MASTER LEVEL MUSICIAN

Three enthusiasts coming from different countries, Azerbaijan, Austria, and Slovenia, have met in Vienna and decided to conquer the music world. They have created a unique trio named KlaVis, which is made up of three German words: Klavier, Violine, and Saxophon. They made a debut performance in June 2014 at the Grafenegg Festival, and immediately won the respect of the audience and experts. The best proof of the skills of musicians Sabina Hasanova, Jenny Lippl, and Micha Ferk is the fact that in the past two years, the trio was invited three times to perform at the most famous Vienna Musikverein center of classical music. Quite recently KlaVis has successfully performed at the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after Shostakovich as a participant of the 7^th International Festival of Chamber Music "Silver Lyre". Our guest today is one of the members of KlaVis, the pianist Sabina Hasanova.

- Sabina, can you tell us about yourself and your family? Where were you born and where did you study? Tell us about your childhood. Who did you want to become? What kind of music did you listen to?

- I was born in Baku in a family of pianists. My father is the Honored Artist of Azerbaijan and the winner of international competitions, Vasif Hasanov. My mother is Olga Hasanova, also a great pianist coached by the People's Artist of the USSR, Farhad Badalbeyli. Both are excellent teachers, who have brought up many generations of musicians. I started playing the piano at age 7. While studying music, I was able to play with my friends in the backyard and to watch tons of cartoons. In fact, I continue watching them even now. My interest in cartoons and computer games has later grown to drawing illustrations and creating a lot of projects related with drawing business. I have even managed to create a computer game, and my drawings were published in a notebook for children. I have been listening to different genres of music since my childhood, and was deeply impressed by the reaction of music on my mood. When dad was playing Appassionata of Beethoven, I used to get frightened, but when mom’s performance of Chopin’s concert would took me to a magic world of my own. I am also very fond of Michael Jackson and still listen to him.

- How did you happen to visit Turkey and then Austria?

- Dad was invited to teach at the new conservatory of one of the Turkish universities. My younger sister and I were children at that time. So, I graduated the primary school and obtained my bachelor degree in Turkey. By the way, my sister, Dina, is also a pianist. She has studied at the Sorbonne to be a music manager and currently works as the Assistant Manager at the Paris-based medici.tv. Our parents were our teachers. Then, I was going to obtain my doctorate in the US, but I fell in love and moved to Vienna, where I was enrolled in a doctoral program of the Vienna Music Academy. I came to Vienna because of love but stayed there for music.

- How did you decide to become a musician?

- Actually, I have changed my mind several times. As a child, sometimes I liked to play piano, and sometimes not. Only when I could perform concerts on the stage, I have finally decided to become a musician. Then, when I played pieces from Schumann and Beethoven for the first time, I have decided to continue playing once again. And then, when I started to play chamber music and concerts with orchestra, I could be none other than a pianist. My parents have formed my vision of the world through the music, and though it was not always perfect, I was very satisfied.

- Tell us about your trio, KlaVis and how it emerged.

- All of us have studied at the Vienna Music Academy. One day, Micha (saxophonist, Slovenia-Croatia) approached and told me that he wanted to form a trio. He asked if I was interest in. Before that, I did not even know that saxophone was so popular in the world of classical music. In addition, Micha has his personal approach to playing the sax. Jenny (violinist, Austria-Mexico) was looking for a chamber ensemble, where she could openly show her subtle feeling of music. So, we met in 2011 encouraged by an idea of establishing a trio and spent two years almost not playing with each other. We were hanging out almost every day, having fun, discussing everything and eventually became very close friends. Then, after a small event in 2013, we went out to celebrate our little success, and decided to come together as a group. Since then, we are inseparable...

- Where have you performed so far? Tell us about the most important and meaningful concert in your life...

- We have performed three times at the Musikverein in Vienna and at various festivals such as the Grafenegg Festival, and the Munich Gasteig. We also played in Slovenia, Turkey and many Austrian halls. Soon, we will have concerts at the Zurich Tonhalle and at a small hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. However, for me personally, the most significant event was a concert in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, where I performed Bach’s concerto with orchestra when I was 14.

- What is the main purpose of your trio? What is the message that you want to convey to your audience?

- We have combined sensitivity and a constant quest for meaning of life through music, and, of course, the differences in cultures of countries where we are coming from and where we lived and grew. This is reflected in our repertoire... We play masterpieces of classical music by Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich, as well as more contemporary classical music associated with folklore, such as trios of Khachaturian, Piazzolla, Villa-Lobos, Sakamoto, and others. All arrangements are done by ourselves. Also, many composers compose works for us, and we love to perform them. We are very attracted by the art and artists, trying hard to achieve the level of Master. We indeed try to working hard towards this higher level of performance... A contact with each other on the stage, as well as with the audience is very important for us. Therefore, we play the whole repertoire by heart, without musical notes. This way it is easier to establish contacts, feel everything that happens in the hall. We want that the audience take a tour through our inner world, to achieve professional expression at a level clear and pleasant to everyone in the audience.

- What do you think should be done to attract youth to listening to quality music?

- I think the quality live performance would be listened to, if it were easier to access. There is not so many young musicians, who are seriously and deeply attached to classical music. Therefore, listening to classical music gets boring at concert halls. In addition, you can rarely go to a concert where the musician would take you to another world of perfect music. Such concerts are few, and the tickets are sold out real quick several months in advance. Many people do not know where to go for quality music and do not even think about demanding it. Therefore, many even do not try. They just turn on the computer but do not know where to start. I think the young people can be taught how to seek and find the required information and how to strive for high-quality self-expression through music. Then we will have high-level music and art accessible to everyone.

- Sabina, what do you listen in your spare time?

- I love going to concerts. Every day, every week, every month my tastes and preferences change. Sometimes I am listening to violin concertos for a few days, then to piano nocturnes. Besides the classics, I love jazz, funk-jazz, Scandinavian jazz, electronic music sometimes. For example, this month I like listening to Italian, English and American bards similar to Vysotsky in Russia. After all, poetry in music is always something special and more soulful. I am also fond of Michael Jackson, who will be my favourite forever. I also really like dance music of different cultures. I like dancing, whether it be a disco or a traditional Turkish or Azeri wedding.

- In addition to the music, you are fond of cinema. You have produced the comedy documentary about the classic music, Noseland, starring well-known actors. Can you tell us about this period of your life?

- I think filming, cameras, fantasies, and the implementation of ideas is a completely different world, which attracts many of us. A wonderful person, Alexei Igudesman, who is a superb violinist, composer, and a bold innovator in many areas, introduced me to this genre of art. Frankly, I am not in this world very much. For Noseland, we were shooting scenes with John Malkovich and Roger Moore, as well as with Misha Maisky and Julian Rachlin. I was responsible for the second camera, and participated in the editing of the film, as well as other backstage details. The film was demonstrated and awarded different diplomas of nearly twenty world festivals. By the way, I also edit the clips of our trio. Last summer, l wrote and directed a video-clip, which will be presented on our web site.