Amiri Harewood: Purpose and Expression

Episode 4 of Awakening Creativity features pianist Amiri Harewood, a 2025 Classic FM Rising Star and postgraduate student at the Royal College of Music, in conversation with CEO Matt Travis about practice, purpose, and creative expression. Amiri reflects on the moments that shaped his path, how his relationship with practice evolved over time, and why he believes the purpose of creativity isn’t success, it’s expression.

Awakening Creativity is sponsored by Hub International.
Learn more at midlandcenter.org/podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hi everyone, this is Awakening Creativity, and I'm your host, Matt Travis. We've got a great show in store for you today. I was joined by the wonderful pianist Amiri Harewood. Amiri was named 2025 Classic FM Rising Star. He's performed at such prestigious venues as Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, St. Martin in the Field, and most recently, Midland Center for the Arts. We hope you enjoyed this conversation. Hi everyone. We're joined today by the wonderful pianist Amiri Harewood. Amiri, welcome to Awakening Creativity. Hi, thank you. Thank you for having me. Yeah, pleasure to be with you. So one of the first questions we asked our guests is have you ever had to introduce someone publicly before? That's not the question, but. Um no, and uh besides besides myself. So if you ever have to do a formal introduction, it's always like really awkward because you never know exactly what to say and how to kind of best represent somebody. So you've had so many incredible accomplishments, and and we're gonna get to know a little bit more about you as a person, but how would you like to be introduced and how would you like our audiences to to know you?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Um I'm not too sure to be fair. I think maybe just uh just a British classical classical pianist. Um yeah, I'm a Waika and CAG artist. Um class classic FM, sorry, rising star. Um that's I guess that's that's kind of it. I'm still kind of studying studying at the Royal College of Music. Um, yeah, I guess that's how I describe myself.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

That's great. Yeah, and that that uh rising star award, I mean, what an incredible accomplishment. How does it feel to have won that in 2025, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yeah, no, it's it was a real honor. I think especially kind of basically my whole childhood. My parents, as soon as I started playing, my parents would always have classic FM on in the car because they don't really they're not musicians themselves, so I think they kind of just wanted something on so I would stay inspired and so they could also learn more about classical music. So I think basically most days for 10 years I I've listened to class classic FM. So yeah, it was kind of a real full circle moment and like really an honor to be, yeah, I guess a part of it. And then someone kind of mentioned that they heard me on Classic FM, and that was that was really kind of a wild moment for me. So yeah, a real honor.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

That's great. So uh hearing yourself or having your friends hear you on the the the platform that you listen to. What is that what does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Um yeah, I I I think it's it just really shows me, I guess, how far, how far things have come and kind of I guess kind of validates all the all the work and also kind of validates myself as an artist and kind of my vision and really makes me want to yeah, want to keep going forward and keep pushing.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Sure. So you spoke a little bit about uh your parents. I'd like to go back to when you were uh a young player, young musician, young human. Um can you tell us a little bit about your introduction to the piano and what what that first experiment experience with the instrument was?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Um so I think my first experience, I think I was maybe four or five, and it was kind of just uh like a keyboard class. Um so yeah, um, like electric keyboard class, I think loads of kids in the class, and I think it was called Monkey, monkey music. Um that was kind of my first introduction, and then yeah, my parents kind of said that I really took to that, and then they kind of progressed me onto like proper piano lessons. Um so that's kind of how the journey started, I guess. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Sure. So somewhere between four or five-year-old you and you know, Royal uh Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall and all these wonderful venues that that you've performed in. Was there a moment where you realized that piano is kind of my thing?

