Music As Witness feat. Concert Pianist, Anna Shelest

0:00 This episode of the PianoPod is proudly sponsored by the Alexander M. Buono Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting classical musicians through performance opportunities, recordings, and artistic development. Welcome back to The Pianopod, everyone. This season, we are exploring creativity and connection, highlighting artists who are reimagining what musical purpose can look like in today's world. As we move toward the final stretch of season six, we are excited to share that after today's episode, only three more conversations remain before we close this remarkable season.

1:46 I also want to take a moment to thank you for your support. This season has been a real season of growth for The Pianopod. One major highlight was presenting our live event at the Stiefel Hall in collaboration with Manus, which marked an important step forward for the platform. We are grateful to all of you who continue to listen, watch, share, and believe in what we are building.

2:09 And there is much more to come. Season 7 begins in September 2026 with a new theme, Culture and Courage. I'll share more soon about why I chose that theme, but in the meantime, start thinking about... Who would make a great guest for the new season? If someone comes to mind, please fill out the guest recommendation form. You can find the link in the show notes. Now, back to today's episode. This conversation is proudly sponsored by the Alexander and Buono Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting classical musicians through concerts, recordings, and artistic development. Earlier this season, the Foundation reached out to the show, and today we are pleased to bring you this special collaboration featuring

2:52 one of their distinguished artists, pianist Anna Schellest. Known for championing extraordinary repertoire rarely heard by audiences, Anna's work spans major orchestral collaborations, recording projects that revive the work of forgotten composers, and initiatives that expand the voices represented in the classical canon. She has drawn international attention for her collaboration with conductor Niamh Yarvey, including recordings of Anton Rubinstein's piano concertos and bringing renewed life to music once celebrated but rarely performed today.

3:28 Another important thread in Anna's artistic work is her ongoing project, Donna Voce, which highlights music by women composers across several centuries through recordings, performances, and educational work. Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and later continuing her studies at the Julliard School in New York, Anna has built an international career rooted in discovery, curiosity, and artistic conviction.

3:55 This is Season 6, Episode 17 of The Pianopod with pianist Anna Shellist. Please enjoy the show. You are listening to The Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the future and thriving in a complex, ever -evolving world. Ana, welcome to The Piano Pod, and thank you so much for being here today. Thank you so much. I'm very happy to be with you. Thank you, and truly a pleasure. And where are you joining us from today? Well, I'm joining from my apartment in New York City. And it's quiet right now, so I hope it's going to stay like this. We're not going to have too many sirens. That's like a typical soundtrack of New York City. Do you live

4:45 in Manhattan? Yes, I live in Washington Heights. I lived there since I was a student when I came to New York. I think it's one of those very popular neighborhoods for musicians. It was really for students. So we've been here almost 18 years. really love our neighborhood. So I feel very much at home here. Oh, great. I used to live in Washington Heights as well. Oh, okay. Yeah, 168 and I don't remember. Okay, I went at 170, between 77 and 178. Oh. Right. It's a very, very lively neighborhood. Yes. And lots of musicians, sometimes when it's nice weather, people open their windows. You hear people practicing. It's a little bit like being a student again, you know. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You hear rehearsals

5:33 and lots of jazz musicians, I think. in our neighborhood. So I, it has a vibe of creative people around you. There are a lot of musicians on the West side. Yeah, that's for sure. Yeah. So I've been following your work for some time, especially your album, Romantic from Kharkiv and your efforts to bring composers like Sergei Borkovich back into the conversation. So I have really been looking forward to our interview session today.

6:04 I also know your husband, Dmitry, through the piano world and his work with a piano company in New York. And because of that connection, I also have been listening to your duo recording, Ukrainian Rhapsody as a cellist. piano duo. It is always such a joy to hear your forehand playing, and we will definitely talk more about that later in the episode. But to begin, I'd like to start with this question. Your career spans a wide range of artistic directions, performing traditional repertoire, championing lesser -known composers, building projects like Donna Voce, and collaborating with living composers. At the center of all you do, what is the driving artistic force, meaning mission or passion that connects everything you

6:57 do. Well, I think essentially it's really my love for the piano and my curiosity about it. I think there is something maybe from childhood that stays with you when you think about how we get interested in things. It's a certain spark that I think you can relate to people of other professions as well. They hear something, they see something. It could be engineering, math.

7:24 For me, it was piano. So I think this is really at the heart of it. And then... It kind of takes you on this journey. I think my, like many musicians, when you are in this profession for several decades, you're kind of surprised at how different stages of your lives are. And piano kind of takes you, like it was only for me, took me to many interesting places. It kind of defined the circle of people, of my friends. Also, my husband is a pianist.

7:58 much affected my personal life so I think it's just this initial curiosity and I was fortunate that my parents supported me and then it gave my my life great meaning and I'm just still I want to always stay surprised by the music that I'm finding. So it's never getting to be old and boring and like, you know what to expect.

8:29 So I think this is something that I'm grateful for, how the piano enriched my life. Wonderful. You're known for championing repertoire that audiences do not often hear, you know? So what frustrated you two toward exploring? repertoire beyond the traditional canon. You know, this also was a very organic journey because you notice that you're curious about different things. I had very traditional education. I played a lot of very traditional repertoire. I did piano competitions.

9:10 So you really get to know kind of the canon. But I think what attracted me first to things that maybe I've never heard this piece before, or maybe there is not a recording of this piece before. I think at first it was kind of sense of freedom and that you could sort of make your own interpretation. Because as you know, there are lots of rules in our profession. And tradition is certainly, it's a very valuable thing. But sometimes it could... put limits on your creativity.

9:45 And I think I felt maybe intuitively that, you know, playing something, maybe it will be pieced by a very famous composer, but not so well known. It just made me see a different side of even my approach. to interpretation so this is kind of how it started and then you know as you get more mature you become more confident and just choosing things that you really want to play if you're really drawn to the program you know that, you know, I can make it work and I hopefully will convince the audience that this is a worthy piece of music. And then, of course, as an artist, I think we all react to the world around us about, you react to conversations in society, different political movements, Ukrainian war certainly

10:37 had a deep effect on me. My work with women composers, I think also, the conversation about women in society, their roles, you know, what historically the struggles they had. I think all of these things, they affect you. And then I feel you choose repertoires that sort of reflect your state of mind and what you care about. So I think it's been kind of organic process of... reacting to the world around you and finding your way and I think through music we can really contribute something constructive because music usually it's so beautiful it's so there is this attempt by composers to create a harmonic world so I think we can as artists really be very constructive when we contribute to any type of narrative.

