Eat, Sleep, Music

 

Last night I went to a classical club night - a trend ‘du jour’, that took place in London’s Bankside Vaults, called The Yellow Lounge. It was a promotional platform for Deutsche Grammophon and Decca artists in which Hilary Hahn (Violin) & Hauschka (Prepared Piano), Eric Whitacre (Composer/Conductor) & The Whitacre Singers performed rather wonderfully. 

Throughout the night DJ Canisius and VJ Pfadfinderei played tracks by classical and contemporary composers while the audience members mingled happily, celebrating the fact that they too could be ‘loud’ and ‘sociable’ in this informal setting, except during the live acts in which they needed to keep silent. 

 

The Yellow Lounge concept was first initiated eight years ago in Berlin, breaking the traditional rules of classical music performances by placing the artists in ‘casual’ and ‘hip’ venues where people can talk, drink and socialize.

 

Although I approached it with a lot of skepticism, my experience as an audience member turned into joy as I witnessed one of the most successful efforts to reach young people (well, in this specific case ‘young’ means 30-40 y/o which would probably not be the target audience for pop musicians, but anyway, still younger than the ‘60 & up’ concert goers!). The venue was designed very carefully with special attention to visuals projected on a large screens; the length of the performances was just right (not too short or not too long for each piece) and of course, the performers were amazing. 

Some of the special moments were when Eric Whitacre and his singers performed JS Bach’s ‘Come Sweet Death’ three times, first regularly, second with body movements, and third with each singer singing at his/her own pace, thus creating a sense of an elongated harmonic progression interchanging between chords sustaining in the air like a vocal church organ. Another piece was by the American composer John Corigliano, in which he took the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’ and composed totally new music to it. It was an unexpected reversal of roles and I found it fascinating.

 

 

 

Finally, Hilary Hahn and Hauschka’s improvisatory collaboration ended the night with a trance-like music that captivated the audiences. I highly recommend their new album.

 

 

As a young classical artist and an active concert goer, I hope these sort of projects become more popular and expand into smaller cities around the world promoting talented performers and high qulaity music.

Kudos to the team!

@ADpianist

 

Last night we celebrated Istanbul Music Festival's 40th Anniversary at the Turkish Embassy in London, with some of the youngest people in the classical music scene. 

There was a point when they showed a video which ‘summarized’ the life of the festival, and my heart started pounding. Really. From Menuhin to Perlman, Pärt to Tavener, Gencer to Schwarzkopf, and Piazzolla to Emil Gilels (ok these two are irrelevant but they’re my favorites!) this festival has been hosting some of the most important figures in the history of music! I mean, it is just unbelievable.

Naturally, it was such an honor to be part of this event as much as it was to be part of the festival two years ago. So I uploaded a short video from my performance at 38th Istanbul Music Festival, in which we were celebrating Chopin’s 200th Anniversary - time flies! 

I truly hope the festival continues to grow old and big every year :)

All my best wishes...

@ADpianist

http://www.aysedeniz.org

http://www.facebook.com/ADPianist

(*Photo left to right: Director Yesim Gurer; violinist Nicola Benedetti, cellist Leonard Elschenbroich; ambassador Unal Cevikoz; pianist AyseDeniz Gokcin; pianist Lara Melda) 

Going to a normal school and playing the piano have always been weird experiences for me.

Imagine this: On one hand, you are in elementary school, dealing with homework, projects, classes, funny friendships etc.; and on the other you give yourself to a genius composer who grabs you and pulls you into his deep world of music and changes your whole life, at least for the period of time when you are practicing and performing. You work really hard on phrasing, interpretation, technique, style etc... and then you go out and play snowball with your classmates.

Usually it was tough for me to get permission from my teachers to skip classes in order to give concerts, because my school was very academic and I was a responsible student. Yet it kind of worked out... except that one class which caused a LOT of trouble: P.E.!

While most of my grades were 'A's, I almost failed P.E. due to lack of attendance!

My first and last 'D' ever...

Trampoline Vs Beethoven... 

The videos below are from that period when I was 11, dealing with all these random facts about life. So here you go: all three movements of Beethoven's 2nd Piano Concerto, conducted by Kirill Karabits in Kiev, Ukraine.

 

Alright... Here's to the man who has transformed the movie industry with his amazingly inspirational and memorable film scores! 

Jaws, E.T., Star Wars, Schindler's List, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Memoirs of a Geisha, Sleepers, Home Alone, Amistad, A.I. (one of my favorites), Catch Me If You Can, Close Encounters of the Third Kind... I mean, the list is like a basket full of rich dark chocolate that melts in your... ears! [Ok, maybe insert a better metaphor here... :D]

John Williams; I've always been a fan, and hope you live at least till 100 so we can hear more of your music!

And here are two small tributes, from one of the most creative and original piano duos of our time: Anderson & Roe.

Enjoy,

AyseDeniz (@ADpianist)

Web - http://www.aysedeniz.org
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ADPianist

 

 

Eng: A few weeks ago, I performed at my uncle Beygu Gokcin's art exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Istanbul. 

(Beygu is a self-taught painter, and also plays the harmonica without a background in music education.)

At the end of my recital, we took a risk and decided to do a surprise encore. With neither a rehearsal nor a plan, but only instincts and spontaneous decisions to guide us (plus some subconscious Piazzolla and Ravel influences on my part), we improvised for the first time ever.

After the performance, I named the improvisation 'Crying Out Soft'. I would like to dedicate it to:

• Those who cannot express their opinions freely... and
• Those who aren't allowed to 'cry out loud'...