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Um yeah, I think I guess probably like I realized it was my thing maybe probably about 12, I think. Um, but I've I I only kind of realized it was something I really wanted to pursue as a career, maybe 16 or 17, so kind of quite late. And it was that moment at the end of school where everyone's kind of applying to universities. Um, and yeah, I guess for me I didn't know what else I would do, so then I really started looking properly into conservatoires and really kind of taking that seriously and like allowing myself to believe that that could be an option, and then from there, I from being a conservatoire, I think being being surrounded by so many like-minded musicians, being surrounded by music the whole time, learning so much more about classical music, hearing so many different pieces-kind of I think that growth through there really inspired me to really want to do this. And I think I've always had a passion for this, but I think my passion really, really grew over the last kind of five, five years, I'd say.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

How would you pinpoint exactly what that evolution is and and how you've grown during that period?

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Um so I think I think it's kind of the discovery that there's there's so much more out there that that you don't know. I I think kind of the environment that I was in at school, um, there weren't there were like uh a limited amount of pianists kind of at at my level, and I think kind of it made me made me a bit closed-minded. I think also the fact that at school as well is kind of more of a hobby thing, I guess. Like the same way I think the way kids play sports, or kind of that's what it was to me. Um so again, kind of my scope was very limited. I think, yeah, I think it's going to a place where there are people who you can look up to and like really be inspired by, and they're also just they're the same age as you, and you can take you can take their advice and you can kind of look at what they're doing and reproduce it yourself, and then I think as well because because when I was younger, I really just hated to practice. Um and it really wasn't it really wasn't my thing, and then going to conservatoire and kind of yeah, practicing a lot more, um, learning how to practice, I think was one thing. Um, but then also because you're practicing so much more, you're seeing results more, and I think that kind of yeah, inspired me to keep going, keep going, and you you start to discover as well, kind of your own individual voice, I think.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Yeah, so since you open up the door, I think like practicing, especially for instrumentalists, is always kind of a little bit of a fascinating process. So, what does that look like for you today, specifically in preparation for this concerto that you're about to play with the Midland Symphony Orchestra?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Yeah. Um yeah, so I think practice for me kind of changes day to day. I think it's important to not keep it the same every day. Uh uh for me, it gets a bit monotonous. I think. I think sometimes I have quite a short attention span, and if I'm doing the same thing over and over again, it doesn't really work for me. Um, so I think, yeah, just kind of having fun with it. Um, but also kind of going into different details, but then having a different day for certain details. So maybe maybe one day I might be working on something technical and um really like trying to hone that, but then the next day I'll then try and do maybe some like harmonic work on the piece so I'll kind of really get to understand the score and like also the orchestral part in this in this instant. And I think that kind of shift really for me makes it interesting every single day.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Cool. How has that process changed from when you first started as a as a young person uh to now as a as a known concerto artist? What did that journey look like?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Um, I don't I don't really remember a lot of my practice when I was younger. The main point I remember is kind of I really didn't really like, I didn't enjoy practicing. Um yeah, I I think I just kind of wanted to be doing other things that like all my friends were all my friends were doing when I was younger. Um so I'd say like the major differences right now, I really I I like to practice and I kind of yeah, I like to work on my own, my own vision. I think when I was younger, it was that that feeling that it's kind of something enforced on you. Um yeah, I think it was kind of always my parents kind of having to tell me to go, nag me and tell me to go and practice. Um and then as well, kind of I think I think now kind of more harsh on myself when I practice, but not in I guess not in a deeply critical and like hurtful way, it's just kind of that feels like there's more to do, there's more to kind of take up the mind. Um I think before, because my parents weren't musical, they could nag me to practice, but then they wouldn't really know if I would if I wasn't really practicing, if I was just playing the piano. Um, so yeah, I think now it's a lot more focused. Um and uh yeah, I I guess a lot more productive, I'd say.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Sure. So you said when you first started practicing was not fun. Yeah. And now practicing is fun. Yeah. Can you point to a specific moment somewhere between age five and now where, oh man, this is this is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Um uh yes, yes, and kind of in waves, I'd say. Okay. I think I think the first time I felt practic practices kind of really like I really want to do loads of practice is kind of I think probably 14. Um I I do have a tendency in general to kind of say I really want to do loads and loads of things and then not doing them. So I think kind of practice was kind of one of those with waves, it would kind of be, especially in moments when I was really inspired. I think 14 was um kind of an age for me. I they had an award at my school called the Steinway Scholarship. Um so through that I was um enabled to have lessons with the head of keyboard at the Royal College of Music. That's great. Um, so yeah, I think every time, every time I had lessons with um uh her name Vanessa Latash, kind of every time I had lessons with her, um yeah, I was always really inspired after those lessons. And then it was kind of those moments where I was really like, I I really want to practice and I really want to get better. Um yeah, so I'd say kind of intermittently from 14, and I think kind of properly, I'd say maybe when I was 20, I'd say was kind of when I was really, really like every day if this is really what I I like to do and really what I love doing. Um and yeah, I think it's I think it's kind of hard to I think for me the hard the hard shift was kind of allowing it to be something that I just enjoyed doing. Um I think especially when you're at Conservatoire as well, and kind of even if you don't feel it yourself, like I I'm I'm not a very kind of competitive person, but there is still that competitive element around it. Um and it's kind of yeah, I guess there's kind of that fear of like, am I gonna be able to have the career that I want? Um I was gonna am I gonna be able to do the things that I want? And then I think when those two things are battling um with just the enjoyment, it's kind of it's hard to just I guess focus on the enjoyment and fully see practice as just a inevitably like sorry, not inevitably, but just solely doing the thing that you enjoy. Um yeah, so I I I think I think from 20 I've I've been kind of allowing myself to for it to just be something that I enjoy.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