11:33 Last year, you released the album Romantic from Kharkiv, and the album is devoted to the music of Sergei Bokevich. I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing. I was just corrected, and I'm trying to pronounce it. No, it's great. And as we were talking just before I started to record, I do think that... with composers, just when you become globally known, each accent brings kind of a different dimension to your name. So I think it's just fine. I say it's Sergei Bartkevich, but everybody has said it was a little bit different, the accent or stressing different letters. Yeah, but the album was incredible. I just discovered so many unknown pieces. by him too but you know to be honest my favorite piece by him is the piano

12:30 concerto number one well i'm so thrilled to hear your reaction to the concerto i think it's just such a fantastic romantic concerto so uh my initial idea for this album was uh of course kind of my reaction to the russian war in ukraine um i For me, playing Ukrainian music in general, this is something that I try to include in all of my programs. Now it's a way that I feel like I can stay in solidarity with Ukrainians by playing music from Ukraine. And I've known that it's something that makes me feel, kind of eases my heart. I was so surprised how when I even like post a piece by Ukrainian music or, you know, make like a little social media post about it, oftentimes people from Ukraine would say, oh,

13:31 this is so beautiful. Thank you for like it's something that means a lot, I think, to Ukrainians when people in other parts of the world present their culture. So this was, I think, kind of my initial first. step in this process. And then just discovering music that I think as music itself has tremendous value and I think can enrich the piano repertoire. But for me, Bartkevich, the first connection was, of course, that he comes from the same cities as I do, from Kharkiv.

14:13 We were born a little over 100 years apart. And his house was actually in the center of Kharkiv, near what now is Opera Theater. I walked that street so many times, but I did not know about him and his music until very recently. Even though I grew up in Ukraine, I went to school there, his music was not kind of part of my upbringing.

14:40 And because of his life, because he essentially became a refugee after the Russian Revolution, he had a lot of obstacles. in just living at the time for his music to become more well -known. In Ukraine, we did not know about just this fantastic composer. But this first piano concerto was a work that was actually so well received when it was first composed. But I think the timing of it was just very unfortunate. He published his first concerto in... 1913, just a year before First World War. Up to that point, his career was going quite well. In fact, most of his work was published, and you can actually find a lot of it in public domain in sources like IMSLP.

15:33 So if you're curious about his work, it's very easy to find. So when I downloaded all this music and I was going through all these pieces, I was just overwhelmed with, first of all, there's a lot of very difficult music, things that will take you a long time to play, and there are etudes that are quite demanding. And, of course, each composer, with him, again, being, I think he was a tremendously talented pianist, they're bringing something new. to the piano, to your skill as a pianist when you're playing their music. So my initial idea was to do a recording of his solo music, and the very first work I learned was Thousand and One Nights, because I thought that cycle has so many, first of all,

16:28 beautiful movements. It's a 10 -movement piece. You could... like portions of it it's just very easy type of work to program so that was the first one that i played and i was thinking about just doing solo pieces and then um naomi yarvi was whom i worked for a few years already he was asking me about what are the ukrainian concertos because he's somebody who championed esoteric repertoire all his life so this is when i was oh my god there's this first piano concerto it's so fantastic And, you know, working on it with him, just having his kind of power as interpreter on this record was just absolutely a dream come true. And the recording of First Piano Concerto is a live recording from Estonia, from Tallinn.

17:56 with Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and that was also a very special concert. We combined Ukrainian and Estonian concertos on the program. So Bartkevich was one, and I played Artur Lemba, concerto number two. Estonia has been an amazing friend to Ukraine through these last four years. They actually start each concert with Ukrainian national anthem because they really understand the struggles and the threat Ukraine is facing.

18:35 So they are really so supportive. I'm so grateful to this country for being such a loyal friend. Thank you. So this was a very special performance for that reason as well. It kind of had several levels of meaning to me. So have this on the record. I mean, I certainly, like when I heard it, I, you know, it takes me back into that kind of a concert environment and excitement. So it's one of those, this really projects where many things came together. My interest, my passion, a lot of my kind of heartache. and just heartbreak about what's happening. But we were able to work around this and actually create something beautiful.

20:15 And this is also something that I think indicative of Bartkevich's life. tremendously difficult life. He found himself kind of in the midst of all of the tragedies in Europe. And when you read about this, you think, oh gosh, how can a person survive this and create something beautiful and harmonious? But when you listen to his music, there is really none of that. I think he stayed a true romantic at heart. For him, I feel strongly that music was a way to escape the world, to create. This was the only place of harmony and some kind of order and beauty that he had. And it comes to me with just, it's very strong aspect of his music that I think when people hear it, this is what they react to. So music is... fantastic,

21:18 it's beautiful, it's lyrical, there is a lot of very fun virtuosic moments, but I think that very deep feeling of loss and dealing with just tragedies he had to deal with in his life, this gives it certain depth that I think you really connect to. layers upon layers of uh feelings that he expresses was just so incredible and as you mentioned that uh a thousand and one nights uh ten i guess movements uh that are also included into this album and plus two other solo pieces lamentations and consolations that's one and then also nocturne from three pieces right yeah Yes, yes. Yeah, so my idea was to show his range because I just recently learned about him. I kind of thought many people might, this might

22:22 be the first record of Berkevich and how do you introduce him in a way that really show his range as a... orchestrator as a master of large form but also in miniatures and just emotions and colors that he draws from the piano I think are very unique and really very worthy to play and to listen to. Wow I really thoroughly enjoyed and I wish I knew more of his pieces before but I think From now on, I want to listen to his piano music now. Another thing I would add is that he also has a few cycles of music for children.

23:05 that are really wonderful. One is based on Anderson fairy tales. So he really masters this medium of like program music. And especially when it's done for children, because, you know, you can only move, you know, there are certain limits. It's really brilliant cycle. And then another one of like this young adventurer. So those are wonderful teaching pieces as well. to introduce if you're looking for something a little bit, you know. Wow, definitely. And they're all available online. Yes, IMSLP is, yes, it has most of his things. It just, there is a lot to choose from.

24:43 Are there any particular Ukrainian composers whose music you feel audiences should know more about? Certainly. You know, one thing I would say just about Ukrainian culture in general, because we're talking about it in 2026, the Russian war in Ukraine is ongoing, and most people learn about Ukraine or think about Ukraine in context of... kind of that reality today um so sometimes there is this perspective that ukrainian culture ukrainian music it's it's like a derivative from the russian culture uh something that linked so closely that you know it's impossible to separate them and i always like to if I have a chance to speak about it, to offer a different perspective, a little bit more kind of Ukrainian -centric,

25:40 and stress how old Ukraine actually is, especially if you travel to Ukraine, you really feel it. For example, in Kiev, the Sofia Cathedral, it's over a thousand years old. You can go inside and see it's actually like mosaics. They are that old. On our last trip to Ukraine, we visited France in the city of Izum. And we went for a hike. And they have these little mountains, hills, where there are these statues. They're called babas. And these are statues of stone women.

26:25 They're about 1 ,200 years old. These were statues that... kind of nomadic tribes who lived in that area at the time. They were most likely for some kind of worship. They used these figures. And this was not in some kind of museum. This was basically you go on a hike and you see these ancient things. Ukraine is also a place of some of the oldest human settlements in Europe that archaeologists discover. These types of things they affect the music as well because you feel something very old and ancient and the main way you can actually trace those things is through song. like with many cultures, right? The songs, songs of the people. And again, where those songs come from? There is a lot of influence from like

27:24 pagan times. And then when Christianity came to Ukraine, how those two things blended together. Ukraine has very unique traditions around Christmas time, for example. when you have these special songs, they're called Kalyatka, Shedrivka, where it was a kind of fusion of the birth of Christ, but also, you know, the New Year, the things that are associated with kind of renewal of nature.