Tr: Birkac hafta once Istanbul'daki inanilmaz bir palas olan Avusturya Kultur Ofisi'nde amcamin sergi acilisinda calmistim. Kendisi muzik egitimi olmadan mizika calar. Hayatimizda ilk defa orada 'haydi birlikte de birsey calalim' diye sahneye ciktik. Sonunda biraz Ravel, biraz Piazzolla etkisi olan, ve ayni zamanda da aci dolu bir dogaclama olustu... 

Adini 'Crying Out Soft' koydum; ve bu parcayi ulkemizde ve dunyada sadece sessizce aglayabilen insanlara ithaf ediyorum. 

 

**Video - www.yoyom.tv

Web - http://www.aysedeniz.org

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ADPianist

Twitter @ADpianist

 

 

Hope everyone's 2012 began nicely.

I've been home for the holidays, and spending time with the family has been great (especially with my nephew, who experienced his first new year party).

While looking around my old room, I found a poem I had written when I was 9, having just started learning English. I thought I should share it with you to make you laugh (and to embarrass myself). It's a pretty 'musical' poem though, and I'm sure you'll like the last line. (By the way, this is from the same year I had performed Bach's 5th Clavier Concerto with orchestra - the photo is from that performance... :D Talk about irony!)

 

Don’t Eat Like That!

 

Hey, don’t eat like that!

What’s that sound coming out of your mouth?

Whether it is macaroni, salad or another dish,

I wouldn’t chew it like a fish.

 

Hey, don’t you have ears?

Your saucy, juicy, noisy food...

I could create an orchestra,

With the sound coming out like a broken tuba.

 

Hey, can't you slow down?

I guess the chewy dessert disappears,

When you really like what you eat.

But I’m also here, so be neat!

 

Hey, why are you leaving?

Because of me? I hope not.

True, I complained a lot,

But let’s forget it and take a shot.

 

AyseDeniz - 9 y/o - Nice to meet you too.

 

I found this while reading Franz Liszt's letters... Hope you all get something you really want for New Years, and for anything else you are celebrating :) !!

 

'I have given myself, for a Christmas present, the little 8vo edition of Peters of the two "Passions", Masses and Cantatas of Bach, whom one might designate as the St. Thomas Aquinas of music.'

- Franz Liszt (1869) 

 

See you all in 2012 right here!

 

My graduation recital at Royal Academy of Music was this week, and something incredible happened. Let me explain it this way...

 

 

I started learning English in 5th grade when I transferred to an international school in Ankara. It was a time when most foreign books were impossible to find in bookstores in their original language, especially those written for kids and teenagers. However, my new school had a deal with Scholastic Inc. (world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books), and twice every year, they brought us their catalogues from which we ordered the books we wanted. My favorites were the ones that came with props and accessories (I still have a skeleton pen that came out of a children’s anatomy kit; I also owe my sewing skills to those colorful strings that came out of an arts & crafts set) as well as teenage girl novels.

Nowadays you can find these in many stores in Turkey, yet during my childhood they were quite unique, thus special. We’d wait months for the packages to arrive, and opening them would be the most thrilling experience ever. 

From one of these packages, a book called ‘Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging’ by Louise Rennison came out (I didn’t even know what the title meant when I was ordering it but it seemed like a nice, colorful girly book). When I started reading, I got addicted to it (also added new words to my vocabulary). With an extraordinary sense of humor, it portrayed a typical teenage girl entering adulthood and experiencing many things for the first time, mostly humiliating and funny. I loved it and could identify with her easily... She thought like me, and her diary was an English version of mine.

After finishing the first, I ordered the second book - realizing it was part of a series. Then months passed and academic work took over. I grew up and forgot about it for almost 11 years... until my recital! There was a lady among the audience and she came to congratulate me after the performance. We met briefly (being in a post performance adrenaline state, I did not recognize her name, let alone mine) and she told me she is a writer.  I asked if I could get one of her books, so this evening she kindly left one at my door. As soon as I saw it I had a moment of epiphany. The book was ‘Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging’ and the lady was the author,  Louise Rennison! I took the book to a practice room, and while playing the piano, I read the entire thing, feeling like a middle school girl again...

Apparently, while I was busy growing up, the book became a bestseller and was turned into a movie by Paramount Pictures! How exciting!

Life is full of surprises... It was a privilege to have Louise Rennison in the audience.

 

Back in my undergrad years, my 20th Century Music teacher once told the class about a research she had read. It stated that babies love atonal music, especially 12 Tone. However, once they are 6 months old, they seek for patterns and familiar tunes, crying every time you make them listen to composers like Webern or Schoenberg, because most of their music is unpredictable. I don't know how much of this is true, yet it is a fact that babies are more tolerant than most adults when it comes to listening to new music and learning things.

My nephew, who is now 2 months old, is a keen music listener. Whenever I go home I bring him new tracks. Last week I had a chance to see him again. This time he was much more conscious of the environment around him, so we did lots of aural skills together, a la Eastman style, as an experiment to see how his musical taste is developing.

I found out high pitches (especially woodwinds), unexpected sounds and irregular beats excite him very much. Beethoven's 5th Symphony scares him, but Ravel delights him. Supertramp and The Beatles make him sleep, yet my grandmother's out of tune voice attracts his attention quite a lot :D

Next time the 'programme' will include large symphonic works by Berlioz, Mahler, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, as well as some Greek tavern music.

What I learned from my nephew was that babies don't just like quiet music or simplicity of Mozart, as opposed to what the mainstream media says. In fact, they love it when they experience new sounds, complicated rhythms and a wide range of dynamics. Every time they are introduced to a new piece of information (in this case music), it is good for the brain development and comprehension skills. So the more variety of music they listen to, the merrier the parents should become... 

Here is a little excerpt from one our sessions. Sarp listening to Lang Lang Amca's Chopin :)