What does it look like from an hourly commitment?

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Um as in how many hours? How many hours a week? Uh it kind of kind of varies. Okay. Um I'd say probably in between three and seven a day. Um, but yeah, it really it kind of depends what what I've got going on and kind of yeah, I guess what's immediately in the um in the future. Um so I think, yeah. So currently on my US tour, um, this has been a very heavy, heavy practice. Um, so I think since I've been here, it's kind of been six to eight hours a day.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Yeah, tell us a little bit about your US tour. So what are some of the highlights and what are some of the uh how much rep are you you playing on this leg?

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Um so yeah, I I think in terms of highlights, I think this is definitely uh this is definitely a highlight of uh the playing the Mozart concerto is yeah, it's always something I've really wanted to do. Um me and my girlfriend actually had found a recording that we loved of this piece um two years ago and kind of ever since then I've really really wanted to perform it. So this is definitely a highlight and it's a real honor to to be here. Um yeah, and I I think in terms of the rep I'm carrying, so um I have a recital program which is um Bach's um fourth partita and Brahm's uh third piano sonata, as well as two pieces, two modern pieces, sorry, by uh George Walker and Lyra Albach. Uh so this is the main programme that I'm kind of carrying, and then as well on top of that, I have the concerto, and then I'm also at the Calvin Center next week in New York um to play with the Poesis quartet, uh, which should be really fun. And we're playing uh a quintet by uh Gabriela Lena Frank um called Free Homages. Um, and then also pairing that with their playing a quartet by Frank Nabor. Um and I'm playing uh a Shostkovich prelude in fugue and a Bach pairing it with a Bach prelude in Fugue, and kind of the idea of that program is just to showcase homages throughout music. Yeah, um yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

That's quite a wide slate. I mean, going from Bach all the way to today, yeah, quite quite a varied repertoire. Yeah. Best wishes to you and the rest of the tour. So as you know, um this podcast is called Awakening Creativity, where we celebrate creativity and we remind folks that they're creative, um, whether they're professional concerto artists or they uh figured out what to cook for dinner or how to get dressed or how to drive to work. You know, we all uh participate in creativity in ways big and small every single day. So I'd like to ask you a little bit about your own creativity. And and we talked a little bit about your introduction to the instrument, um, the piano. Was there a moment as a young person where you you saw yourself as as a creative individual?