27:54 And, you know, looking forward to kind of the new work starting on the harvest. All of these things are very much, I think. create certain depth in Ukrainian music. Then a little bit later on, there is a tradition of kabzars, and these were traveling musicians who, through song, they kept kind of Ukrainian history alive and tell these stories. So when composers went and kind of mined material for their works, so one important composer for Ukraine, is Mykola Lysenko. So he was the first one in Ukrainian musical history in the 19th century when there was this movement in Europe of national music when composers used materials from their land, from their people.

28:54 He was the first one to sort of codify Ukrainian folklore, became a kind of DNA of his musical language. So he is a very interesting composer to go and look at and see how this very real, he was a scholar, he studied these songs, how he used them in his piano writing. I actually have his suite on Ukrainian themes, Opus 2 on my record, Ukrainian Rhapsody. And this is something that I really found so, it was so original how he used the dance suite that we most associate with Bach, but he used Ukrainian themes to create.

29:48 all of these European dances, kind of the fusion of the two. So his piano music has a lot of it. So if you want to kind of get this... very genuine Ukrainian language in music. I would start there. So Bartkevich, of course, has been my great love for the last two years. Another composer that I just recently discovered, we just played his piece for piano for hands, is Theodora Kiminka, also from Kharkiv. really such an interesting composer. I'm just beginning to discovering his music, so I'm sharing this, but this year has been 150 since his birth, so lots of Ukrainian musicians are doing programs of his music. But when we're talking about modernist era, I would say Boris Latoshinsky, he was a composer who

30:51 created kind of the modern language. And I would look at his preludes just to get a sense exactly what he did, because it's really, it's modern, it's original, but there is still this idea of a narrative, I think, and song that kind of shines through, even though it's done in the modern language. But it's very original and just a very strongly made musical language. And now, a brief message from our sponsor, the Alexander and Buono Foundation. The Alexander and Buono Foundation is a non -profit corporation with a mission to identify the world's most promising classical musicians and help them launch and sustain careers.

31:38 Co -founders Barry Alexander and Cosmo Buono draw on more than a half century of combined experience in performance, marketing, publicity, and development guidance to help the artists they support. Believing that truly great careers are built with consistent effort applied over time, we have been responsible for helping to launch the careers of more than 500 competition winners through Carnegie Hall Debuts, with eight piano laureates being named Young Steinway Artists, a distinction held by fewer than 140 pianists worldwide. Among the artists we are proud to support is the remarkable pianist Anna Celeste.

32:21 Following her competition win, Anna made debuts at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kennedy Center, all within a single year, and signed a recording contract with Sorel Classics, creating a discography that now includes her three Donavorte recordings, made up exclusively of works by women composers. On October 18 at Carnegie Hall, Alexandra and Buona will present Anna and her husband Dimitri Shellest as the Shellest Piano Duo in a program with the Brandywine Valley Symphony Strings that will feature works by two living composers, Philip Glass and Ole Bezborodko, and the American premiere of Bezborodko's Piano Concerto for Piano Forehands and String Orchestra. We invite you to learn more about the Foundation's work and the extraordinary

33:14 artists we support at alexanderbuono .org and to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and Instagram. I would love to go back a little bit. You grew up, obviously, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, a city with a remarkable pianistic legacy connected to the Horvitz family. Right, tradition. So particularly through the teaching legacy of Vladimir Horowitz's sister, Regina Horowitz. So I think she was teaching there, no? Yes. So I think this is such an incredible story because Regina Horowitz really created the legacy in our city. But this legacy, it's sort of known to everyone from Kharkiv, but I wish more people know about her and her contribution.

34:13 and just her life because, of course, Vladimir Horowitz is one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He and Regina were born in Kiev. They were educated there. And then Horowitz and her, they had a wonderful career until Horowitz went, he went first to kind of study and concentrate. died abroad but then he did not return to soviet union and the fact that he did not return for him it meant a great career and very prosperous and life of the legend but for his family his family was really punished for this fact and this is not to kind of guilt him in any way but this was just a reality for for actually many families if one of of you left and didn't come back the family was punished. His father was

35:11 actually arrested and he died in Gulag. But with Regina, what happened to her, her artistic life was really hindered by that. She wasn't allowed to ever leave Soviet Union. And there were just lots of obstacles in her way to have professionally life. free and as successful as it could have been. But nonetheless, her talent is not something that could have been hidden. So for most of her life, she taught in Kharkiv, in Kharkiv Conservatory, in Kharkiv Special Music School that I later attended. And she taught generations of pianists from Kharkiv. aura of Horowitz, this was something I was always aware of as a child, that Regina Horowitz, Vladimir Horowitz, what made it so special also at the time that Horowitz recordings

36:18 in Soviet Union, it was very difficult to get them, almost impossible, and he went through kind of great length to make sure she gets his recordings, and these were real treasures. for Regina to share with her students. So by the time, of course, I was in school, it was available. We could be free to listen to them. But when she was teaching in the 60s, 70s, this was just a very unique resource to have, to have a pianist of such originality. you know, absolutely unique approach to the instrument. Regina actually resembles Vladimir very much in the pictures. She actually looks like his female version. And also, I was told by my teachers that her posture at the piano, like, is a very similar way that Horvitz said.

37:20 It was very much how... So it seemed like they had this talent, this incredible relationship to the piano, something that they shared. But of course, the main thing I think that she imparted to her students was the ear for color, for that singing tone, and this incredible imagination that I think also gave... opportunity for people to be a little bit more original, because education in Soviet Union, music education, it was certainly very structured, but I think there were maybe certain limitations on how things should be done.

38:04 You know, like, Gorovis was somebody who broke all the rules, and I think this was such a tremendous... thing to have like this freedom in his recordings to take. And one of my teachers in Kharkiv, Sergei Polusmak, he was her student. But many teachers in our school were her former students. Horowitz and his legacy, he was the first pianist that really understood what it meant to be a concert pianist, to be not just a person playing the piano. So this was very important, those early influences. But I know for anyone who is from Kharkiv, when you start talking to them, it's inevitable there will be some kind of connection to Regina if they have connections to the piano world. Wow. So what was it like growing up there,

39:06 like, you know, in that musical environment and being, you know, sort of having to have the lineage in training? Well, you know, when you were a kid, I don't think you think about things like that, you know, like lineage. It's something that you're just aware because when adults talking to you about things that you think, oh, this sounds important. It sounds like it could be important. I think just with age, like when you actually try to understand deeply like what it meant for her, you know, like to live at the time, you know, to have the... kind of things happening through the family that did, you have a different appreciation of it. But I don't come from a musical family. My parents were musicians,

39:56 so music was always something that... It was kind of this magical world, you know. It was certainly like for my mom, she wanted me to be in the arts because it's just something that's so beautiful, which it is. But I think perhaps sometimes if you grow up in a musical environment, just like with my children, I think to them it's just something that is very regular and just everyday occurrence. But for me it wasn't. I think just music to me as a child, it kind of had this aura of something very otherworldly about it. Any memorable teachers or mentors you had while in Kharkiv? Yes, so I had a pretty...

