Playing with Infinity
The enormous task of being creative in a world full of labels
Somewhere inside of everyone is a path, a road, with stop lights and lines on the road that need to be kept to in order to avoid catastrophe, of the personal kind. Even if we know that we have to stay in between the lines and stop at the lights, we imagine a road that is no longer paved and one that has no stop lights. It’s bumpy and sometimes treacherous, but on that road we are free. Free to imagine we are somewhere else, another place where perception, projection, and conception become visible—these are from the palette of an artist.
In classical music it is nearly impossible to shed our preconceived notions of what to expect from a particular type of musician—especially when there are hundreds of competitions that take place continuously all over the world, and for which any musician who wants to be recognized has to fit into a particular mold. This is the reality we have bought into. Is it really tradition that we are saving? And what are we getting for that? Fewer and fewer outliers. It’s hard enough to make a career, but dare to be different...
So when you are going down that metaphorical road, and suddenly find yourself veering off, taking a right turn where there is no actual route, looking for something that maybe never existed before, something original to you, your own voice, then maybe, just maybe it is time to follow your instincts.
This heralds for us an opportunity to let go courtesy of Yana Reznik. Yana is someone who dreams outside the lines and listens with the five senses plus many others that cannot be named. If we give ourselves a running start, we might be able to catch that train she is on…
Kathy Geisler: What is your current job in the field of classical music? What are you currently working on?
Yana Reznik: I’m a person of varied dreams and passions and therefore always working on multiple projects at the same time. Last year, during Covid, I found I had a lot of time to explore new avenues of creativity, since all performance opportunities had disintegrated.
What I realized during our ‘time out’ is that musicians are the healers of the soul.
When the world was faced with fear of death beginning with the first months of the pandemic, many of us began to think of what really matters in life. My immediate instinct was to use my skills to provide a service that was much needed. I organized a ‘PPE and Mask Hunt for Chicago.’ Along with 150 volunteers and a dedicated team, we were able to fundraise and search for the needed materials all over the world. People responded by sending us PPE to be given to hospitals. There were suddenly hundreds of people who learned how to sew masks while we frantically bought all the fabrics available before everything was sold out and before all the stores were closed.
Once we filled the hospitals’ requests, we moved onto other essential organizations, then to the neighbors. I realized that an incredible unity is achievable when everyone believes in the cause. However, for the first time in my career, I wasn’t trying to ‘sell myself’ as I often feel in music, but instead I was engaged in service. It forced me to question why music isn’t really treated as a necessity in our society? Why do musicians often burn out from their careers while they feel like salespeople of an unwanted product instead of artists? After the ‘fear of death’ months had passed, I saw a big shift. People seemed to start witnessing a void in their soul-healing: they turned to art, books, inspiring movies, and a lot of music online.
The feeling of being emotionally dead, to me, is more frightening than being physically dead. This great shift in the realization of the importance behind our lives, really altered my approach towards my career and my future projects. I’m currently building my spiritual / consulting business to inspire people to live creatively in every aspect of their lives. I am writing blogs about my past experiences and sharing the truths behind music business careers to hopefully inspire others to have hope in the future of art.
Kathy: What were some of your early lessons or experiences in classical music?
Yana: I have a funny story related to my first appearance on a real stage. My grandfather was a professional singer and he took me to one of his performances when I was about three years old. During the dress rehearsal I was hanging out on stage when I suddenly needed to use the potty, so my grandfather placed me at the corner of the stage. Strangely enough, everyone forgot that I was there when the performance started. I will never forget when the curtain opened and I was right there on my potty facing the laughing audience. The Grand Premiere!
Kathy: What is one of your favorite places and why?
Yana: I have traveled a lot in my life so it’s a very difficult question. Every place is unique for its own reason. But it’s interesting to note that the most memorable trips have been the most challenging ones. I never think of that perfect Mexico resort vacation when I got a perfect tan! (As nice as it was in the moment.) I always tell stories of the crazy trips where I had suffered somehow and had to overcome obstacles, or the ones where I learned about cultures and was challenged to understand how fortunate I am. I loved Bolivia for its incredibly preserved indigenous culture, Cuba for the most adventurously difficult trip I had, Chile for the warmest audience I’ve ever had, Iceland for majesty of nature and snorkeling in just above freezing water between tectonic plates, Thailand for its juxtaposition of unique temples and witnessing women (and men) selling their souls and bodies for close to nothing.
