{"id":464,"date":"2019-10-22T08:51:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T07:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=464"},"modified":"2019-10-22T08:51:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T07:51:41","slug":"exclusive-interview-with-veronika-shoot-classical-pianist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/10\/22\/exclusive-interview-with-veronika-shoot-classical-pianist\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: with VERONIKA SHOOT, classical pianist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VERONICA\nSHOOT, CONCERT PIANIST <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nwas, when only six years old, predicted by Lord Yehudi Menuhin as \u00b4destined to\nbecome a great pianist\u00b4 and Veronika Shoot is now identified by distinguished\nmusicians and audiences alike as \u00b4one of the most sensitive, charismatic and\nversatile\u00b4 pianists performing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Veronika Shoot
played on Lanzarote in September 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Born\nin Moscow, Veronika moved to the UK at the age of five when her father,\nVladislav, became the composer-in-residence at Dartington Hall.  By the time she was seven she had given her\nfirst recital, playing to a sold-out audience at the Dartington International Summer School Music Festival.<\/em>Now\nperforming across the UK and worldwide, Veronika has broadcast on platforms\nsuch as BBC Spotlight News and BBC Radio 3. \nShe has been invited to play on some of the most prestigious stages in\nclassical music, including London\u00b4s Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, St\nJohn\u00b4s Smith Square, Purcell Room, Steinway Hall, BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in\nBrussels, The Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow, Amsterdam Conservatoire, International\nMozart Festival in Istanbul, Koblenz Gymnasium and L\u00b4Opera Gabriel at the\nChateau de Versailles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronika\nundertook full scholarships at The Yehudi Menuhin School, The Purcell School of\nMusic and The Royal Academy of Music, with Professor Tatiana Sarkisova \u2013\ngraduating with a First \u2013 and The Royal Scottish Conservatoire with Professor\nFali Pavri, where she received a Distinction for her Masters.  She has taken part in numerous master classes\nover the years, receiving artistic guidance from many acclaimed musicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nis a Laureate of International Competitions including the Yamaha International\nPiano Competition and the Two Moors Festival, and has been awarded with some of\nclassical music\u00b4s most prestigious prizes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\na wide-ranging repertoire of solo and chamber music, Veronika is passionate\nabout collaborating with instrumentalists, singers, writers, artists and\nactors. Veronika is dedicated to creating compelling and innovative programmes\nthat can be performed to a wide audience. \nShe is also a strong believer in the importance of musical education,\nand in recent projects combined music and art for workshops in schools that the\nchildren found \u201cthe most exciting\u201d of their kind.  Veronika teaches piano at the London Russian\nMusic Academy and was recently appointed \u00b4Music Ambassador\u00b4 for saMM (the\nSaturday morning music school at King Edward VI Community College). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nlives and continues to develop her art in London, but put another stamp on her\npassport of worldwide travel recently when playing at the incongruously named\nCamel House on Lanzarote. The name always puts me in mind, somehow, of Maria\nMuldaur\u00b4s Midnight At The Oasis, but in fact the Camel House Concerts is a\nseries of occasional special events presented by Sir Ernest Hall, former\nindustrialist, now a philanthropist and himself an accomplished musician. He\nbought the property and turned it into a bespoke music venue within his living\naccommodation and the concert veronica gave showed just how atmospheric is the\nmusic room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwas privileged to review that performance for the Lanzarote Information web\nsite and you can find my observations and an exclusive interview with Veronika\nin my archives at http:\/\/lanzaroteinformation.co.uk<\/a> \/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis said that we are judged by the company we keep, and if that is so then\nVeronika must be held in high regard indeed. There can be no higher accolade,\nsurely, than to have been identified as so talented by Yehudi Menuhin. I am no\nexpert in \u00b4classical\u00b4 music and certainly in my teens I doubt I could have\nfound a classical composer on my musical horizons, unless Leiber And Stoller\ncan be categorised as classical. So nothing in those days could have drawn me\nto a classical concert held I think at Manchester Free Trade Hall other than\nthe girl I was going out with at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However\nthe performance we saw from Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grappelli sounded to me\nlike a wonderful camp-fire performance by a pair of raggle taggle gypsies who\nknew how to get the girls up and dancing. As if a premonition of the musical\nintegration that I now so love and that Veronika Shoot offers in her recitals.\nThe two maestros gave us live rock and roll and country and folk and blues and\nswing that on any of their recordings would have been filed in the record shops\nunder classical, away from the greedy eyes and grubby fingers of teenagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronika\ndoes the same sort of thing. I suspect that on her bookshelves you might find\nShakespeare and Stephen King side by side and in her art room a Degas next to a\nDamien Hirst because in the concert I witnessed recently she gave us Schumann\nand a piece written by her brother when he was twelve years old, with its \u00b4bits\nof rock and roll.