Ebony & ivory

When she rolled her fingers over the piano keys, every note danced in praise of Neda Navaee’s beauty. The weekend crowd at the Calcutta School of Music enjoyed an evening of classical pieces played on the piano by the Toranto-based pianist Navaee.
Born in 1973 in Isfahan, Iran, her parents soon moved to Washington, where she received her first piano lessons at the age of five. “With father being a musician, I was unknowingly inclined towards the subject since childhood. We had a normal piano, which I loved playing. When I turned 15, I took up playing the piano more seriously,” said Navaee, who had earlier performed in Mumbai and Pune.
“Before I reached India, I was aware of the fact that people don’t get the opportunity to listen to Western classical music on piano as often as Westerners. After the initial bout of anxiety, I was relieved to hear crowds applaud.”
The programme, sponsored by the Canadian High Commission and ITC Ltd, featured compositions by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Mendelssohn. At 16, Neda joined Musikhochschule in Cologne, where she studied with Pavel Gililov. She also studied chamber music with the Amadeus Quartet and Alban Berg Quartet. On a full scholarship she joined the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1994 and she received her Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York soon after.
“Although I play Western classical music, I am open to other genres. I listen to Indian music and if I get the opportunity, will play it too.” Speaking of the popularity of pianists in America she said, “There are at least 10-12 concerts every evening in New York City alone. Then there are quite a few schools teaching classical Western music. In India, I guess, the situation is different.”
With a self-titled album under her belt, she’s working on her next album, due for release in Fall 2007. After India, she will be touring Canada and England, where she will perform for 10 days.
In September 2005, Navaee was appointed professor of piano in the department of music and performing arts in New York University. Among yesteryear artistes, America, according to her, still listens to the likes of Pepe Jaramillo. On that note she looks across the hall only to find a house filling up rapidly. It was showtime.
-- Mathures Paul