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Um I I think I've always been inspired by performance. Um I I think performance for me has really always been inspiring. Um so yeah, I think even when I was younger, I kind of yeah, I used to really enjoy playing football, um, which I guess there's a performance element to that. Um and then yeah, I really enjoyed dancing, um, had lessons in ballet um and tap dancing, and then of course music as well. Um my first kind of immediate inspiration for performance, I remember, is probably Michael Jackson. Um kind of had a box set of all of his music videos. Um, and yeah, really inspired by watching those. Um, I think like the for me, kind of the smooth criminal video as well, it was really just yeah, really inspiring for me, and like really just wanted to be able to do something like that, and then also watching his performance videos, being able to kind of capti captivate a crowd like that. Um, I think for me it just was really always like very entrancing and really always something that I wanted to do. Um, I think in terms of creativity, I think I think that that's just kind of been there, I think, always through my life a bit. Um, and I I I can't pinpoint a specific moment, but kind of even when I was in my teens, like I really enjoyed to to kind of cook and really experiment with loads of different recipes. Um, and then as well with piano. Um, I also used to play the cello as well. And yeah, I guess kind of the idea of forming something um new and whether kind of whether that be really anything. I think I just really find that very, a very like interesting and fun thing to do.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

Yeah. So you talked a little bit about some of your other interests as a young person, you know, uh dancing, various dance lessons, playing soccer or playing cello. Are there ways that you draw from these experiences that inform what you do as a pianist?

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Um I I I think in the I think kind of in a in the smaller sense of kind of just remembering to enjoy it, I guess. Um I guess I guess with those things it's it's it's it's kind of a lot easier to be freer when there's I g I I I think what I mentioned previously, there's kind of not a a professional fear kind of weighing you down a bit. Um so I think yeah, I think also being able to do those things and kind of really have fun creating from that. And then one I think is it's a sometimes it's a good break from creating um um solely through music, but then also I think it's a it's a very healthy reminder that that is that is the purpose of creativity. The purpose of creativity is not success. Um yeah, and I I I think doing those things always really reminds me of why why I do what I do.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

So you said the the purpose of creativity is not success, which I agree with you completely. What do you think the purpose of creativity is?

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Um for me I think it's expression. Um yeah, I I I think kind of every individual has something to express and kind of has something to say. Um and I I I do think I think as well, kind of as a society where I think everyone kind of has limits of kind of what they can say. Um and that might that I think a lot of the time that might be internal, it's kind of the way that individual might be positioned in society. And I think it's really important for everyone to be able to find a sp a space to express yourself. And you see, I guess you see a lot of people do it through fashion. Um but yeah, again, even as I previously mentioned, like cooking food, like you you see so many kind of families and they have their own recipe um for a certain type of dish that might be so widely spread. So for instance, kind of I'm from the um my family held from Barbados, um and my grandma has kind of her own recipe for kind of salt fish fritters, and like that is it's that kind of personal thing that you is that's her expression of kind of slightly who she is, but it's her twist on things and that's her message, and I think that's really yeah, I think that's really important for everyone to have.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

Yeah, so how do you express yourself creatively uh as an artist?

