The Inside Story: Christina Petrowska Quilico and MORE RIVERS

With glimpses of impressionism, of Prokofievian harmonies and Pärtian spirit, and textures reminiscent of Messiaen, MORE RIVERS is wonderfully timeless and universal. Composer Frank Horvat’s piece receives an impeccable performance and interpretation from the adventurous and virtuosic Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico.

Today, Christina is our featured artist in the “Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to learn about her passion for Egyptology and ability to read hieroglyphs…

Take us on a walk through your musical library. What record gets the most plays? Are there any “deep cuts” that you particularly enjoy?

I love listening to jazz (Thelonius Monk, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Art Tatum, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, and many more… I also go to jazz clubs, and those live performances always blow my mind with the freedom with which they play. My late husband was a Metropolitan opera legend and I collaborated with him a lot. I listen to opera a lot (Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, just about every opera) several times a week. I like to listen and support women composers from Hildegard Bingen from the past to the composers I am working with now. 

What emotions do you hope listeners will experience after hearing your work? 

Music reflects emotions, tells a story, creates a mood, and through the sounds you make, paints a layered and textured soundscape. You are the instrument through which the composer’s music flows through to others. In the past, composers would often improvise their cadenzas, ornaments, and tempos. There was a freedom in the performance rather than a rigid perspective. I hope that my performances and recordings reflect and transmit the freedom and joy that I feel performing.

How do you prepare for a performance? 

Practice, practice, practice… I study the score away from the piano, play through the music in my head and in my fingers. I count out loud to make sure rhythmic details are articulated. I imagine and try to feel what the composer was trying to say through his music. I read as much as is available about the composer, the era in which he/she lived. I also research what literature, art, poetry, theatre, or ballet influenced the piece that I am playing. I never practice the day of the performance but relax and do breathing exercises. Rosina Lhévinne was my teacher at Juilliard when I was in my early teens, and she was in her 90s. She always made me sing the melodic line in any piece I was working on and feel the emotion as a journey from beginning to end of the musical line.. I treasure her advice to this day.

What are your other passions besides music? 

I write poetry and paint. My recent Navona Records album GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND featured my poetry and cover art which inspired the composer David Jaeger for several of the Nocturnes. Many of my albums have featured my painting or drawings on the cover, especially if the music is contemporary. This is because I know what mood and colors the music should reflect for that particular work. I also have a passion for Egyptology and ancient history which I studied for years. I learned to read hieroglyphs and enjoyed reading them on my trips to Egypt.

What musical mentor had the greatest impact on your artistic journey? Is there any wisdom they’ve imparted onto you that still resonates today? 

Rosina Lhévinne was a legend. Her wisdom in teaching me more than technique and a lot about enjoying life was very much appreciated. She was a role model in performing the Chopin Concerto and Mozart with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 83. Her assistant at the time, Jeaneane Dowis also gave me wonderful quotes that I would often repeat to my own students. One of my favorites was to “get over yourself. It is all about the music. Don’t become too sure of yourself just because you had great reviews from the New York Times. Next time they might say that you didn’t live up to your potential. Also, respect everyone who comes to listen to your concerts. Don’t get caught up in being your own critic. You owe your audience a performance, not whining.”

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be ?

Gustavo Dudamel!!! The exciting conductor. I have to say that I had the honor of collaborating with some great names of the past: Pierre Boulez, conductor and composer, Gyorgy Ligeti, and John Cage to name a few. Although exemplifying different styles, they were extremely articulate in expressing their thoughts in words as well as in music. Boulez was inspired by James Joyce, Rene Char, Baudelaire, Mallarme, Kafka, Ligeti (a mix of romantic influences like Schumann, Chopin, mixed with Gregorian chant and the Burundi tribes of Africa) John Cage, a philosophy, and a great sense of adventure. Having worked with these musical giants influenced me in their literary choices and how it was used in music. My recent album GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND with composer David Jaeger was inspired by poetry, including my own. MORE RIVERS has been a collaboration with composer Frank Horvat and our commitment to the environment and meditative performance. 

What is so wonderful about his music is that it is always in flux. Interpretations change and new perspectives of familiar themes can become an exciting adventure in sound. This is why I enjoyed working with Frank on a new set of “Rivers.” Today we must focus on nature and the environment. Water in its many forms is crucial for life.