.489 --> 00:51:55.030 want a doctor in the family, they thought it 00:51:55.030 --> 00:51:57.750 was a bit weird. I still do surgery for fun though, 00:51:57.750 --> 00:52:02.110 but on the weekends. I've got a kneecap replacement 00:52:02.110 --> 00:52:08.570 gig coming up. Did you choose the piano as an 00:52:08.570 --> 00:52:11.409 instrument? I want to talk about this stand -up 00:52:11.409 --> 00:52:16.250 comedy thing. Yes. So when I think of comedy 00:52:16.250 --> 00:52:20.130 with... So you combine comedy show with the piano? 00:52:20.670 --> 00:52:24.670 Yeah. So I think of the very famous Victor... 00:52:24.670 --> 00:52:29.769 Bourget. Yeah. And then so is that similar to 00:52:29.769 --> 00:52:33.210 his style or is it more like... No. Okay. So 00:52:33.210 --> 00:52:35.449 what he's doing is more like slapstick, I would 00:52:35.449 --> 00:52:39.780 say. Yeah. you know fun routines and kind of 00:52:39.780 --> 00:52:42.559 jokey routines to do with the act of piano playing 00:52:42.559 --> 00:52:46.320 I don't do that so the piano part is really serious 00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:50.400 piano playing and the comedy is stand -up so 00:52:50.400 --> 00:52:53.519 a lot of the material will be tangentially connected 00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:56.980 to like the music industry or what it feels like 00:52:56.980 --> 00:53:00.019 to be a pianist or making fun of that world I 00:53:00.019 --> 00:53:03.280 inhabit but it's just strictly stand -up so I'm 00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:06.800 not going to make sort of yeah fun routines about 00:53:06.800 --> 00:53:10.079 like I don't know playing piano like with my 00:53:10.079 --> 00:53:12.400 shit music upside down or something like that 00:53:12.400 --> 00:53:15.699 it's not like that it's really stand -up wow 00:53:15.699 --> 00:53:20.139 where does this love of comedy or stand -up comedy 00:53:20.139 --> 00:53:24.320 come from I love stand -up comedy watching you 00:53:24.320 --> 00:53:27.000 know do you have any favorite comedian or something 00:53:27.000 --> 00:53:30.380 someone yeah I have lots of I also I've been 00:53:30.380 --> 00:53:33.400 great fan of stand -up comedy um a lot of my 00:53:33.400 --> 00:53:35.750 favorites comedians are like french speaking 00:53:35.750 --> 00:53:39.250 so i'm not sure how okay okay for your audience 00:53:39.250 --> 00:53:41.769 but um yeah i've always loved stand -up comedy 00:53:41.769 --> 00:53:44.610 and i thought it's so i love it because it's 00:53:44.610 --> 00:53:48.570 so genuine there's nowhere to hide but at the 00:53:48.570 --> 00:53:51.329 same time there's such a craft in actually making 00:53:51.329 --> 00:53:55.530 it good and i found so many interesting similarities 00:53:55.530 --> 00:54:01.440 with music with the timing they're sort of accuracy 00:54:01.440 --> 00:54:03.760 at which you have to deliver that timing for 00:54:03.760 --> 00:54:09.099 it to work the genuineness of it so like playing 00:54:09.099 --> 00:54:12.599 with integrity and also just writing and performing 00:54:12.599 --> 00:54:16.639 with integrity as a comedian writing material 00:54:16.639 --> 00:54:20.360 that's also true to you and that's not just you 00:54:20.360 --> 00:54:24.199 know hackneyed or stolen or whatever so yeah 00:54:24.199 --> 00:54:26.159 there were interesting connections and I thought 00:54:26.159 --> 00:54:28.760 that kind of came out of a period of my life 00:54:28.760 --> 00:54:32.300 when I was a bit frustrated with my impact as 00:54:32.300 --> 00:54:35.860 a pianist because I thought I