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah, I I think through I think through classical music, I think it's sometimes hard because obviously you're playing someone else's music and it's not it's not your own creation. So I think for me it's really through programming um and really really expressing myself through my programmes and kind of really trying to send a message of where I am in that moment. Um I f I think like a yeah, really looking at the artists that I was really inspired by when I was younger, who a lot of them weren't classical musicians. I kind of listened to a lot of hip hop um when I was younger. But when you when you listen to those those albums, it's kind of they really tell you where they are in that moment of time and who they are as an individual in that moment and kind of what they're feeling, what they're thinking. Um so yeah, for me, my aim is kind of to do that through my programs, um, and really take the audience of that through that journey through my programs. Um and I I think it's very interesting with classical music as well because I can say all that and kind of have that program down, and then someone might take something completely different from that program. And I I think that's I think that's obviously one of the wonderful things about it. Um yeah, but I yeah, so I think for me to create, I think this through programs mostly.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Yeah, you alluded to this a little bit, but uh so with the Midland Symphony, you'll be performing a Mozart concerto, uh, you know, that's existed now for going on 250 years. Um probably recorded thousands of times, performed millions of times in that stretch. You know, how do you work to put your own creative stamp so that way it's a snowflake? It's it's one of a kind.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Yeah. Um yeah, I I think for me, kind of the the key is kind of to not work too hard to to do that, I guess. Um and not try too hard to kind of make it my own, my own piece. And I I I think I've come to terms with the fact that I think that might happen quite naturally, and that's really, really a nice thing. Um, I think especially kind of my early years at Conservatoire, it was how can I be, how can I be different? How can I how can I really like make this make this different from everything else that's come before? Um But I think yeah, I do think that happens naturally. I think kind of even when I hear the piece, I think if me and you both both listen to that Mozart Konshotu, we'd probably take different things from it. Um and kind of had different interpretations of what certain things meant and kind of um yeah, and have different emotional reactions to different parts of the piece. Um so I think I I think I kind of hold on to that a bit and just yeah, I I guess hope that it's my own original interpretation. I guess obviously for me it's really important to not kind of really listen to loads and lows and lows of recordings of of everyone else and then kind of become a an imitation of that. But um, yeah, I do believe that it happens quite naturally.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Do you find it's easier to sort of let that pressure go to be individualistic in newer, more contemporary works than something like the Mozart that's been performed or recorded so many times?

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Um uh I'm I'm not too sure. I I I don't I I I don't think so. I think kind of Yeah, I I think I I think it would Yeah, I think it would be uh remiss on me to kind of pay higher um I guess individual attention, so maybe one one thing or other or the other. Um and I yeah, I I think kind of I think maybe that that could also be the trap of kind of really trying to make the Mozart different. Um but because it's been done so many times and kind of and I I I think kind of yeah, that I I guess that pressure is is there more. Um and for me I don't really feel it in the sense of it being individualistic. I feel it more in the sense that this is more well known. Sure.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Sure. Um and it certainly doesn't help uh dampen the pressure when you have podcast hosts uh asking you about the pressure. Um that's funny. So um yeah, so You talked a little bit about your uh breadth of of programming um and how that's an important creative tool for you. Can you walk us through that process and how you kind of curate what might be on our on a recital per program?

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Um yeah, so I think um I think a lot of the time it's it's it's a combination of maybe I've listened to a piece um and it's really touched me um personally, or it's or it'll then be kind of there's a theme that's really in my head at the moment that I'm really I really want to express and I really want to make a program with it. Um so I yeah, I I think kind of right now I'm really um playing with a um a program that is kind of centered around the idea of kind of reimagination. Um I guess the idea for that kind of came from me yeah, feeling more comfortable expressing myself and kind of I guess slightly wanting like reimagining I guess who I was as kind of an artistic individual. Um and yeah, that program kind of is the one I'm playing in the US right now. So you kind of have the Brahm sonata, which is him reimagining the um him reimagining the romantic piano sonata in kind of quite a quite a uh brash and kind of big way. Sure. Um but then also kind of the George Walker piano sonata number five, a very short and kind of a snappy work, and that's him that's his reimagination of the piano sonata, and then the Bach as well. Um is Bach really reimagining Courtly dances um for the keyboard and kind of ornamenting them and kind of really really playing with those ideas. Um yeah, so I I think that's kind of how I how I handle programs. Um I think when sometimes I do find it's hard to just do that with pieces. Um I think sometimes then I I'll look to and if something I'm really interested in is kind of looking to then work with different artists and yeah, kind of trying to curate a program or like more more of an experience that has different different art, maybe maybe poetry or kind of photography. Um yeah, and I think again it's to really express what I'm what I'm thinking about at the moment.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