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her\nalbum, Journey Through Childhood, further illustrates how eclectic she is,\noffering us works by Debussy, Shostakovich and Schumann as well as by Toru\nTakemitsu, all sitting alongside a piece by family member Vladislav Shoot in a\nseven track selection of evocative childhood pieces. Its running time of\nseventy four minutes runs away as you listen, ensuring that you immediately\nplay it again to enjoy those awakened images of \n\u00b4blue remembered hills.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na concert pianist, aside from her usual performing work, she has become\nespecially passionate about musical education and sharing this gift with young\npeople away from the usual  accustomed\/ routine <\/em>classical\nconcert stage to give young people the opportunity to be exposed to music on a\nmore hands-on regular basis so they feel it accessible for them to\nexplore its powers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4In my years as a professional pianist, since leaving music college, I have become increasingly\u00a0\u00a0keen to spread my love and experience of music,\u00b4 says Veronika, \u00b4not only to play, but also to listen to and engage<\/em> with those might not otherwise have that opportunity.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
students inspired by the music and teaching of
Veronika Shoot<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Her\naim is to introduce youngsters from all backgrounds and levels in an accessible manner to\nmusic of all kinds, and especially classical music, (or what is known as\nclassical music, but is actually a very BROAD spectrum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronika believes that such music should be introduced to a young age group, as she feels this type of music is actually the most provocative, interesting and engaging kind to grow with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4This wonderful music stimulates the imagination, and creativity,\u00b4 she explains, \u00b4and opens the ability to be bold in expression. It helps children learn to \u2018listen\u2019 and access hidden gifts from the art of listening and artistic collaboration. This music can open a heart and ennoble it with positivity,<\/strong>\u00a0good thoughts and feelings.\u00b4As someone fortunate enough to be exposed tothe beauty\u00a0of such music throughout her childhood she knows how beneficial and helpful an introduction to music can be. She sees music not only as the greatest means of communication, but also as a tool for sharing and teaching. A love of music develops transferable skills of listening, calmness and being alert in mind and Veronika is keen to develop such skill sets with a new generation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nhas devised numerous workshops and concerts that young people can share and\nthat require no preparation on their part other a willingness to be there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since\nthe release of her album \u00b4Journey Through Childhood\u00b4<\/em><\/strong>, which, features\nsome of the worlds\u2019 most famous and great music miniatures for piano, for\nadults and children alike, Veronika has come to fully realise the effect of\nmusic on the brain and its incredible ability to break all barriers\nbetween people. Awakening a child\u00b4s inner potential, through creativity and\nmusical learning is an approach she strongly advocates.
\n
\n\u00b4My aim is to give many more children the chance to engage in music in a very\nimmediate down to earth way,\u00b4 she says. \u00b4to let them feel that it is accessible\nand possible for them to do. Engaging in music is proven to release tension,\nstimulate the brain for focused thinking, and release creativity from within.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nShe designs bespoke age-appropriate workshops, performances, and master-classes,\ntailored to each event, some of which outlines can be seen below, and Veronika\ndelivers on-going collaborative art projects with the music departments in a\nnumber of institutions in the UK and abroad.
\n
\nStarting from regular classes with an introductory kids concert and question\ntime, she also has sessions tailored to professional young musician classes, and\nmaster-classes, as well as instrumental work designed for people exposed to\nmusic for the first time. She also delivers musical seminars on general and\nspecific topics.
\n
\nAll\nthat passion and eagerness to share it shines through in Veronika Shoot\u00b4s\nrecitals. We loved her beautiful and wide-ranging concert recently at The Camel\nHouse, Sir Ernest Hall\u00b4s quite incredible property at Macher on Lanzarote\n(where he bought a camel house and created a concert hall, as we will discuss\nin a future post). In a brief chat after her recital we introduced her to \u00b4the\nfive bums at the bar,\u00b4 who ask all those open questions that begin with a w,\u2026\ndesigned to draw out expansive answers. Veronika kindly gave me her e-mail\naddress, and said it would be ok to send her over some such questions. I\nreceived her reply last night that reveals she must have given her answers some\nserious thought, and I\u00b4m very grateful, and proud, to publish her response\nhere. I think you\u00b4ll find them revealing and refreshing and very relevant all across the arts<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHO<\/strong>, we wonder, are\nthe musicians dead or alive, who have influenced your listening and playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4My\nfirst musical inspiration and influence was my family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nfather and brother are both composers, and at the time I was a child, I was\nconstantly surrounded by music in the home, live performances. One of my first\nmemories was walking onto the stage at the age of 3 when my father went up to\ntake a bow after a work of his was performed. I received a standing ovation\n(probably for having the guts and audacity to follow his suite) and after\nrunning to the piano at the back of the stage and playing the only song I could\nplay at the time. (Dogs Waltz or chopsticks as it is called)  I remember feeling so happy on stage sharing\nwhat I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nmother Irina was my first piano teacher. From the age of five I went to all the\nconcerts at the wonderful Dartington International Summer Music Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nnever had an idol, or just one pianist that I admired over all the rest. I\nrather felt that the vast world of music and discovery of so many different\ncomposers (who were mostly dead but whose music was so alive<\/em>) was my greatest influence to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nremember as a child, the first musical tapes I listened to were called Bach and\nBrahms, and at the time I did not understand they were the names of the\ncomposers of this music. I just felt like I knew this music from an\nunexplainable place, and that it spoke to me. I felt it in my soul, and it felt\nvery personal, touching something within that nothing else could.  