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Winner of a 2023 Juno Award, Canadian virtuoso pianist Philip Chiu will be performing on Saturday alongside the Quatuor Isidore, an ensemble that recently won the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Our colleague Frédéric Cardin spoke to Devon Moore, the group’s violist. PAN M 360 spoke to Philip Chiu on the sidelines of the Premier Prix concert, which was all about meeting new people and enjoying playing together.
PAN M 360 : This is the first time you’ll be playing with the Quatuor Isidore. Who came up with the idea for this collaboration and had you followed their performances in Banff before meeting them?
Philip Chiu : It will indeed be the first time and it was Denis Brott who paired us together. Of course, I listened to their performances during the Banff competition and I was already struck by their sensibilities, by this communication between them that is really natural. That’s what I liked: it wasn’t just a very high quality performance, it was really like a conversation between friends. I’m really impressed. I’m really looking forward to it and I feel really privileged to be playing with them.
PAN M 360 : You will be performing with them an emblematic work from the French chamber music repertoire, César Franck’s Quintet for Strings and Piano in F minor. Why did you choose this work and what are its characteristics?
Philip Chiu : That’s a very good question. Unfortunately, I didn’t choose it (laughs). It was Denis who suggested it for the programme. However, I can say that this is the first time I’ll be performing this piece, despite the fact that I’ve done quite a few pieces from the standard chamber repertoire. I’m really discovering this work. It’s an incredible work! Franck was a composer renowned as an organist and symphonist, so there’s this sensitivity in his writing with a sound that’s more imposing than just the use of strings and piano. That’s what he drew in the three movements of this work.
PAN M 360 : Are there any challenges or particularities that you envisage in this piece?
Philip Chiu : Franck’s music is very romantic. It’s music where there are a lot of contrasting elements in the structure. It’s really a whirlwind of emotions, so to keep the audience’s attention and commitment, you have to give them enough well-defined elements so that they don’t get caught up in all this melodic vagueness and in this very dense texture of great intensity.
PAN M 360 : You’ve been working as a concert performer for some years now, collaborating with many other musicians. It’s something that’s close to your heart. What do these collaborations bring you as a musician?
Philip Chiu : It’s always a privilege for me to learn things from other colleagues, to see elements through their perspective, to enter into musical conversations with others. That’s what allows me to grow, to bring my imagination and musical ideas to life, to explore a different way of looking at things like a phrase or a melody. That’s what I’m really looking forward to discovering with the Quatuor Isidore, because, as is increasingly the case with this new generation of musicians, they don’t act as if it’s all about competition. That’s not the aim at all. We’re really here to create something beautiful together, to share things. Yes, competitions are important because they give us goals and motivate us, but I’ve never believed in music as a competitive thing and I’ve always tried to avoid this idea of : “Me against everyone else; you against me, and that the second person is a loser.” The beauty of these collaborations is really saying, “We’re here together to create, to feel that resonance, that communication, to create something beautiful for ourselves and for others.”
PAN M 360 : That’s something that a lot of performers and young performers from new generations say, and it’s something that resonates very well, and rightly so. It’s certainly much more gratifying and relevant for personal and professional advancement to act in this way rather than to be in constant competition.
Philip Chiu : Exactly. There’s also the idea of saying, “We’re not just elite athletes living in our own world.” It’s also a way of bringing this art form, classical music, into everyday life.