What is what is your personal artistic reimagination look like? What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Um I think for me it was mostly being comfortable in in my own self-expression, I think. It was um it was moving from a place that was um I guess very uncomfortable and intimidated, I guess not by performance, but by things being by imagining that things needed to be correct. Um And I I think at the end of the day there is not a there's not a correct answer. Um obviously there's there's there's a million things to work on all the time and that's kind of what makes what makes this a brilliant profession. Um But yeah, I I think there's never there's never really a correct answer and I I think kind of putting that pressure on yourself to be to be perfect, to always have the correct solution, I think that creates a yeah, I think that creates a an unhealthy pressure and it kind of limits yourself as an artist. I think for me, yeah, the reimagination was letting that go and kind of really allowing myself to express myself on stage, kind of, yeah, whatever that means, whether it be through the through the programming, or it be kind of how I how I play, um, like the way I sit, kind of the way I like the facial expressions I make, kind of just really allowing myself to to be myself.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

Do you find that that how do you get over the stress of the fact that it's a constant quest, right? There's no it's about the journey, it's not about the destination, right? And you're constantly chasing this thing that you know you can never get, but you're learning and growing along the way. How do you remain inspired um throughout that? And how do you not get, I guess, discouraged because you're on this kind of creative treadmill chasing something that you can't catch?

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah, I I I think it is difficult. Um kind of I think especially kind of what I'm learning as well with performance is is I guess yeah, every every performance it kind of works with that when you're well like that when you're in the practice room, but also with performances kind of you you need kind of something to go wrong, I guess, in a performance for you to really learn from it.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Um yeah, for that to not happen again and kind of for you to figure out uh maybe this thing's not working here, how do I address that? Um yeah, I I I think to answer your question, I think it's just very it's very tricky. Um I think maybe just I think yeah, I think kind of remembering remembering that it's not about perfection, I think is the most important thing to do. Um because I I I think when you can remember that even though you're you might be constantly making mistakes, it the mistakes kind of don't feel like the end of the world or kind of it doesn't feel like a yeah, like you're letting yourself down. Um So yeah, I think kind of really really focusing on the on that fact.

SPEAKER_03 27:08

Yeah, I mean there's a pretty fascinating life metaphor in there too. Like it's not about the perfection, it's about you know giving yourself grace and kind of the beauty in some of those mistakes. Yeah. That's really wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's really yeah, I think it's really important in in general. Um yeah, yeah, I think just not not focusing on perfection. And I think a lot of the time as well what I have found is you you when you're focused on that, you kind of end up getting in your own way. And I think it's it's really interesting, kind of I'm I'm not a psychologist and I don't know this, I don't know the psychology. But is it I I do find it very interesting that if I'm sat there playing and I'm really, really stressed about kind of this moment coming up, it will go wrong. There's no kind of I've I've I've I've stood in my own way and it's kind of if it's now gone wrong. And I think, yeah, I guess just not standing in your own way and kind of allowing things to to progress in their own like kind of natural time.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

Cool. Well, some deep conversations there. We'll switch to a couple sillier ones. So you talked about, you know, maybe making a mistake and learning from that mistake. Is there a uh moment in your career where like something quirky, weird otherwise happened on stage and you had to quickly creatively solve a uh an issue?

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Um I I I wouldn't say I think kind of in general it's mostly just memory, memory slips where kind of that that happens. And I think kind of it happens more often than I than I would like. Um so yeah, I I think quite regularly kind of having to quickly come up with a with a circumstance or I guess uh something to get yourself out of that that situation. Um I I think for me it kind of really you really have to know the harmony and like really know the piece. Um I think in a weird sense it's quite thrilling. Um yeah, um it kind of it kind of wakes you off a bit. Um yeah, I think I think yeah, I think with memory service is kind of that's kind of always always happening.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

I was always very musician too, and uh I was always very stressed to be the page turner. Yeah, and I would always see those epic videos where somebody would turn like six pages and then all of a sudden like the the music falls off and then the lid closes and then it's on the floor and the pianist is like trying to pick it up. And I mean, there's some like epic, epic uh TikTok veils you can find there, but that was always uh my fears that I would be the one forcing you into that situation.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

It's really page training is always really tricky. I don't like being the page trainer. I have a I have an electric one that you press now, and then we were playing the other day. I have a trio in the UK, and we were playing the other day, and the pedal just had the Bluetooth just disconnected mid P. So it's kind of those situations which are really, really horrible. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Um so tell us about one like funny, creative, weird or otherwise practice that uh you've had in the in the practice room, in the the four to seven hours times 365 times however many years. Like what's one kind of funny, quirky, weird creative practice room solution you've had?

