Leon Gurvitch

Composer

Deutschland

Author

About

Leon Gurvitch is pianist, composer & conductor, who was born in Minsk, Belarus and is based since many years in Germany. He wrote more than 300 compositions & arrangements.

2004 – 2017 assistant professor at the Johannes Brahms Conservatory in Hamburg and masterclasses around the world. Leon released albums „Eldorado“ with his group „Leon Gurvitch Project“, a solo piano CD’s „Remember Me“, “Poetic Whispers” (Centaur Records), wrote film music for the 2001 film „Death Game“ by Oscar-nominated Menahem Golan and theater music for a legendary German theatre director Peter Zadek. He collaborated with Hamburg State Opera, North German Broadcasting Orchestra (NDR), Berlin & Frankfurt Chamber Orchestras, Ernest Bloch Orchestra, Belarussian Chamber Orchestra, Klassik Philharmonie Hamburg, Orquesta Filarmonica Juvenil del Cafe (Colombia). Works by Leon Gurvitch were performed at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, at Brussels’s Palais des Beaux-Arts, at Moscow Tschaikovsky-Conservatory, Festivals in Berlin, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam. In 2006 Gurvitch was awarded international prize „Golden Chanukkia“ in Berlin.

Leon was nominated for Hamburg Music Award in the Category: Musician of the Year. In 2016 he was “Artist in Residence” at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, New York. In 2017 he gave a sold out concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2018 Leon wrote film score for the movie “Noah Land” and was awarded Global Music Awards in the category modern classical for his piano album “Poetic Whispers”.

The works by Leon Gurvitch are published by internationally renowned publisher Boosey & Hawkes.

For more information please visit www.leon-gurvitch.com

Sheets

Interview

What does music mean to you personally?

Music is my life…

Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?

Yes, I actually think that fantasy is one of the crucial features in music.

If you were not a professional musician, what would you have been?

Probably a writer or… a poet…

The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?

No worries. Indeed, the audience is getting old, but the masterpieces of classical music are timeless…

What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?

Yes, I suppose its role will be transforming and not always to a better one. It will be getting more simplified and amusing, which is a trend targeted at reaching more audiences. But unfortunately this commercialization of classical music makes it less spiritual and reduces its content.

When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?

Modern technologies, Internet and social media, which contain numerous opportunities…

Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? What’s the role of creativity in the musical process for you?

For me it’s a must: creativity is an essential part of the musical process.

Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?

My personal agenda is to play your own music – the one you like and believe into. Because the audience will feel it and react emotionally.

Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favorite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?

My favorite piece is always the one I am working on at the moment. I never know how my creative process will flow in each particular case: the most important things for me are silence and concentration upon my work, otherwise it’s not possible to catch up the idea and develop it.

We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?

I also like these art fusions and have several projects combining music and poetry (such as for example Rainer Maria Rilke or Daniil Charms) or music and painting (based on paintings by Marc Chagall).

Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?

To attend live concerts and contact musicians and composers if there is such an opportunity. And of course to play a music instrument.

Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?

It has always been a part of consumption. The difference is the quality. If the main objective is to sell the product and not the content of the product itself, in my opinion, it is alarming.

Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?

No, actually I never have any expectations. Each time it’s a surprise what will be the response and reaction of the audience.

What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?

One of the newest projects is a film music, in which I experimented a lot by creating music with rarely used wood instruments & voice effects. The creative process was especially amazing as the film director granted me full freedom and I tried to make an independent piece from each composition, not just separate sound extracts. Another project to come up is a new edition of my music piano notes.