Pianist Tanya Gabrielian entertained and impressed at Seeley-Swan High School Jan. 17 as a part of the 2VS Concert Series. She will be working with the local students throughout the week as well as performing multiple times in Missoula with her final concert in the area at the Dennison Theatre on Sunday.
Pianist Tanya Gabrielian performed five sections including Bach, Schumann, Chopin and Sarasate all from memory except one. Gabrielian played Bach's Violin Sonata in C Major that she adapted to piano. This was the world-premiere live performance of the piece. She played it with the aid of an iPad, instead of sheet music, that she controlled with a pedal.
SEELEY LAKE – World-renowned classical pianist Tanya Gabrielian tinkled the ivories reaching out to hearts and souls at her concert at Seeley-Swan High School, Jan. 17. While commanding the attention of the audience with her piano mastery, she also drew them in asking those in attendance to take an active role in the experience. She provided background on the pieces and begged questions that took the audience beyond passive listening to promote an emotional connection with it and making it relevant.
Gabrielian started playing piano at age three and violin at age four. "I was forced to play," Gabrielian said and smiled, "but it kept me off the streets."
After being accepted to study biomedical engineering at Harvard University, Gabrielian instead decided "on a whim" to go to London and study music at the Royal Academy of Music.
"I hated everything about studying music. I hated the school," said Gabrielian. "It's a very narrow field of study. I've never felt this calling to be a musician."
After having an accident and ending up in the hospital for a month, all she did was listen to music. It was the first time in a very long time that she had listened to music recreationally.
"That's what got me through that period of time," said Gabrielian. "I realized maybe that's not the worst thing."
Gabrielian realized that through the practical exercises of learning her instrument, the hierarchy of performing on a stage above her listeners and promoting herself as a musician, she had lost sight of the beauty and power of music.
"I think people are craving that connection and sense of community," said Gabrielian who feels that classical musicians tend to be elitists and esoteric thriving on the fact that very few people can understand the nuances of the music like they can. "What art can do is bring us back to the part where we identify human values. That's why this music from centuries ago is still valid because we still feel the exact same things. It crosses gender, it crosses age, it crosses religion. It crosses everything. It is really a way to promote unity and that is what we are missing in modern society."
During the concert, Gabrielian took the time to explain the context for each of the pieces she had chosen. She highlighted the situation and life the composer was living during the time when they wrote the piece and why it connected to her. For her, this approach helps to connect her audience to the music, touching their emotions and further engaging their participating instead of emphasizing the technical aspects of the music.
Gabrielian will work with students at the local schools along with teaching master classes and performing at the University of Montana throughout the rest of the week. When on tour it is very important to her to reach out to the young generations and help them understand the core meaning of music and its relevance.
"In this country we don't have a system of arts education because we are a country of immigrants. Music developed here in a very different way [compared to Europe where music is engrained in the culture]," said Gabrielian. "Every type of music has been based upon the fundamentals that are learned classically. No one questions the relevance of Shakespeare in schools yet music is the first thing to be cut. How is Shakespeare more relevant than Mozart?"
Gabrielian continued, "This is my part [working in the schools] since it all comes back to education. If you don't understand music you don't appreciate it, where are you going to go from there? Music is not something that belongs in the museums as a relic, it is a living thing. It changes for each person and it should be viewed that way. If you can excite a group of kids you can excite anybody. They are also the ones who benefit the most from music since you are opening up a new part of their mind."
Gabrielian will be featured on the KUFM 89.1 Pea Green Boat show Thursday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. and again Friday morning, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. during the Friday Morning Classics. Live streaming available at http://www.mtpr.org. Friday afternoon from 3-5 p.m. Gabrielian will be giving a free public master class at the University of Montana (UM) Music Recital Hall. Her final performance in the area will be Sunday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. in the UM Dennison Theatre as a part of the UM 2015-2016 Celebrate Piano Series.
Gabrielian was the first artist of 2016 with the 2 Valleys Stage (2VS) 2015-2016 concert series. The next concert in the series will be Queen Nur March 20, at 3 p.m., at the Swan Valley School.
Reader Comments(0)