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Honorary Mention of 2011 International Web Concert Hall
Competition
Piano Duo Lestari and Gwylim
 How and did you begin
to play your instrument?
We both started playing the
piano at the age of seven. We tried piano earlier but at
seven years of age we started taking the formal lessons. Family members already
played the piano and we both had a great interest in it. We met at the
conservatory when we were 12 and 13 years old and 4 years later, we
started playing together, which was in 2003. Since 2007, we’ve been
working mainly as a duo, and less and less as soloists.
Where were you born and
where do you live now?
We were born in
the
Netherlands, Lestari in the city of Nijmegen and Gwylim in Woerden. We
now live in Tilburg and Utrecht respectively.
What period music do you
enjoy playing the most and why?
In
general, we play music from many different periods, from early Baroque
to highly contemporary music, and within that repertoire. We like many
different pieces. However, as a duo, the late romantic and
impressionistic style of the late 19th century fits us best,
especially the French music, such as Debussy and Ravel.
Musical composition that changed your life?
There
is not a specific composition that changed our lives. However, many
pieces are special to us, because of certain strong memories or
emotions, or because of special concerts where we played them. Good
examples of this are La valse by Ravel and the Six pieces opus 11 by
Rachmaninov.
Who
are your teachers? And when you recall some of your teachers, what were
the first and best qualities you remember?
Currently we study at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover,
Germany, with the Silver-Garburg piano duo (Gil Garburg and Sivan
Silver). They asked us in 2007 to study with them as a duo. This
decision turned out to be very important for us. They taught us to
cooperate better, in listening, in seeking balance, transparency and
musical colours and thus be able to create ‘our own sound and texture’.
How
did your teacher influence you as a musician?
Being a musician is not a
static fact and every experience makes you to grow in musical and personal
way. Our current teachers have given us many advises, in playing, in
repertoire choice, but also in advising us for competitions, concerts,
tours, etc. Also what is important to us is that we have a good personal
connections with them, so we can learn from them about life in general.
Do you
teach? If so, where?
Lestari yes, both private and at a music school. Gwylim, at the moment,
no. When touring, we try giving master classes at local conservatories
to share our knowledge. We think that master classes can be very
valuable for the students. It offers the students the chance to perform for someone
and receiving feedback from someone different then their every-day
teacher(s).
If you
teach, what do you mostly emphasize to your students and why?
Of
course it depends on what level the student is playing. Most important
is that we can transfer our love for music to the student and let the
student develop his own taste and character. Our wish for the students
is to love music and to have fun practising and playing it. It’s
important that a student can decide for himself whether something is
beautiful or not according to him. We don’t want to create an imitator
but to promote a personality for the student. Of course we also emphasize on certain physical and
technical aspects which are the basics of playing piano. Breathing and
relaxation of the body are both elements that can make the playing more
comfortable and if they are done well they can prevent injuries that
comes with the profession.
Do you
practice what you preach to your students?
Actually we learn a lot
ourselves from teaching. It makes us conscious about the basic elements that
are sometimes so self-evident that we are not paying attention to them
as much. So, yes, definitely we practise them!
 Do you
have a practicing method that you follow everyday?
For us
as a duo, we always start practising a piece separately. When we
know the notes, we start rehearsing, which is usually quite early in the
process of learning the piece. During the rehearsals, we decide how we
are going to interpret the piece, in voicing, balance, etc.
How do
you prepare yourself on the day of performance?
It depends on the
scheduled performance; some performances are very relaxed and we
prepare by warming up, fine-tuning some details, and take enough rest
to save energy for the performance. Other performances require more
preparation on the day of the performance, so we practice and sometimes
rehearse a bit. Generally, on the day of the performance, you should be
ready to play so we try to plan our day with a good balance between
playing/warming up and rest.
How
much or often do you practice basic (tone production, articulation,
etc.)? If so, what kind of basics do you practice?