want to talk about 00:54:35.860 --> 00:54:39.199 the big issues of the day but how can I do that 00:54:39.199 --> 00:54:42.800 in a piano recital and I thought okay maybe I 00:54:42.800 --> 00:54:47.639 can actually allow myself to talk and so I did 00:54:47.639 --> 00:54:51.260 this stand -up show and I didn't hold back so 00:54:51.260 --> 00:54:53.920 I talked about all the stuff I want to talk about 00:54:53.920 --> 00:54:57.500 you know my frustrations with politicians and 00:54:57.500 --> 00:55:00.920 climate change like discourse around immigration, 00:55:01.360 --> 00:55:06.980 things like how people view artists and all of 00:55:06.980 --> 00:55:09.500 the prejudice, all of that, I really didn't hold 00:55:09.500 --> 00:55:13.659 back. But yeah, somehow I always connected the 00:55:13.659 --> 00:55:18.239 two pieces. So, for example, like for In Bartholomew, 00:55:18.460 --> 00:55:20.480 I was doing something about like, you know, how 00:55:20.480 --> 00:55:22.800 I found some of the discourse around refugees 00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:27.860 just stupid. And I thought, so this is In Bartholomew. 00:55:28.730 --> 00:55:30.750 People think it's about a day at the beach, but 00:55:30.750 --> 00:55:32.690 really it's quite terrifying when you listen 00:55:32.690 --> 00:55:35.329 closely. And I think it's about the immensity 00:55:35.329 --> 00:55:38.190 of nature and the powerlessness of humans in 00:55:38.190 --> 00:55:40.949 the face of nature. And I want to dedicate this 00:55:40.949 --> 00:55:43.730 to anyone who's tried to cross the sea for a 00:55:43.730 --> 00:55:47.070 better life. So there was some sort of link between 00:55:47.070 --> 00:55:50.590 the social commentary and the art, like the pieces 00:55:50.590 --> 00:55:54.489 I was playing. So it was kind of speaking to 00:55:54.489 --> 00:55:56.349 each other. The two components were speaking 00:55:56.349 --> 00:55:59.300 to each other. But they were very much respecting 00:55:59.300 --> 00:56:02.699 each other. So like, I wasn't trying to make 00:56:02.699 --> 00:56:06.219 the music funny. I was playing serious pieces. 00:56:07.340 --> 00:56:09.480 But I think it really helped each other kind 00:56:09.480 --> 00:56:11.940 of shine in a way, all the different art forms. 00:56:12.400 --> 00:56:16.599 So first you performed and then the comedy. Is 00:56:16.599 --> 00:56:20.119 that how it went? No, it was completely, it was 00:56:20.119 --> 00:56:23.880 like back and forth. So in total, there was 30 00:56:23.880 --> 00:56:26.710 minutes of music and 30 minutes of comedy. But 00:56:26.710 --> 00:56:30.090 it was interspersed. So I started with like a 00:56:30.090 --> 00:56:33.269 flashy piece. Then I said, you know, I always 00:56:33.269 --> 00:56:36.329 start with this piece. People think I'm legit. 00:56:36.530 --> 00:56:39.250 And then I start with my comedy routine. And 00:56:39.250 --> 00:56:42.949 then I introduce the piece linked to the comedy. 00:56:43.030 --> 00:56:45.909 And then I play it. Then again, it's the back 00:56:45.909 --> 00:56:49.530 and forth. Yeah, but you know, really, that's 00:56:49.530 --> 00:56:52.289 the spirit or the origin of comedy, right? Like 00:56:52.289 --> 00:56:55.329 when you are struggling or you have this, you 00:56:55.329 --> 00:56:57.260 want to... bring this challenge into the world 00:56:57.260 --> 00:56:59.940 but then what's the best what's better way to 00:56:59.940 --> 00:57:04.119 do it of course comedy because we can all laugh 00:57:04.119 --> 00:57:08.679 at something so wow that's very clever but also 00:57:08.679 --> 00:57:13.079 i'm sure it