Fri, 22 May 2009  NAIDA COLE as featured on OFFBEAT CHABRIER- Bouree Fantasque, Naida Cole, Piano CONVERSATION WITH NAIDA COLE DOWNLOAD ENTIRE PROFILE AND CONVERSATION WITH NAIDA COLE Cross posted from the Ceoil Blog - by Karishmeh Felfeli-Crawford Articulate. Intelligent. Incredibly gifted. Humble. Genuine. Honest. These are just some of the words that come to mind when I try and describe the impression Naida Cole made on me first as a pianist (both as a live performer and through her stunning recordings), and now more recently in conversation for OFFBEAT. For those of you who are not familiar with her work, Naida Cole was one of the few young artists on the concert circuit in the late 1990s and early 2000s, who was acclaimed and widely popular as a live concert pianist and a recording artist. Canadian-American Cole was the second youngest pianist to receive the ARCT of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (the youngest being Glenn Gould), and she went on to study with the legendary Leon Fleisher, who she cites as one of her greatest influences and mentors. However, about two years ago, despite having an incredibly successful career as a concert pianist and both her records making it to Editor's Choice lists for all major publications, she decided to give up the career, so to speak, and go back to college and study medicine. Part of the change of direction in Naida's life has also involved having a more balanced life, getting married, starting a family. I cannot imagine what incredible determination and strength of character this must take, especially as she was such a dazzlingly polished pianist, and one with so much musicality and intellect in equal measure. Listen to her debut disc, or indeed her follow up album. Whether it is Ravel or Bartok, in fact anything she performs has the most indescribable sound, and she displays such a stunning palette of colours without the slightest hint of any over the top vulgarity. When I spoke to her, she was so gracious (despite the fact that thanks to time zones and the like, I ended up calling her an hour earlier than she expected), and so open and sincere. I wanted her to realize that while I was interested in talking about her, and talking to her for the radio program, I was also someone who admired her at so many different levels (not to mention her phenomenal piano playing), and at the very least I was also a gushing fan (best not to admit to these things, but then again, I'm no dour music critic!). I found her thoughts, comments and insights particularly revealing and fascinating, as I often find myself thinking about similar things, particularly when faced with life choices. I cannot thank Naida enough for giving up her time, from a very demanding schedule at Brown University's Med School to talk to me. You can listen to the entire profile, including some of her best playing (Chabrier, Ravel, Bartok) on the changingtherecord.com website or just click here. I could not resist reading a translation of the text to Ondine, so I do hope Naida forgives my poetry reading impulses!! DOWNLOAD ENTIRE PROFILE AND CONVERSATION WITH NAIDA COLE Comments[0] |
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