It was then that I felt that the key to my\nfuture lay somewhere in the discovery of such music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nthen I have been so lucky to be surrounded by and exposed to wonderful\nmusicians who have nourished and inspired my development such as my piano\nteachers who devoted their time and energy and showed me a love I would never\nforget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na pianist, I always felt a great respect and admiration to Glenn Gould, for his\nlove, dedication and devotion and the way that expressed itself through every\nnote of his playing. The result this produced\u2026 for me felt original and pure,\nthe voice of Bach spoke through him and yet his playing could never be copied\nor imitated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ninfluenced me through his authenticity to the music and himself and that is\nwhat I wanted to achieve in my own life. Such artists like this have always\nbeen a great influence and inspiration for me.\u00b4 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT<\/strong> make of\ninstruments do you usually play in concert, and why, and was the piano you\nplayed on Lanzarote your own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Most\npianists (except for very few \u2013 who could manage to transport their own\npianos)  have to play the piano that is\nprovided. I feel it is a special skill that a pianist must master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nthis means is that from a young age, we as pianists are accustomed to\n\u2018befriending\u2019 (or not, as the case may be!) the particular piano we are\nprovided. We feel its voice, its difficulties and subtleties and we learn to\nfind the way to communicate through it. It is quite a special art that requires\nus to be open and patient and take responsibility for our own receptivity and\nreactiveness.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHERE<\/strong> does your music\ntake you, literally and \/ or metaphorically?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4My\nmusic takes me all around the globe, from France to South America\u2026 to many\nconcert halls, funky living rooms, unique churches, and unusual stages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nmusic takes me around the world, connecting me with beautiful people, and while\ndoing so, the music takes me home, to my heart, doing what I love the most.\nExpressing myself in the way I know best, and sharing the universal language\nthat brings people together.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHEN<\/strong> listening to\nmusic simply for pleasure do you find yourself constrained (or released) by an\nexpert objectivity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4This\ndepends on the kind of music I listen to and how I listen to it. Often when\nlistening to a piece of music with a focused critical ear, I feel constrained\nto listen to the music I would play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nmakes me listen in so deeply I lose track of everything around me and become\nfocused, but if I switch off my \u2018knowledge\u2019 of the music being played, and just\nreceive the soundworld,\u00b4 this can be incredibly healing and releasing. This is\nwhy I enjoy listening to many types of music, as well as Classical, Romantic,\nand Baroque, such as Jazz, electro swing, and tribal beats. I think it is\nimportant to constantly reinvent and I love to also keep a track of modern\nmusic and the music of today. Each type of music awakens a different vibration\nwhich brings out different qualities.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHY,<\/strong> when music\nitself so often crosses genres and traditions, do the industry\u00b4s marketing\nforces seem so keen to classify and categorise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4That\u2019s\na very good question. I think people always like to categorise and put things\ninto boxes. This makes them think it will sell better, and be easier to\n\u2018categorise\u2019. Perhaps it is because our society is always obsessed with putting\nthings into boxes, it is about selling and what<\/em>\nsells. To be honest that is something I would like to make it my mission<\/em> to change. I have only\nrecently began to express the whole of my musical personality and create new\nways of sharing, simply because each musician is uniquely different and I\nbelieve in the world we live has to carve their own new path. The paths that\nare already designed can be too constrictive and actually create a bad name for\nour music world. I myself do not like the word \u2018classical\u2019 music. This somehow\nseems to say that it is old, or dead. I do feel that all music is music, it is\nalive, and it is new, with each time we come to play it, and we need to\ncommunicate it this way if we would like to keep expressing ourselves truly,\nand impact the world positively in such difficult times. This sort of approach\nI believe could help drop the categorising and classifying.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDITOR\u00b4S NOTE; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can learn much more about Veronika\u00b4s lifestyle as a concert pianist by visiting https:\/\/www.veronikashoot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VERONICA SHOOT, CONCERT PIANIST She was, when only six years old, predicted by Lord Yehudi Menuhin as \u00b4destined to become a great pianist\u00b4 and Veronika Shoot is now identified by distinguished musicians and audiences alike as \u00b4one of the most sensitive, charismatic and versatile\u00b4 pianists performing. Born in Moscow, Veronika moved to the UK at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}