Aydar Gaynullin and Arkady Shilkloper talk about jazz concert within the frames of an educational programme “Open NOVAT”.
Aydar Gaynullin: It was fantactic! Such a beautiful hall, that stage, the atmosphere... It took my breath away when I first saw it.
Who does one usually meet in opera houses? Adults, rich people. But here we can see mostly young people. They watch and smile so sincerely... When it comes to finding that sort of “common ground” a truly amazing contact establishes. You can see how the audience really enjoys the performance, how they “dig it”.
I personally wanted to come up to spectators and perform specifically for each and every one of them. I remembered the Albert Hall, where events like this also take place. They put pillow-chairs in the stalls, lay down and enjoy the music.
I’d say Novosibirsk is up there with London. “Open NOVAT” is an amazing project.
Arkady Shilkloper: I would call this programme “Game of Jazz”. Some of the songs we played even made people dance. I love it when spectators express their feelings. I know some musicians who don’t like it. They might find it offensive and even leave the stage. But not me. Because music is an emotional thing by definition. Especially that which we call “jazz music”.
In academic music the material goes through a lot of different stages. At first composer writes a piece, passes it to a conductor, then musicians play it and only then it actually reaches the audience. And if people are not in the right mood a musician cannot “spread his wings”.
Therefore “Open NOVAT” with its sincerity is different, it’s just a wonderful idea. I hope to God we can make it.