40:52 conventional education. I also, I'm not always sure if I should tell the story, but maybe since we have a little bit more time, I actually failed my first piano lesson. But maybe it's a little bit indicative of that it was a very strict education. So I was five years old, and my mom... She wanted me to take piano lessons, so she found out who would be very respected. So this was a teacher who had a good reputation. And we were preparing to come to the first piano lesson. And one of the things that was requested is that we bring a grading book. So I don't think I had to bring any book, music books yet, but I had to bring a grading book. So this is something that really stuck in my memory. So I remember the piano and

41:48 the keys, like black and white. I haven't played piano yet. And the first thing that happened is that the piano lid was closed. So the teacher closed the piano lid, and I was like, what's going on? And the first exercise we had to do was to, I remember it was called the rainbow. You move your hand from left to right. So apparently I was terrible at this. So she failed me. So at the end of the lesson, she gave me one. So at the time we had like five number system, one, two, three, four, five, five. And I remember I did not think much of it because I don't think I understood. But my mom was so upset. And when we came home, we lived with my grandparents and my grandpa. They were all so excited. Oh, your

42:37 first piano lesson. And I was telling him, grandma, guess what? It was great I got. And of course he thought, oh, you got the excellent five plus. So I was like, no, this is not what happened. So he actually couldn't guess that I got one. And I remember shock on his face. But I'm telling you this story because I actually often have conversations with... people who play piano not playing piano anymore or love music and they would say something like oh you know I had piano lessons as a kid but my teacher said I had no talent or like I had my ears I had no hearing and I like to share the story saying that you know don't this might not be true because I failed my lesson and look you know I'm still playing

43:25 the piano but I think this sort of attitude, it was... quite common because it was about children following rules and there were rules in place and they certainly gave some results. But I think this is something that perhaps intuitively I was always not rebelling, but I wasn't a rebel by any means. I was a very obedient student.

43:52 But some things that I questioned a lot of times in my childhood, do you think, why is it this way? And you do it because you sort of want to do well. But this is something that I think can have a negative effect as well. But, you know, I don't want to just share something, you know, not so rosy. I certainly had wonderful experiences as a child. I went to special music school in Kharkiv, which is like a boarding school for students where music and academics, they were in the same place. And essentially all your friends were... studying music seriously so it would be your friend studied piano or they played an orchestra so music was built into the routine of the day we had times during the day where

44:52 it was designated for practicing piano And then you take academic, and then in the middle of the day you have music theory, and then you go to math. So it was a really wonderful system to kind of make music a very organic part of learning and give kids comprehensive education. But I don't think that at the time I would...

45:20 play some something not traditional repertoire it was like very much about learning the tropes and and just staying in in this lane of things that have been tried and work so yeah well but thank you for sharing the your first lesson sort of anecdote that's actually I hear a lot of stories like that, but later on became this concert pianist like you. And you ended up going to Juilliard, which is like the most prestigious music schools in the United States. So, you know, coming to the United States, well, what's it like, you know, from transitioning from, you know, Ukraine and came to Juilliard? Well, I first, when we came to United States, when my family immigrated, we did not come to New York. We came to Kentucky.

46:21 Wow. Yes, which was really a big culture shock because there are very few immigrants, especially at the time. So it was kind of a... learning through like shock because you you had to assimilate you had to learn like the language the culture so this was a very kind of important experience for me I think in the way you get to know like real united states because i live in new york now and i think new york it's it's its own place it's like unlike any other place but uh living kind of in a more suburban um place uh and i went to school northern kentucky university which is you know like mid -sized it's a university not not not just a conservatory so it gave me um opportunity just to to experience life among...

47:25 Because before that, I was always around musicians. My school was small. Music was sort of the common thread that connected us. And this was something else. You're in a new country. You have... Yes, I was kind of in the music department, but it's a huge school, and there's so many people that really... Music is not something that will connect you. So it was... really very difficult, I think, at first, but I learned a lot. And at the school where I was, we had a lot of opportunity to perform.

48:03 It was a school I received my bachelor's. It's called Northern Kentucky University. And that was a place was actually, I had a lot of opportunity to perform. And where I started to... Be a little bit more kind of adventurous with the repertoire And then of course coming to New York and that was just wonderful experience. I worked with Jerome Loventel. I received my master's degree at Juilliard. It was only two years, but I think his way of working with students is so different from anything else I experienced in my life.

48:48 And it's really about sharing his wisdom and he's absolutely... his horizons in music and how he can find parallels and connections to different composers, different pieces from literature, and just showing you and sharing with you a very broad way you can think about music. And you sort of, the way I now think about it, you take it in and then you try to see how you can use your instinct as a musician, that you work with these ideas to come up with something of your own. And I remember in his studio, everybody played so differently. Like with one particular thing about his students is that I don't think you can tell that this is his students. There's not like something that we all... He was really

49:51 encouraging that exploration of what makes your approach to the instrument unique. And he would give suggestions to you, but it was sort of, in a way, consider this way. What will happen if you do it this way? just for me it was kind of loosening some of the frames that I had around my creativity and approach to interpretation and it was incredibly important and I just admire him endlessly and it was just a very inspiring time. Dona Voce project so I was listening to the Dona Voce volume number three so you've been producing the albums for like over the last few years so tell us about this project So, Dona Voce, I'm really so happy that it kind of already has three volumes, because when I was first thinking

51:34 about it, it really came together as an idea for a program. So I thought it would be interesting to do a program of women composers. So at the time, I really knew nothing about the subject. I just thought, okay. That's interesting. Let's see what I'll find. And one of the first things I did, I went to the Library of Performing Arts in New York at the Lincoln Center. And I actually, I think I just Googled like women composers, what are the names? And then I went and I saw what they have. So I took a few scores. My first trip, there were lots of music by Cecile Cheminade.

52:16 So I never heard of her. But there were a few volumes, and when I was flipping through it, I was like, oh, it looks interesting. How come I never heard about this composer? So it really started just like I thought it was an interesting idea. Let's see where it leads me. And I was just so shocked. that there's so much music and I don't know it. I think speaking about it today, because I think things have really been changing.

52:47 It sounds a little bit strange. But again, thinking back to my education, I never played like a serious work by women composers. And even when you imagine the school where I was as a kid, we had in the main concert hall. portraits of composers, right? So it was all men composers. So I didn't even associate like the woman, like I knew that there were women composers to dance, they're writing music, but sort of what would happen in the past, it was like complete blind spot. You don't think about it. You don't know it's there. It's just completely unknown. So I was actually very shocked that I'm a pianist. I played piano for all these years. How come I know nothing about this? So this is really what sparked my interest. And

53:37 one conscious choice I made, maybe because of my own... not high expectations honestly for forcing music, I thought it would not be very difficult. Like that was like, you know, if we don't know it, why, you know, how hard could it be? And when I started looking and I saw there's so much virtuosic piano music written for women, my first album, Donna Watcher, that's kind of a very conscious decision I made. Like the first sonata on that album is a Fanny Mendelssohn.