Basically, we practice those kind of things every day. Every single not
needs a specific articulation and during practising, you also practice
those basics. We also learn so much from performing, because you are in
a totally different environment and situation during a concert. Every
concert is another experience. We have to adapt our tone and phrasing to
the piano and the hall.
How do
you select the repertoires for the concerts?
Depends on what we like to play, what the concert requires (for example,
a total contemporary
program, or a romantic program), the demands of the audience (are they
used to listen to classical music), the hall (is it big enough to absorb
the power). We always try to present variety in piece selections (usually not an
all-Rachmaninov program, for example) and we follow our own taste.
In
your opinion, what is your strength in your playing?
Transparency in sound, which is a critical factor for the piano duos. Two pianos
can sound very heavy and square together and we always try to focus on
transparency. The same counts for playing four hands. Natural playing is
also very important to us. We try to keep the interpretation close to
the composer and to us.
What
do you hope to accomplish as a musician?
Of
course, making music is a never ending process, so we hope we will be
able to develop ourselves our entire lives by practising, performing and
listening to music and playing for musicians who can help us to develop
further.
Our wish is to share our music with audiences from all over the world
and that the audience wants to keep listening to our music.
 Do you
like any other forms of art? Tell
us about it.
We
both like to read. We don’t particular have a favourite writer, but we
like various kinds of writing. For example writers like Mulisch and
Kosinsky, but we also read more easy going books, like Lord of the rings
or Harry Potter.
Lestari also used to dance for 14 years, mostly ballet. She still loves
to it, but it’s difficult to combine with her music life now, because
dancing takes a lot of time.
What
were some of your recent reading?
Lestari is now reading Dostojevski’s ‘The village Stepanchikovo’, one of
his lighter books and Gwylim is reading a lot about the German composer
Zimmermann, for his Masters research.
Do you
have a hobby?
Listening music, reading, travelling, cooking, shopping (mostly
Lestari..), sports
In
your opinion, what are the characteristics of a good performer?
A good
performer has to be someone with a great heart, who loves music and his
instrument. Who loves to perform and to share his own interpretation of
music with the audience.
Do you have any upcoming
concerts?
Yes, besides some ‘regular’
two piano and piano four hands recitals in The Netherlands, we will also
play in some interesting combinations next month with four pianists
(with our teachers), string quartet in children concerts. We’re very
pleased that we’ve been invited to play in the Festival of Bath in
England in May, which will be recorded by the BBC.
How did
you hear about the
International Web Concert Hall Competition?
Through the internet.
Now days, do you perform solos in addition to duo performances?
Nowadays, our main focus is the duo. Since this is our biggest passion
and we mostly perform as a duo and not as soloists. We hardly have any time to work
on solo music since we are very
fortunate to be very busy with our duo.
Do you perform any chamber music?
We do play chamber music sometimes. In the first place, duo itself
is chamber music. Currently, we are working on a very interesting program with a
string quartet; Mendelssohn’s
string octet in the arrangement for string quartet and piano four hands.
We are also scheduled to play in a piano quartet with our teachers, The Silver-Garburg
Piano Duo, with whom we play a program for two pianos eight hands.
Moreover we also play chamber music apart from each other sometimes. We
both enjoy playing with other musicians a lot.
Do you have recordings made or schedule to do so any time soon?
Our first CD has just released! We were working together with the
label Challenge Records International. We already have plans to make a
second CD with them, but unfortunately we cannot tell you yet what it is
about.
But it will be very spectacular for sure!
About your names... for the readers who are not familiar with the
European names, is Lestari and Gwylim have special meanings?
We get this question a lot in The Netherlands! We both have
very Dutch last names, but our first names are not from here. Lestari is
an Indonesian name (she is half Indonesian and half Dutch), and it’s
meaning is ‘everlasting’. Gwylim’s name is Welsh (he is not Welsh, but
his parents just liked the name a lot) and it’s meaning is ‘resolute
protector’. We have to say that we are quite happy with these meanings.
On be half of the Web Concert Hall, we would
like to thank you for your time and we wish all the success.
Interviewed by Webconcerthall in March, 2011
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