took a lot of courage to do it yeah 00:57:13.079 --> 00:57:18.639 i'm a bit crazy so it's fine that's so cool so 00:57:18.639 --> 00:57:21.059 i want to talk more about this you know creativity 00:57:21.059 --> 00:57:27.019 um so Because you said something about, you know, 00:57:27.039 --> 00:57:29.679 despite all the awards you collected, you have 00:57:29.679 --> 00:57:33.940 won 20 plus awards internationally. And then 00:57:33.940 --> 00:57:38.159 you said that the institutional success is often 00:57:38.159 --> 00:57:41.800 neither achievable nor even desirable for many 00:57:41.800 --> 00:57:46.119 musicians. Can you explore a little bit more 00:57:46.119 --> 00:57:49.260 of that, about that? Of course, I'm very passionate 00:57:49.260 --> 00:57:53.750 about this. I used to think that the way to be 00:57:53.750 --> 00:57:57.250 successful, whatever that means, is to win competitions 00:57:57.250 --> 00:58:00.269 or be respected by the establishment. So either 00:58:00.269 --> 00:58:03.710 being a conservator darling or win a big competition 00:58:03.710 --> 00:58:09.510 or get hired by an agent or whatever. And then 00:58:09.510 --> 00:58:13.050 I saw the results and I thought, OK, well, I 00:58:13.050 --> 00:58:15.730 see a lot of conservator darlings who are getting 00:58:15.730 --> 00:58:18.760 all the opportunities. Two or three years later, 00:58:18.840 --> 00:58:20.780 there's a new conservatoire dialing and then 00:58:20.780 --> 00:58:24.480 they're not getting anywhere because it just 00:58:24.480 --> 00:58:27.559 in terms of actual concerts and just, you know, 00:58:27.559 --> 00:58:32.579 outward signs of success in inverted commas. 00:58:33.679 --> 00:58:36.480 Competition, same thing. So you might win a competition, 00:58:36.780 --> 00:58:39.719 even a big one, and then you're still doing gigs 00:58:39.719 --> 00:58:42.119 that don't pay very much or whatever. So even 00:58:42.119 --> 00:58:45.710 for the very outward sort of basic. crass signs 00:58:45.710 --> 00:58:48.170 of success in terms of pay or number of concerts 00:58:48.170 --> 00:58:51.429 and so on it's not necessarily a panacea and 00:58:51.429 --> 00:58:56.170 then um yeah agents again um i feel like agents 00:58:56.170 --> 00:58:59.010 nowadays um with all due respect to agents a 00:58:59.010 --> 00:59:02.530 lot of them um only take you on when you don't 00:59:02.530 --> 00:59:06.469 really need an agent so i thought okay but let's 00:59:06.469 --> 00:59:09.309 say as a thought experiment and say okay let's 00:59:09.309 --> 00:59:13.199 imagine i want to be competition or I've landed 00:59:13.199 --> 00:59:16.360 one of those things, would that make me feel 00:59:16.360 --> 00:59:20.559 happier? What would I have achieved in real terms? 00:59:20.920 --> 00:59:23.960 And the only conclusion I could get from that 00:59:23.960 --> 00:59:27.579 answer is an ego boost, maybe a bit more money. 00:59:27.840 --> 00:59:31.780 But I thought, okay, do I really want that? And 00:59:31.780 --> 00:59:35.360 the answer was no. I was a lot more interested 00:59:35.360 --> 00:59:39.510 in just doing something that... like has real 00:59:39.510 --> 00:59:43.449 meaning outside of just the cloud because these 00:59:43.449 --> 00:59:46.429 sort of institutions first of all have yeah not 00:59:46.429 --> 00:59:48.869 sure they're always right but they also perpetuate 00:59:48.869 --> 00:59:50.769 a lot of the things that i think are wrong with 00:59:50.769 --> 00:59:54.909 the industry so i thought okay um first of all 00:59:54.909 --> 00:59:57.630 if i go into this and i win something in there 00:59:57.630 --> 01:00:01.429 