54:11 It has really very strong, very dramatic opening because this is something that for myself, I was almost like angry, like why? I did not know about. this stuff so i wanted to have like a big impact but um kind of stressing that element uh in in eventually in this uh journey of mine is is important to me because uh i think uh the when this music presents a challenge for me pianistically it's very interesting uh but i think another thing that you're dealing with When you're presenting works by women composers, especially if it's in more traditional environments, they're sort of... again like low expectations and like people don't expect much from it so it's always uh fun when you play and then they're like wow it's

55:04 really so great like this music is it's wonderful um so uh the way i kind of went about that i played the the first tone of what your program then i recorded the first record but in the process i found so much music that i thought You know, I definitely want to make another one. But in the meantime, YouTube was my way of sort of collecting the pieces that I thought were interesting. This is how the second volume of Dona Voce came about.

55:37 I learned Fanny Mendelssohn does Yarr during pandemic. So this is this work that when I came across her music, right away i thought this is tremendous piece it's like almost 100 pages long it's a cycle uh what it's there's so much you needed to invest so much time in that so during pandemic i took each month i would learn a movement And I would record it. So this was a way for me to keep, you know, remember the time it was really. So we never knew we would replay again.

56:19 So it was a good way to like motivate and set goals, at least for like making a video. And then when I completed that cycle and I was just so overwhelmed with it's such an incredible piece. So maybe I'll, since I began talking about it, just to give you just a little bit more of a historical context. So Fanny Mendelssohn, she wrote a lot of work for piano. I think her cycle does Yara, which has 13 movements, 12 movements that depict the year, and 13th movement is like a postlude. To me, it's her... strongest piece um i i think i played through most of her things that are available i know new things being discovered all the time but to me this is her masterpiece for the piano because it's so ahead of its time

57:48 it's um has just all the elements of the great romantic cycle and it has programmatic element, it has so many novel things in technique. The emotional range is incredible in this music. But also just thinking about how she's sort of presented in music history like it was like a little bit like a footnote yes the sister of Felix Mendelssohn talented sister and this is kind of completely goes against this narrative because this is the biggest work that came from Mendelssohn household it's certainly bigger than anything that he wrote and the relationship between Fanny and Felix is also very interesting because they were very close they had very close bond as siblings also as musicians they shared a lot

58:51 of ideas musically But the mystery about this jar is that we do not know if Felix knew anything about this piece because in none of the letters. it's not mentioned because he would also, he would mention it in letters to her or somebody else. He heard her piece. He looked like he would always compliment her or often compliment her on her work. So I think it's almost like she wrote this incredible work for the future because she didn't even want to share it with her brother.

59:26 Her husband, William Hansel. later contributed little paintings, these vignettes for each movement. So Daziar, it's really a collection of, it's a representation of things that were so important to her and her husband. It was art, poetry, and music. So this is a cycle that I think should stand along all the great romantic cycles. I played it several times in concert. It's just a tremendous experience for the pianist. It's challenging. It's incredibly rewarding. But it really pushes your limits. So for me, when you're confronted with a work like this, and then you...

1:00:16 read somewhere that oh she was kind of talented sister you know it's it's makes you a little bit like no this is not you know not who she was and yeah certainly she had a lot of limitations placed on her by just leaving in at the times that she did and she was very intelligent woman uh i think she knew where she could maybe push a little bit, but she was not a rebel who would just go against the norm. But still, in her music, she created something that I think it's almost like would be considered inappropriate for a woman to try to step kind of into that realm, to create something kind of of that statue. So one thing that I also think about... just how to present this music and for me sometimes just

1:01:09 finding there are so many women composers but if you're able to find like this one work to tell people about for me from the piano solo repertoire this is one of those really highlights that I think we like anyone who's interested in repertoire of women composers could point to and say okay this is very special this is very unique it's just it's as deserving as any other piece from that considered great piano work yeah they are amazing piano pieces but you know what made it more amazing or incredible was your playing i think made it Well, thank you. Special. Well, thank you. One thing that I also found so interesting working with the repertoire of women composers, you sort of have to... think a lot about creating a unique approach

1:02:11 to each composer because this is sort of something you're learning when you think about like a piano education you learn you play Bach this way you play Mozart this way there are certain things about each composer and the older you get the more experience you have I think it's almost like you have like the sound profile you know like that for each of the composers and you build it by absorbing a lot of tradition as well. Now, with women composers, there's no tradition, right?

1:02:40 Like, we don't have any great recordings of Horowitz or Michelangelo playing this work. So you really have to think hard about how do you extract the most meaning from the score? Like, what makes her special? And it's certainly something that revolves with you. I understand that it takes time. And the more I play the music that... type of approach is going to be more refined and clear.

1:03:06 But this is one of the most interesting thing about, I remember playing that first recital of Dona Voce and just trying to think, okay, how am I approaching like Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Lily Boulanger, like, yes, it's different eras, but you cannot just, it's something has to be unique about that particular composer.

1:03:28 So it pushes you to reevaluate a lot of things and just come up with things that um maybe you've never tried before but then when you do and especially if you find like a good idea that works um it's it makes you really happy when these things happen but we are i think what made that music alive was your playing and interpretation so congratulations and i thank you so much so that came up also last year no yes So Daziar was in volume two.

1:04:04 And the volume three, that was really incredible. Just many events had to happen because it was my dream to do a work of concertos in Dona Voce chapters. And Nemi Yarvi, he wanted to. jump into kind of that idea as well. He is someone who has tremendous repertoire and it's very unusual that there is work that he hasn't conducted.

1:04:40 So when I told him, you know, these are really great pieces. It's a Clara Schumann piano concerto and Cecil Cheminat concerto. He really was... He agreed that, yes, I haven't done these works before, let's do them. And to have now, like in the third volume, it's a much more collaborative project because we have piano and orchestra for Clara Schumann and Cecil Cheminat, and I'm playing some of the solo works, and then I'm playing piano for Hans, music with Dmitri. So I almost think it's kind of symbolic of... Hopefully, the Dona Voce project is covering more ground and more people are aware of it. But this is kind of our, so far, the grand version of what I envision this program to be. Then is there

1:05:37 a volume four coming, maybe? Yes, absolutely. I'm working. I have a few ideas. I'm not ready to. Actually, I have an idea, but it will probably be. some time, but I'm kind of lining. I don't want to give it away yet because it's still in the process. But one of the ways that I also found a great resource as a pianist working today is YouTube because a lot of repertoire that I first try, like I learn it, I will play it in concerts and you record it and you put it on YouTube. And this is sort of like my lab, you know, where you try things. One thing that I think is important before you do recording, like to play the piece, sometimes like leave it and then come back to it. So it has a little bit

1:06:31 of time to kind of brew and improve. Yeah, it's a process. So this has been kind of a great fun way of sharing the music, which I think eventually will find its way onto CD. But there's just, it's not as much pressure as. kind of releasing a whole record, you could just do piece at a time and see how this puzzle come together eventually for the record. Well, keep us posted. We'll be listening to volume for sure. Thank you. So you've been, you know, you mentioned of Nehme. Jarvi, the legendary conductor, many times you've collaborated with him for a number of occasions. And this album, Dona Voce, Volume 3. Also, you performed with him Anton Rubinstein concert recordings as well, as well as others. So tell us about

1:07:30 the experience with a collaboration with this legendary conductor. So Nehemiah Yarvey, working with him, it's really became one of the most consequential musical experiences for me because when you have a chance to play with somebody kind of of that caliber of musicianship and also experience and charisma, it really again pushes.

