Simply Abu Dhabi II

THE MUSICAL GENIUS ARSHA KAVIANION 79 SIMPLY ABU DHABI Simply AD: being born and raised in the U.A.E. What was your introduction to classical music? And how was this nurtured? I am very lucky to have been raised by extremely well- rounded parents who showed me all sorts of music, which is why I have never really seen a divide between a classical work and a more popular song – music is music to me. I was brought up hearing everything; from Bach to Chopin, to Jeff Buckley and Nat King Cole! I was given Piano lessons from the age of six but my real passion for it grew quite subconsciously; music was played a lot around the house and in the car taking me places. It would take me to a place that no other music could and I started to like that place a lot. I then wanted to be able to move people the same way music moved and moves me. I learnt about music and the piano obsessively – sometimes for 14 hours a day. By the time I was in my early teens I found myself doing things professionals twice my age were complaining about, with relative ease. I was then told that I had a prodigious gift and attended the Piano Festival at the Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester where I played to some of the best pianists in the world. (I was delighted to open this very same festival five years later with Busoni’s colossal Piano Concerto). The professors at the festival advised me to seriously consider a career in music and after winning a regional competition I was advised by the jury to go to Chetham’s, where I was awarded a scholarship to at the age of 16. I finished my A-levels there and am now a 3rd year Bursary Student of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Simply AD: what was the u.A.E. Like for an aspiring musician while you were growing up? There was really very little available, this was before YouTube, iPods and mp3 downloads, before everything was instantly accessible. There were no shops to buy manuscript from, and recordings were limited to a couple of very well known works that I already had. Looking back; this in a way probably attracted me to this mysterious music that I (and it seemed at the time, only I) was so passionate about. Despite not attending a specialist music school or conservatoire till 16 (relatively very late, for someone with a soloist career in mind) when I was growing up, the atmosphere of the U.A.E was amazing. This was a country that was saying no to all obstacles in their way and saying ‘can’ and ‘possible’ to everything; the confidence certainly rubbed off. I also wasn’t too aware of what the normal repertoire and ability of a 15 year old for instance, was. I ended up learning things like the Third Rachmaninov Concerto (I played the Finale for my GCSE music performance), and the Prokofiev Second Concerto. I later found out that they are probably the hardest works in the Concerto repertoire, for any age! I probably wouldn’t have taken them up if I had people constantly telling me it was ‘unrealistic’ or that its ‘impossible’ for someone my age to do that, so I am very grateful to my surroundings for the confidence I was given, and how this allowed me to explore my potential to the full. The U.A.E is known for many things, but classical music was definitely not one of them growing up, although that is changing, very very quickly, thanks to some remarkable developments that are happening right here in the U.A.E. Simply AD: talk about some of the classical music events happening in Abu Dhabi at the moment: In only a few years, Abu Dhabi’s (and its neighbouring emirate, Al Ain’s) cultural and musical life has been given a boost that sees it hosting the most ambitious and internationally acclaimed musical calendar in the history of the region and has really put the emirate on the cultural map, globally. The Abu Dhabi festival, and Abu Dhabi Classics (teaming up with the Al Ain Classics) has attracted many famous conductors and orchestras; Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskappel Berlin, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, Kristjan Jarvi and the London Symphony Orchestra, Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic, and Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra just to name a few. They performed symphonies often heard for the first time in this region, and Concerti with the best soloists in the world; classical A-listers like Arcardi Volodos, Yo-Yo ma, Lang Lang and many others. People living in the country no longer have to rely on T.V, internet and recordings to experience this music - they can now HEAR it live and first hand in beautiful and unique surroundings and venues; very few people can say they have heard the Vienna Philharmonic play Strauss in an Arabian Fort in the middle of a desert oasis, or hear a Beethoven Concerto in the lavish Emirates Palace. The concerts at the Emirates Palace, an atmosphere fit for kings, reminds one of the royal origin of some of the classical music repertoire that was commissioned by kings, queens and nobility, and often performed in their courts, and palaces. How can these developments influence the youth and population of the U.A.E? A big part of their budget is devoted to Educational Outreach, where people like Daniel Barenboim and Lang Lang have run educational workshops, masterclasses and locally relevant performances such as Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro in Arabic, two years ago. Both the performances and educational side of the festival can fuel the curiosity of people and the young with inspiration when witnessing the highest levels of music making that the artists bring to the stage. The audiences at the concerts are wonderfully eclectic - when I played in the Al-Ain classics, I was delighted to see that the audience consisted of teenagers to professionals, men and women in suits and dresses and locals in traditional Arabic garments, it’s really quite a unique and beautiful thing to see interest from people belonging to every background and age. The U.A.E is a very international country, and music is an international language; a very welcome and perfect fit. Born in Dubai, U.A.E in 1990, Arsha Kaviani is one of the most promising young artists of his generation- he is captivating audiences worldwide, with his virtuosity and musical sensitivity, his own compositions, and some of the most demanding works in the musical literature. At only 16 he gave his critically acclaimed debut with the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Rahbari in one of the most challenging works in the history of the piano repertoire; the Prokofiev 2nd Concerto. Since then he has performed concerti with orchestras and solo recitals internationally (including Moscow, London, Dubai, Manchester, Istanbul and Vienna). ABU DHABI is attracting some of the world’s greatest musical minds and classical musicians to the U.A.E. Audiences of the region can experience the greatest orchestras, conductors and soloists from all over the world. We speak to the prodigious U.A.E-born pianist Arsha Kaviani on what it was like to grow up in the Emirates as an aspiring concert pianist, and what is happening there right now.

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