i'm just gonna reinforce those negative aspects 01:00:01.429 --> 01:00:06.639 but also yeah even if i look at just the positive 01:00:06.639 --> 01:00:10.019 sides for me it's just not that much and I thought 01:00:10.019 --> 01:00:13.079 okay well let's look there's so many examples 01:00:13.079 --> 01:00:15.559 of people who achieve those same hallmarks of 01:00:15.559 --> 01:00:18.400 success without going through the institutional 01:00:18.400 --> 01:00:22.519 route so for example let's say there's a money 01:00:22.519 --> 01:00:25.139 price for the competition people achieve that 01:00:25.139 --> 01:00:27.679 money in other ways not winning competitions 01:00:27.679 --> 01:00:31.219 or you perform in big halls people have performed 01:00:31.219 --> 01:00:33.659 in big halls without winning competitions or 01:00:33.659 --> 01:00:35.480 being a conservator or darling so there are ways 01:00:35.480 --> 01:00:38.940 to do that and that way you're not dependent 01:00:38.940 --> 01:00:42.239 on you know the approval of one or two people 01:00:42.239 --> 01:00:46.159 who might just not like you or be biased against 01:00:46.159 --> 01:00:50.239 you and I think chasing the approval of just 01:00:50.239 --> 01:00:54.460 the establishment is such a waste of time my 01:00:54.460 --> 01:00:57.900 advice and my sort of experience is you're much 01:00:57.900 --> 01:01:00.079 better off just trying to make your objectives 01:01:00.079 --> 01:01:03.690 happen independently of whether or not someone 01:01:03.690 --> 01:01:08.909 gives you permission. And from my personal perspective, 01:01:09.190 --> 01:01:13.289 like now I feel like impact is something I should 01:01:13.289 --> 01:01:17.329 chase a lot more than recognition, if that makes 01:01:17.329 --> 01:01:21.889 sense. Yep, yep. So I'd much rather, you know, 01:01:21.909 --> 01:01:26.269 make a positive change in something that is bigger 01:01:26.269 --> 01:01:32.639 than just me, rather than be, you know... spotlighted 01:01:32.639 --> 01:01:37.679 or chosen by an establishment figure or yeah 01:01:37.679 --> 01:01:44.420 but our industry is the classical music is sort 01:01:44.420 --> 01:01:47.760 of based on that you know recognition and being 01:01:47.760 --> 01:01:57.000 admitted or nodded by or you know even since 01:01:57.000 --> 01:02:01.920 your training era does that make sense? being 01:02:01.920 --> 01:02:06.179 admitted into this studio, for example, or this 01:02:06.179 --> 01:02:10.639 school day. So that's the sort of mindset. And 01:02:10.639 --> 01:02:12.699 then everybody is sort of afraid of everybody, 01:02:12.900 --> 01:02:17.440 right? Yeah, I would say, I mean, you have to 01:02:17.440 --> 01:02:20.659 be pragmatic. I was certainly pragmatic in my 01:02:20.659 --> 01:02:23.239 approach. I said, you know, what's the minimum 01:02:23.239 --> 01:02:26.000 institutional success that I need in order to 01:02:26.000 --> 01:02:30.199 be credible? And I think, I mean, most conservatory 01:02:30.199 --> 01:02:33.380 students already have that. But then going beyond 01:02:33.380 --> 01:02:35.760 that and seeing institutional recognition as 01:02:35.760 --> 01:02:38.300 end -all, be -all, I think that's inefficient. 