1:08:00 your boundaries and in what's possible. So our first collaboration was on the project of piano concertos by Anton Rubinstein, who is a very interesting figure because we know a lot about his pianism because it was sort of legendary. witnesses who would say that this is like the best pianist they ever heard he he had just something so unique and magnetic about uh his playing he was like the second list um so this is something you you know is that yes he was this legend but we don't know so much about him as a composer and uh one of the interesting things for me was to uh yes we know all these legendary stories about him But when you get to play his music, then you really understand his approach to the

1:08:54 piano and kind of his romantic spirit and his respect for the romantic tradition. Um, and, uh, he was really like consequentially romantic artist. Um, and he just wrote so much music. Uh, he was just so in love with just process of being a musician. This is all that matters to him. Um, and, uh, it again, uh, playing, uh, his, uh, concertos, just, I learned a lot. kind of like as a practical things as a pianist about a different facet of the romantic approach to the piano and then of course working with Maestro Jarvi one thing that He possesses this magical talent that makes you hear. It doesn't matter what he conducts. It could be a very familiar piece. It could be something new, new work, or

1:09:57 something a little bit obscure. You just completely... engrossed in in in the drama of the music he kind of takes you on this journey and you also have this feeling that this is interpretation is inevitable like this is how this piece should go there's such a conviction in interpretation but at the same time it feels completely natural that it's not that it's forced or it's there's some kind of agenda behind it this is just music just unfolds so beautifully Um, and naturally, and, um, I think, you know, I'm trying to analyze why, like, what are the things that make it possible?

1:10:37 Uh, and of course you can explain it for just, okay, it's just a talent that, you know, it cannot be explained, but I think that there are other things that contribute to that. Uh, one thing is that, um, the way he makes musicians feel. you remember like the very first time we played I felt like very intimidated just you know knowing that he conducted gills and like now I'm playing like whoa it's just ridiculous but he doesn't really have that kind of authoritative way that it's very collaborative and he tries to put musicians at the most comfortable place with kind word or kind glance and when you're doing something well like I know when observing kind of how he interacts with the orchestra he just like he

1:11:29 encourages you like oh this is like the phrase it's things are just it's things are blooming and like let's all enjoy it so there is such a beautiful um aura and just atmosphere he creates that musicians we all want to uh give our best because this is where most magical things are happening and one thing uh that really changed for me uh if if i were to point pinpoint um my approach to concerto to the piano concerto uh because again um the idea that piano is such an integral, it's part of the orchestra. Yes, you have your solo role, but one kind of interesting observation I made about kind of my own process is that, you know, when you're playing like any piano concerto, you're practicing your part.

1:12:26 Of course, you spend most time... by yourself and you will have all these moments in a piece and you usually have quite a few like several that you really love this particular passage or like a particular chord progression that you think oh it's so beautiful like I just want everybody to hear it And then you get to rehearsal, and then it's like, wow, this is actually not the important part because then there is a solo, like French horn has a solo, and you're just doing accompaniment. It made me aware that...

1:13:00 And sometimes as pianists, we think a little bit just about, you know, our part. But as a conductor, and because we worked on many projects together, and I also was able sometimes to send him kind of my, just the piano parts, and he would give me some notes. And I think it was always this structural things that you understand that what is your role in the piano concerto?

1:13:25 Yes, absolutely. There are moments when you are... the soloist, you're playing the theme, but then there are moments where actually you are providing the color, you're doing something that is important, but it's not the primary role. And one thing that I think affected my thinking before working with him is how piano recordings are, because when you listen to piano concertos on a recording, it's not the same as it is in the whole. Because the piano is always, like, we mic the piano, and we sort of have these expectations of how things sound. But it's not really, if you, I really started paying attention to it, it's completely different. Like, even any standard concerto, when you're listening in a concert hall, it's

1:14:16 a very different experience. So I really started thinking. more kind of symphonically and like try to think like how does conductor think about piano concerto. And then when it opens up this approach to you, I think it also affected how I approach piano, solo piano works, because of this idea of building, like thinking of a larger structure and planning it. it became much more concrete to me. It's the importance of it. And I think it's just through my work with Maestro Jarvi. So it's definitely been such a gift to me. So I'm very happy and proud of that work, but also very grateful. Yeah, and then also the extensive amount of piano concerto you have under your belt. That's quite amazing. Yeah. So congratulations

1:15:24 with all the amazing work that you've done. I'd like to also talk about another collaboration, very important collaboration, which is the cellist piano duo. So your husband and you are this amazing forehand. Do you guys also do two pianos or mainly four? We do. So we have this cellist piano duo, which is me and my husband, Dimitri. Most of our repertoire is piano for hands for a very practical reason. We have one piano at home, and most concert halls have one piano. So, yes, we have pieces, and if there is an opportunity to do a piano program, we would absolutely take it. But it's just something that we found that works for us, and we kind of worked in that direction.

1:17:16 Let's talk about Dmitry. So he is also from Ukraine, correct? Yes. So I met Dmitry in fifth grade. So we were in the same school in Ukraine. How cute. So that's what everybody say. But it's, you know, just for us, it's just that's how kind of how things happened. So we were in the same class. We were in the same grade, different classes.

1:17:48 We had class A, class B. He was in A, I was in B. But we were in the same grade. At different points of time, we shared piano teachers. We had the same piano teachers. And then he also came to Northern Kentucky University. This is how we reconnected. Really? Over all places? Oh, my goodness. So this is kind of how we reconnected in the United States. So then we were already older and then things, our relationship took a different turn. But yes, music, again, like what I said at the beginning, piano kind of determined so much of my life. And again, for both of us.

1:18:38 We met each other through piano, so it meant more than just a profession. It kind of trickled into your personal life in a very significant way. So we started playing together, I think, once we got married. At first, it was actually just a question from our friends and just audience that, oh, you're married, do you guys play together?

1:19:06 And then... we thought I guess maybe we should start. It was just something again that happened not like just this one particular one. We gradually started experimenting and we found that it's a really fun activity to do together and also it opens up a different type of repertoire for you and different way to approach the instrument.