Kathy: What is one of your favorite pieces and do you have a favorite experience of it?
Yana: This one is easy! Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto №2. I’ve loved it since I was a kid and always thought of it as the only perfect composition on earth: with every harmony, melody and structure being the most incredible music a human could ever experience! I performed it in my twenties, as I wanted to wait till I was truly ready to do it justice—since it was my biggest childhood dream to play it some day.
When I was on stage playing through it for the first time, I burst into tears… Dreams do come true and I was living it. Unforgettable!
Kathy: Is there an artist no longer living who somehow made an impression on you?
Yana: Both of my grandparents. My grandfather was a tenor and grandma, a coloratura soprano. I will never forget my fascination with how my grandpa would pack his suitcase when he was leaving for his tours. I remember every detail! He would pack his music diligently checking that everything was there: his concert clothes—he even carried a mini hanger that would mechanically open to full size (I still have it), and his tea boiler—because how can you possibly travel without one!
My grandmother’s piercing beautiful voice and lightness of character is always in my mind. Living in Russia, they never really achieved their deepest potential when it came to their careers but I was always inspired by their way of life.
Kathy: What is one thing you think will be different about classical music 100 years from now?
Yana: People keep saying how classical music is dying, which always sounds funny to me because it’s literally been the way it is since the beginning of time, and it hasn’t died yet. It reminds me of the operas where the heroine dies for four hours straight.
I believe classical music will keep on living as long as there are people like us giving life to it. I think that the presentation of it will change dramatically—that concerts will be mainly VR productions (virtual reality) with fully immersed senses, and that many composers of today will at that point be considered composers of the past as new trends arise. I also think electronic music will take over and genres will be mixed together and integrated into multi-media productions. I do wonder if the instruments will change, for instance, electronic pianos have continued to improve tremendously making me wonder if they will eventually take over and be used as multi-instruments.
Kathy: What is something about your work that you think most people have no idea about?
Yana: Most people don’t know that I have dedicated many years to acting and that I recently started pursuing it again and hope to share it with audiences. I’ve always dreamed of being on a theatrical stage, singing, dancing and expressing myself not only through music but through story, words, and emotions.
Kathy: Did you have any life-changing experiences that put you on the path that led you to be doing what you’re doing today?
Yana: Life-changing experience? (Do we have a few weeks to talk about this?) Absolutely! It happened a few years ago. After many years of extremely dedicated work as a pianist, I finally stopped playing in order to reassess my commitment. I was getting burned-out with the music industry and how much work I had to do that had nothing to do with actual creativity. I had to weigh the benefits. I also realized that I had so many passions beyond playing piano that I never had taken the time to explore. So, I went on an exploration journey of traveling the world for a few months (and really for the first time had no feelings of guilt from being away from piano). On the trip I experienced many different spiritual practices and healing methods.
“I forced myself to be left without my most prominent identity as a pianist to really understand who I was.”
The process was long and difficult but coming out on the other side was the most rewarding moment—it literally was an “Aha!” moment!:
We must commit to music and creativity not because of some default or a parent making us practice, but by making a conscious decision to not only be creative in our chosen field, but in our entire lives.
Kathy: Is there anything else you would like to say about yourself, your work, or classical music?
Yana: As it happened, mentors have been critical of me for spreading myself too thin. I was told that in order to succeed I needed to choose my area of focus. For me, it wasn’t about choosing what I wanted to do, but how was I going to do it all? I was evolving into this multi-faceted artist which meant that I could no longer be defined by a single label. Yes I am a pianist, first and foremost, but at the same time I am an innovator, dreamer, and someone who is passionate about creating a unique way for all of us to live and to be inspired by, and not to fall into the trap of taking the predictable paths.
We are more accustomed to see someone as having a single role—the challenge is seeing their versatility. And I had become less definable, so when it came to marketing, career strategy, and even music programming—all the practical parts of making a professional life—I was no longer an easy commodity to be sold. I tried heeding the advice to focus in one direction for years and finally realized that I had been deceiving myself, because it is just not who I am.
I am now committed to being a multi-passionate artist with a million different ideas, because not accepting the ideas that come into my head is a betrayal of the gifts that the Universe gives me.
Kathy: Is there anything else you would like to say about yourself, your work, or classical music?
Yana: Speaking of multi-faceted, this is my compilation album that I recorded with WFMT Radio (in Chicago), and which has just been released. It includes some of my favorite works. Each of them has a story behind it, therefore the name Novellas.