01:02:38.960 --> 01:02:42.360 I think just go and get some credibility that 01:02:42.360 --> 01:02:45.599 you can demonstrate. And an easy way, well, in 01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:47.900 inverted commas, an easy way is to get a diploma 01:02:47.900 --> 01:02:50.760 from someone respected. But then take that diploma 01:02:50.760 --> 01:02:53.099 and do something with it that doesn't require 01:02:53.099 --> 01:02:57.789 authorization. So for example, I mean, as an 01:02:57.789 --> 01:02:59.429 artist, you may think, you know, I've released 01:02:59.429 --> 01:03:01.909 my CD, it's going to be really easy for me to 01:03:01.909 --> 01:03:05.429 find concerts and so on. It's really hard to 01:03:05.429 --> 01:03:08.510 find concerts because the environment, at least 01:03:08.510 --> 01:03:11.429 in the UK, just doesn't pay people enough or, 01:03:11.469 --> 01:03:15.429 you know, it's saturated and so on. And competition 01:03:15.429 --> 01:03:17.869 is the same thing, the amount of money you need 01:03:17.869 --> 01:03:21.210 to just apply and then they don't even give you 01:03:21.210 --> 01:03:25.329 feedback when you're rejected and so on. So I 01:03:25.329 --> 01:03:27.690 actually made my calculations and I started my 01:03:27.690 --> 01:03:31.230 own concert series. And now I offer paid opportunities 01:03:31.230 --> 01:03:33.809 for musicians. And I started with zero budget, 01:03:33.869 --> 01:03:38.329 even though if I had, you know, gone through 01:03:38.329 --> 01:03:41.389 the route of competitions, I would probably be 01:03:41.389 --> 01:03:44.070 in the red for, you know, probably several thousand 01:03:44.070 --> 01:03:48.050 pounds between recording and lessons. And so, 01:03:48.130 --> 01:03:52.909 yeah, I think. It's actually a much more efficient 01:03:52.909 --> 01:03:56.369 way to start your own thing sometimes than wait 01:03:56.369 --> 01:04:00.349 for authorization to do something. But you have 01:04:00.349 --> 01:04:05.269 that sort of mind to do it. And also, you're 01:04:05.269 --> 01:04:08.750 very eloquent. You can express yourself, present 01:04:08.750 --> 01:04:12.289 yourself with words really well as well. So I 01:04:12.289 --> 01:04:15.349 think that's a huge advantage. But I'm sure you 01:04:15.349 --> 01:04:22.030 had your own challenges. moments where you probably 01:04:22.030 --> 01:04:26.630 you had to pick yourself up and keep going right 01:04:26.630 --> 01:04:29.590 yeah definitely but to be honest i find it much 01:04:29.590 --> 01:04:32.530 easier to be in control i'd much rather be sad 01:04:32.530 --> 01:04:36.949 or be challenged by something i own um rather 01:04:36.949 --> 01:04:40.630 than you know be at the mercy of whatever rejection 01:04:40.630 --> 01:04:44.230 is gonna be on my plate on the day because this 01:04:44.230 --> 01:04:47.710 jury or that um agent or whatever has not um 01:04:48.280 --> 01:04:50.840 wanted to work with me or something but you know 01:04:50.840 --> 01:04:53.920 enterprises like for example your podcast or 01:04:53.920 --> 01:04:59.760 any artist -led venture that creates real value 01:04:59.760 --> 01:05:03.059 like actual value and creates actual communities 01:05:03.059 --> 01:05:06.619 and creates actual you know positive change I 01:05:06.619 --> 01:05:09.119 think it's something to be so much more proud 01:05:09.119 --> 01:05:13.400 about than just being picked randomly by an arbitrary 01:05:13.400 --> 01:05:19.199 group of jury members in a way that's kind of 01:05:19.199 --> 01:05:24.320 the logic behind me trying my own thing is I 01:05:24.320 --> 01:05:26.179 want to of course build something meaningful 01:05:26.179 --> 01:05:29.880 we all want to but also hopefully in a way that's 01:05:29.880 --> 01:05:32.699 less speculative and a bit more linked to hard 01:05:32.699 --> 01:05:36.440 work rather than just circumstance I would say 01:05:36.440 --> 01:05:42.230 yeah Well, thank you for including me, my podcast 01:05:42.230 --> 01:05:45.510 into your... No, no, of course. I'm very admirative. 