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Um I I think this wasn't my solution. Um but I was in a I was in I was at a course in um Vienna over summer. Um and a teacher there was kind of really talking about the weight of the hand and really, really working on that. And he was kind of sitting on the floor um instead of on the piano stool and really just letting his whole his whole arm hang when he was playing the piano. Um so I I tried that quite a quite a few times, and I think it was it was I was always quite a bit scared that someone would kind of walk fast and see me, see me kind of cross-legged on the floor, um, practicing that way. Um, but yeah, I think that's kind of probably the one of the strangest things I've done.

SPEAKER_03 31:03

Was it effective or was it just weird?

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Um I I I think it was effective. Um yeah, I I I think I I think I I think it was effective and kind of it did help me to to change the way I played a bit.

unknown 31:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:17

Cool. Well, so as a part of our show, we have a tradition where we give our guests a little gift uh to remember their time here in Midland. And so I have a little friend here that's sat in my office for quite some time. Uh someone gave it to me as a gag Christmas gift many years ago. But this is this is Mozart. And since you're playing the Mozart concerto, um, we thought it might be cool that you could have a little uh Mozart action figure to uh do what you will with, but to remember your time on this podcast, remember your time in Midland. Well, thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, you could like set him in the thing, and it looks like he's going swimming or something.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

He'll be on my shelf uh at home because my girlfriend's favorite composer as well.

SPEAKER_03 31:56

So great.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Very, very great.

SPEAKER_03 31:58

Cool, of course. And so we have one last question um for you, and that's what's what's peaking your creative creativity or awakening your creativity right now, both uh on and off the stage?

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Um I think off stage is mostly kind of other art forms right now. Um so yeah, I guess yeah, reading reading is really kind of I think what's interesting is kind of when you kind of read a novel, something, I guess you kind of learn something, and I feel you kind of get a wider a wider experience and kind of you you're put into someone else's shoes. Um and I think that always really helps in kind of expanding your horizons and then through that I feel like I'm more creative, I have more ideas. Um kind of the same thing with with films as well. Um and then as as well, kind of listening to again more more hip-hop albums or maybe some a few albums that I wouldn't normally listen to. I kind of listen to quite a few Pink Floyd albums. Cool. Um, but yeah, I'd say those things are kind of really what's kind of piquing my piquing my creative interest at the at the moment. Um yeah, and just really being able to have those have those experiences of really enjoying someone else's art.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

That's great. Well, Amiri, thank you so much for for being here. We're so glad to have you in Midland. We're so well thank you very much for having me. What a great conversation today with Amiri. I'm left ultimately thinking about this idea of creative expression, uh creative realization, things that we do in our daily lives. We can express this in the way that we treat one another, what we wear, how we interface with our colleagues, with our friends, and with our peers. And so I ask you, how will you be expressing yourself creativity, uh creatively as you interact with others this week? What might you be doing a little bit differently? And how does knowing that that's an act of creative expression inform what you do? So let's have a think about that. I'm really excited. Um, I'd like to thank uh all of you for tuning in today. I certainly would like to thank Amiri. I would like to thank uh Odessa and Alex and Josh from Midland Center for the Arts, and also Josh from JNC Media. And I would also like to thank our sponsor, Hub International Insurance Agency. Thank you for all that you do to support Midland Center for the Arts, the producer of this podcast. We so appreciate all that you do. We hope that you have a great week. Be well, be good to one another. We'll see you soon.