1:19:36 Because from all of the ensembles, this is the only one where you share instrument with another person. That's right. So it makes for, in a way, when you're always by yourself, and then it's like, who's that other person? Why is he covering my keys that I want to push on? So it was just something we... Maybe like we could say stumbled into but we've been playing for I guess over 15 years together and I think the thing about the piano duo is the most interesting work happened and the most important work happened is when you're playing together like you really it's a type of ensemble that your like your part on its own is really So incomplete, right? It doesn't make sense. So you really rely on the other person

1:20:31 to make, you know, that whole experience. And one thing that's been also wonderful is I think being a pianist sometimes can be kind of a lonely experience. You know, when you travel for concerts, it's like just you. So to travel and... play concerts together, it's really wonderful because you have this other person that, you know, you love, that you get to make music together. You know, so far you've played many Ukrainian composer pieces for Bohemian Rhapsody, the album, and then the title is coming from one of the tracks as well. So, but I understand that there's an upcoming Carnegie Hall concert with Bohemian.

1:21:20 Yes. So I am the first person we are sharing this with. Yes. So in October, October 18, 2026, at Weill Concert Hall, we will have a very special program, which is presented by Alessandro Buona Foundation. They're presenting myself, Dmitry, Brandy Wine Valley Symphony Orchestra in a program of Ukrainian and American music, which is also going to be part of Ukrainian Cultural Festival in New York as it's taking place in October.

1:22:02 So this is a very special program that sort of has many of these elements that became very important to me artistically. music that is probably could be new to many listeners, but I think it's so worthy. It speaks to our times. I think it addresses things that are happening in the world today, and hopefully it helps us to process and make sense of what's happening and also... have a moment of kind of remembrance so the program is built about around idea of Ukrainian and American composers so in the first half we're going to have established modern composers Valentin Silvestrov and Philip Glass They happen to be actually born in the same year. Oh, really? Yeah, 1937. And these are composers who really... created their

1:23:21 own original language, which I think is so remarkable. It's a remarkable achievement. And this is why they speak so deeply to the audiences, and we can connect with them. One thing about, I think, contemporary music, which is very special, and I think a lot when I perform music by leading composers, is that it's really music about us, you know, because when you're learning pieces from centuries ago, yes, of course you can connect, and they're beautiful things, we all appreciate them, but there is something about the static of the time when composers are working that you feel closer to, and maybe some things that are missing from our lives, a composer can kind of substitute in their music, and when you listen

1:24:16 to it, you feel... Like, this is what you need. This is what makes you at peace. And with Sylvastrov, it's just tremendous beauty and lyricism of his work. And in Philip Glass, it's this idea of music that grounds you, you know, somehow giving you center in our world. It's kind of spinning around us. So this is going to be the first half.

1:24:42 And in the second half, we will have Adagio for Strings by Barburn. And it's a piece of great comfort. It's just that comforts the listener, comforts the player. And the reason we are opening second half with that is that the second work is that we'll close the program. It will be a new piece, a new concerto. by Ukrainian composer Oleh Bezborodka for string orchestra and piano for hands. It's a very unique combination. I don't think there is another piece in the repertoire for this particular group of musicians. And this piece, to me, it's like a musical monument to a very tragic event that is still unfolding.

1:25:37 And that is... The piece is dedicated to other style defenders of the city of Mariupol. That's a city that is a big... beginning of the war was besieged by the Russian army and today it is occupied. So for Ukrainians, it's a place of great pain and tragedy. Last year, there was a movie that won an Oscar. It was called 20 Days in Mariupol. So this music, it's... about that city. It's about that event that is unresolved.

1:26:17 You know, it's a tragedy that keeps unfolding. So I think to create a musical score that speaks to that event is incredibly powerful. And for us to give the American premiere of this work, this work was premiered in Kyiv this fall in 2025. And we have this very historic opportunity. It's kind of awesome responsibility to do something like this. to present this work to American audience.

1:26:56 So this is something that I think was a lot of just anticipation and repudiation because I think it's certainly extremely meaningful program to me and I'm just grateful that other musicians and organizations responded in this way to program. this music in this way wonderful because forehand duet concerto that's so unique and I yes I would love that and I'm coming so wow and then but also I've been looking for actually forehand duet by Philip Glass and only thing I knew was from the movie but it's not really the written score so how do you so I have to specify in the first half so I'm playing a solo with the chamber orchestra. So it's going to be Sylvester of Messenger for piano and string orchestra, and then Philip

1:27:58 Glass Concerto No. 1 for piano and string orchestra. So it's a very unusual program where it has a lot of piano and in kind of different configurations and different styles. But the piece for piano for hands also has very new ways of approaching the piano and making these effects that of course remind you make you make you think of the very violent very um the sounds of of what what is war sounding like um and uh there is going to be just a lot of new sounds that I think you're going to hear at this program. So it's something that really will be occupying my whole mind and heart when I will prepare for this program. Oh, yeah, it's wonderful. So are the tickets available now? I think that they should be available soon.

1:29:10 This is something I think... Maybe during the summer, usually like three months ahead or something like that, a concept like this, no? Yeah. But, you know, I'm one of those things that it's so wonderful to have presenters because you don't have to worry about these things. And I know Alexander Buona Foundation, they are... the mastermind behind the organizational part of it. So I'm just trusting that they know exactly what to do and how to get the word out about this concert.

1:29:49 And in fact, they are sponsoring for this episode and we're very grateful for. I just want to go back to the conversation of Ukraine. And, you know, we both are immigrants and we always carry that part of ourselves. So the heritage. But what do you think? Like, you know, you're in America now for many, many years, decades. And but you come back to your roots. Yes, I think this is something that becomes. very important to you was time. I certainly didn't think about it maybe in my 20s. But then I think as you find your place in the world, also I have children, you think about how you find yourself and certainly thinking about your roots, where you come from, it becomes increasingly important. So for me,

1:31:03 the connection to ukraine was you know certainly through at first out of curiosity i wanted about 10 years ago i started researching more ukrainian composers but today i find really a great significance in performing works by living composers and have connections with composers who write and who live in Ukraine today and who write in Ukraine today because they are sort of witnessing history in sound. And some composers, I really connect so strongly with one of the composers that I absolutely fell in love with her music. Her name is Victoria Polyva, and she's a composer from Kiev. And to me, her music, it just has such a... tremendous depth and strength. And there is one work, it's called How Much Longer, that

1:32:10 she wrote at the beginning of the Russian invasion that I play as an encore. It's a piece that's a little bit over two minutes long. When I saw the score for it, I played through it. It didn't really have the date on the sheet music. But when I played through this, I just was so shocked because it was music that expressed the feeling, that question that I was asking, and I'm still asking every day, how much longer is this going to continue? And I asked her, I had the opportunity to meet her in New York two years ago, when did you write this? And she said, oh, it was the spring of 2022. And this is just one of the...

1:32:59 instances when you really see kind of the magic of what writing music is you know that she wrote this short piece that it would take me hours or like hundreds of pages to maybe describe but it's all in this very concentrated form so there's been a work that I plays encore very often, and immediately people understand what it's about.

1:33:28 You don't need any words to really go to the heart and communicate something that is very personal, it's very painful, but it's good to share it because it sort of makes, I think when humans share these things, it makes it easier. deal with. So this is something that with Ukrainian culture, to me, I try to do as much as possible.

1:34:05 And another wonderful thing is that it's so easy to connect today. so many talented young Ukrainian composers who you can just send them a message on Facebook or Instagram. You can ask for the score. You can ask, like if you already have the score, you can have conversations and have like deeper understanding of what the piece is.