01:05:46.469 --> 01:05:51.789 I hope I've said that enough. I'm just very, 01:05:51.949 --> 01:05:55.170 like, I wish more musicians would, you know, 01:05:55.170 --> 01:05:57.610 fly with their ideas and actually make something 01:05:57.610 --> 01:06:01.309 that they own and that they can, you know, move 01:06:01.309 --> 01:06:04.710 the needle in a way that benefits artists and 01:06:04.710 --> 01:06:07.230 benefits our industry in real terms rather than 01:06:07.230 --> 01:06:11.219 benefits institutions. Well said. I'll quote 01:06:11.219 --> 01:06:16.119 this. Aida, you're very smart. Then you also 01:06:16.119 --> 01:06:19.820 talked about bringing back this impresario. Oh 01:06:19.820 --> 01:06:23.940 my gosh, that was a eureka moment. Because in 01:06:23.940 --> 01:06:27.199 that sense, aren't we both impresarios? Like, 01:06:27.280 --> 01:06:31.059 aren't we doing this? Because it's all about 01:06:31.059 --> 01:06:34.340 being a creative person, creative producer. So 01:06:34.340 --> 01:06:38.159 impresario meant you have to raise funds, you 01:06:38.159 --> 01:06:42.210 have to... put people together and you kind of 01:06:42.210 --> 01:06:46.909 have to sort of you know taking risks for bold 01:06:46.909 --> 01:06:50.730 new ideas shaping culture is not exactly what 01:06:50.730 --> 01:06:53.750 you're trying to do and then i'm i mean i'm trying 01:06:53.750 --> 01:06:57.650 to do the same thing so yeah absolutely i wish 01:06:57.650 --> 01:07:01.510 agents at the moment were a bit more like impresarios 01:07:01.510 --> 01:07:04.469 at the moment agents they're just extension of 01:07:05.639 --> 01:07:07.579 booking secretaries, I would say. They contact 01:07:07.579 --> 01:07:09.920 Concert Series and they try and push their artists, 01:07:10.099 --> 01:07:12.440 but they don't create Concert Series of their 01:07:12.440 --> 01:07:14.639 own. That means they don't take any financial 01:07:14.639 --> 01:07:17.360 risk. Whereas in the past, you know, if you think 01:07:17.360 --> 01:07:20.300 of the big impresarios like Diaghilev, he would 01:07:20.300 --> 01:07:23.519 actually pay for the theater. He would organize 01:07:23.519 --> 01:07:25.900 the promotion, everything. He would book artists 01:07:25.900 --> 01:07:29.730 he thought could fill the hall. And then he would 01:07:29.730 --> 01:07:33.769 pocket the earnings and then pay the artists 01:07:33.769 --> 01:07:37.809 their wage. But he was the one taking the financial 01:07:37.809 --> 01:07:41.070 risk. He was the one understanding art enough 01:07:41.070 --> 01:07:43.730 to see what would be successful and what wouldn't. 01:07:44.130 --> 01:07:46.610 And that's something we need more of. Someone 01:07:46.610 --> 01:07:49.269 to take financial risk, but also who has artistic 01:07:49.269 --> 01:07:53.829 sensitivity to make it work. At the moment, agents 01:07:53.829 --> 01:07:57.789 don't take any financial risks. They book you 01:07:57.789 --> 01:07:59.869 a concert and then they take a cut or they don't 01:07:59.869 --> 01:08:01.750 book anything and then they don't take anything. 