1:34:29 So this has been tremendously important work and I just found great satisfaction in it. Classical music has endured for centuries, but its relevance is something every generation has to reclaim for itself. And we saw this debate resurface recently when a prominent actor, someone who actually grew up in the New York City art scene, suggested that no one cares about forms like opera and ballet anymore. But, well, I have a lot to say about that comment, but rather focusing on the negativity. on i would like to you know focus on a vital question so how do we bridge the gap for a modern audience right so in your view what is the key to maintaining the you know vitality of classical music so that it doesn't

1:35:48 just survive but truly thrives in this modern world um yes of course this is question we all all thinking about it because of course it's a great fear like if you start with thinking about it too much like what what if there is no music in the future but um seriously i i don't think that we in um any danger of being irrelevant i just think that um classical music it has its place uh i think realistically we cannot have the same role we had like pianist in 19th century, where this was the most popular way, one of the most popular way to make music. But I think there are some things in the process of making music which will become, in my opinion, more valuable as technology invades our lives more and more.

1:36:48 Because I think what makes classical music sometimes seem unapproachable I think, to people is that it can be seen as complex, which I think is true, but it also requires a lot of time. You know, it requires time just not even learning it, just listening to it, just taking time to listen to a piece of music which is longer than, like, your typical... popular song, it's something of kind of a luxury today when world is so, the information is so abundant and we're just being bombarded with all these different contrasting stories and memes. So I think people increasingly are searching for something that can ground them.

1:37:45 And I think the experience of making music, it's almost, I think, will soon have this meditative value. Like even conversations about mental health, right, with young people because they're so reliant on screens. Music was one of the few things. where you have to be completely present for a long time. And also, once you get into the process, it's so incredibly complicated, it's interesting.

1:38:17 To memorize a piece of music, you cannot be thinking about anything else. You have to be so in the moment, and all the distractions have to... Leave your headspace. So I think there are some qualities that we take for granted as classical musicians because we understand this is what necessary for us to do. But perhaps if we can communicate them more effectively and also show general audiences that there are so many elements of playing an instrument, listening to music, doing some things that... maybe out from the outside could seem kind of it doesn't make any sense how like people sitting in the hole listening to pianist for two hours right you know it's like absurd like absurd like why would you do this but once you

1:39:18 have that you take the time It gives you sort of experience that you cannot find in our technologically sophisticated world. So, yes, it cannot be immediately popular or it will never be like the trendiest thing. But with time, everybody, I think, is looking for things to ground them, to give them sort of peace of mind and just let you breathe and just... be in a different world than ours.

1:39:55 So, actually, I'm quite optimistic about this. And when people make comments about, you know, who is this famous actor? I think that I wouldn't be surprised if in 10, 15 years he becomes a fan who will love Mahler symphonies and he will go and hear Ring Cycle, maybe make a movie about it. Perhaps it's not the time of his life where it's valuable to him, but we can all speak from experience. Things that you liked when you were 10 and 20, they're very different. So it's a journey, but I do think that... We have many tools at our disposal to kind of bring more people in and just shows that this is something that's worthy to pursue and gives you lots of emotions and enriches your life in a real way. the Carnegie

1:42:10 Hall concert this October, October 18th, 2026, Wild Recital Hall at Carnegie. And besides that, what other projects or performances coming up for you? Well, we're working on a repertoire the next year. It's also going to be a big year for Beethoven. So we're working on the repertoire of piano for hands, movements of symphonies, and how Beethoven affected, you know, everyone, right, living after him. So this is a wonderful project. We're starting lining up pieces for that. Also, our recording with Naomi Yarby of Poulenc Piano Concertos for two pianos is going to be... It's going to be our next release. So we are working on that. And again, the search for the interesting repertoire, it never ends.

1:43:13 So this is, you know, I have always tons of scores on my piano. And there is never a year that's the same as the one before, because there is always new music that's waiting for you to be uncovered, discovered, or... Just reinterpret even if they're things that you played a long time ago. I'm in awe of your dedication and curiosity and passion. So, well, thank you for really sharing your story. Now, where can our audience follow your work and stay connected? Through your website at anashelez .com? Yes, there is my website.

1:43:55 Then our social media platforms as well as YouTube. The name is Shellist and the Piano. This is the way we try to connect my work as a soloist with our work as a duo. So our YouTube channel has over 100 episodes of different repertoire, and there's some videos, kind of like a presentation format about composers, about just some works.

1:44:28 And all of the streaming platforms, Spotify or iTunes, you could find all of the recordings there and take a listen. So before I let you go, we have one more thing. The Piano Thought Rapid Fire questions. Now we take this segment very seriously. You shared, you know, your stories and expertise today, but these questions, they may reveal who you truly are. So let's do this.

1:44:55 Now I want you to answer each question with shortest response as possible. No explanation is necessary. Okay. Question number one. What is your comfort food? Chocolate. How do you like your coffee in the morning? Just with milk, no sugar. Cats or dogs? Dogs. Do you have dogs? Do you have a dog? No, I don't have either. But if I did, I would choose a dog. Sunrise or sunset? Sunset.

1:45:28 Summer or winter? Summer. Now, level two. What skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't had a chance to? Math. Math? Yes, I'm not good at math. What is your word or words to live by? Be true to yourself. Favorite venue you have ever performed in? I think it was... I want to take longer time because to explain it, it was the first time I played at a huge venue because I do not know actually what it was. It was in Paris. I was in this competition. I was one of the prize winners. And I know this venue is associated with UNESCO, something to do with United Nations.

1:46:19 And it was a huge concert hall. I think it was the most, it was a shocking experience because I came out. and it looked like a stadium. And I've never had this experience before because you have rehearsal, like you kind of know what to expect. But I was about 11 and I don't even know the name of the concert hall, but I think it was the most overwhelming I felt ever because I just did not expect and I did not anticipate that myself as a child, I could be in a space like that. So it's just immediately I thought of this when you asked me this question. Must be very, very big and special. Yeah. I need to look it up. All right. And next question. What is the most important quality you look for in other people? Honesty. Name a composer you wish

1:47:13 more people knew about. Sergei Bartkevich. Good one. Yes, of course. Name one piece in your current playlist. It doesn't have to be classical music. It's a piece by a modern Ukrainian composer. It's Maxim Shalygin. It's called To All The Resurrected. Now, if you go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? Don't take adults too seriously. Good. Last one. Fill in the blank. Music is blank. Music is... It's so many things. Music is, to me, it's a way to live. Ah, good. I don't know. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your artistry and journey with us. And it has been a real pleasure having you on the show. So to listeners, I encourage you to explore Anna's recordings and projects.

1:48:17 You can learn more on her website and we will include links in the show notes. Special thanks to Alexander and Bono Foundation for making this episode possible. Please visit alexanderbono .com. dot org to learn more and to everyone listening thank you for spending some time with us and if you enjoyed this episode please like and comment and tag us at the piano pod thank you for listening and we will see you next time on the piano pod thank you Anna thank you Kim it was a wonderful conversation I will thank you so much thank you