01:08:01.909 --> 01:08:05.190 There's no risk to them at all. And I think for 01:08:05.190 --> 01:08:08.289 me, it's a bit lazy and it puts so much more 01:08:08.289 --> 01:08:13.110 pressure on the musicians. So, yeah, I wish, 01:08:13.130 --> 01:08:16.329 you know, at the end of the day, we had a bit 01:08:16.329 --> 01:08:18.630 more of a side of the industry that took financial 01:08:18.630 --> 01:08:22.170 risk to put on concerts rather than just trying 01:08:22.170 --> 01:08:24.569 again to convince the establishment to book this 01:08:24.569 --> 01:08:32.199 artist or that artist. Wow. So we're coming closer 01:08:32.199 --> 01:08:36.279 to the end of our conversation, but there's just 01:08:36.279 --> 01:08:43.840 one or two more questions for you. How do you 01:08:43.840 --> 01:08:49.699 measure success for you now that we spoke about 01:08:49.699 --> 01:08:53.960 all these things? I would say happiness doing 01:08:53.960 --> 01:08:58.220 the work and impact. So I wouldn't say, you know, 01:08:58.220 --> 01:09:01.199 sitting back and having passive income is success. 01:09:01.319 --> 01:09:03.840 I think that's not very fulfilling at the end 01:09:03.840 --> 01:09:07.319 of the day. So I'm pro working very hard, but 01:09:07.319 --> 01:09:11.399 I'm also pro like making an impact that is positive. 01:09:11.979 --> 01:09:14.600 So yeah, that's how I would do it in a nutshell. 01:09:15.439 --> 01:09:20.720 Beautiful. And what's next for you? You know, 01:09:20.739 --> 01:09:24.279 you just produced an album. Is there any new 01:09:24.279 --> 01:09:26.619 project coming up? Maybe you don't want to share 01:09:26.619 --> 01:09:30.020 the details yet, but the floor is yours. So please 01:09:30.020 --> 01:09:33.340 tell us what's next. Sure. So, of course, I'm 01:09:33.340 --> 01:09:35.899 very busy with my concert series that I've mentioned, 01:09:36.039 --> 01:09:39.600 the one I've created eight weeks ago. So that's 01:09:39.600 --> 01:09:43.340 Oxford Concert Circle. So very exciting. We're 01:09:43.340 --> 01:09:46.659 building partnership, applying for grants and 01:09:46.659 --> 01:09:49.420 hopefully growing even more into the new year. 01:09:50.060 --> 01:09:53.239 So that's a nice project. And then piano -wise, 01:09:53.439 --> 01:09:57.119 I might have some exciting masterclass and recital 01:09:57.119 --> 01:09:59.659 projects in the new year in Morocco, but that's 01:09:59.659 --> 01:10:02.880 still to be decided with the French Institute. 01:10:02.960 --> 01:10:06.260 So that's something that might happen in the 01:10:06.260 --> 01:10:11.760 spring as you listen to this podcast. And yeah, 01:10:11.819 --> 01:10:14.119 I've got a million ideas, but it's just about 01:10:14.119 --> 01:10:18.109 what am I going to do next? Prioritizing. And 01:10:18.109 --> 01:10:20.010 again, with the question of impact, which is 01:10:20.010 --> 01:10:24.170 increasingly more important to me. Wonderful. 01:10:25.329 --> 01:10:28.130 Wow. Thank you so much. This was a really fun, 01:10:28.350 --> 01:10:31.569 inspiring, really, truly inspiring conversation, 01:10:31.869 --> 01:10:34.289 Aida. So, but I didn't explain this to you, but 01:10:34.289 --> 01:10:36.090 before I let you go, we have one more segment. 01:10:36.109 --> 01:10:38.289 It's called the PianoPod Rapid Fire Questions. 01:10:38.390 --> 01:10:42.829 So we take this part very seriously. We create, 01:10:43.229 --> 01:10:45.810 you've shared so much depth and insight today, 01:10:45.869 --> 01:10:49.100 but these questions. carefully curated by my 01:10:49.100 --> 01:10:53.119 team, which is me, offer a glimpse into who you 01:10:53.119 --> 01:10:56.539 truly are. So let's do this. Please answer each 01:10:56.539 --> 01:10:59.439 question with the shortest response possible. 01:10:59.479 --> 01:11:03.199 No explanation is needed. Question number one. 01:11:03.779 --> 01:11:09.119 What is your comfort food? Chips. How do you 01:11:09.119 --> 01:11:11.960 like your coffee in the morning? I don't drink 01:11:11.960 --> 01:11:16.069 coffee. Okay. Do you like drinking tea? Not even. 01:11:16.369 --> 01:11:21.170 No? What do you drink? Water? Water. That's great. 01:11:21.529 --> 01:11:25.630 That's great. Are you a cat person or dog person? 01:11:26.189 --> 01:11:31.550 A dachshund. Oh, so cute. Sunrise or sunset? 01:11:34.569 --> 01:11:40.630 Sunset. Okay. Summer or winter? Summer. What 01:11:40.630 --> 01:11:43.550 skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't 01:11:43.550 --> 01:11:47.640 had a chance to? Maybe violin. Oh, that's what 01:11:47.640 --> 01:11:52.260 you mentioned. Now, what is your word or words 01:11:52.260 --> 01:11:58.579 to live by? Be happy. Don't take yourself too 01:11:58.579 --> 01:12:02.020 seriously. Be a good person. That's enough, I 01:12:02.020 --> 01:12:06.899 think. Great. Favorite venue you performed in? 01:12:06.979 --> 01:12:12.449 Maybe you mentioned. Or maybe dream venue. I'd 01:12:12.449 --> 01:12:15.289 love to perform in a house, like a cozy house. 01:12:16.149 --> 01:12:20.430 Yeah, it's actually trending. Yeah, especially 01:12:20.430 --> 01:12:23.029 in the States. It is trending. That's a business 01:12:23.029 --> 01:12:26.250 idea for your listeners. Yeah, that's right. 01:12:26.909 --> 01:12:29.890 Now, what is the most important quality you look 01:12:29.890 --> 01:12:35.130 for in other people? Honesty. Name a composer 01:12:35.130 --> 01:12:39.439 you wish more people knew about. This is really 01:12:39.439 --> 01:12:41.880 controversial, but Mozart. I think Mozart is 01:12:41.880 --> 01:12:47.340 underrated. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think Mozart is 01:12:47.340 --> 01:12:50.199 underrated because, yeah, I don't have to explain, 01:12:50.380 --> 01:12:53.140 but he is a genius. And it's not because he's 01:12:53.140 --> 01:12:55.760 written a few hits. He is actually such a master 01:12:55.760 --> 01:12:59.619 composer. And it's not boring. Please, it's not 01:12:59.619 --> 01:13:03.300 boring. It's actually every time he writes anything, 01:13:03.500 --> 01:13:07.000 it's... Please do not say Mozart sonatas are 01:13:07.000 --> 01:13:10.520 boring. They're not. Okay. I'm guilty. I say 01:13:10.520 --> 01:13:14.039 Mozart sonatas. Okay. I will listen carefully. 01:13:14.399 --> 01:13:19.539 Yes. All right. Then name one piece currently 01:13:19.539 --> 01:13:24.260 in your playlist. Schubert's Late Infant Fuse. 01:13:24.920 --> 01:13:28.119 Wonderful. Fill in the blank. This is the last 01:13:28.119 --> 01:13:30.500 question. Fill in the blank. Music is blank. 01:13:32.430 --> 01:13:37.149 Great. Very nice. All right. Thank you so much 01:13:37.149 --> 01:13:39.649 for joining us today and for sharing your wisdom, 01:13:39.729 --> 01:13:42.710 artistry and incredible energy. This has truly 01:13:42.710 --> 01:13:44.970 been a meaningful conversation. So to our listeners, 01:13:45.029 --> 01:13:47.029 if you would like to learn more about Aida's 01:13:47.029 --> 01:13:51.210 work, visit AidaLalu .com. Follow her on Instagram 01:13:51.210 --> 01:13:56.960 at AidaXLalu. and listen to her album mirrors 01:13:56.960 --> 01:14:00.039 and echoes wherever you stream your music all 01:14:00.039 --> 01:14:02.300 links are in the show notes and to our community 01:14:02.300 --> 01:14:05.340 thank you for tuning in please subscribe rate 01:14:05.340 --> 01:14:08.159 and share this episode your support helps us 01:14:08.159 --> 01:14:11.260 continue connecting through music story and creativity 01:14:11.260 --> 01:14:14.500 until next time this is yuki miso and you're 01:14:14.500 --> 01:14:16.520 listening to the piano part thank you so much 01:14:16.520 --> 01:14:18.739 thank you thank you so much that was a great 01:14:18.739 --> 01:14:19.220 conversation