Season 4 Episode 10: Walter Aparicio, Pianist & Founder/President of Foundation for Bolivian Artists

Welcome back to another episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song. Here, tradition meets innovation. We bridge the timeless beauty of the piano with the dynamic pulse of today's world. I am your host, Yukimi Song. Today, let me take you on a quick trip to the enchanting land of Bolivia, a country nestled in the heart of South America, boasting diverse landscapes that range from the majestic Andes Mountains to the lush Amazon rainforest, where you will find rich cultural heritage. For this episode, I invited pianist and educator and my colleague and friend Walter Africio, who is also the founder and president of the Foundation for Bolivian Artists. So let me just quickly read Walter's bio. Known for the warmth and conviction of his performances, Walter explores cultural background and identity, weaving a rich tapestry of music, referencing dance, language, and folk traditions. Walter's impressive career includes appearances at renowned venues from Lincoln Center to Carnegie Hall. He has graced international stages in Saint Petersburg, Beijing, and Barcelona. Walter is a dedicated advocate for Latin American composers, as showcased in his debut album, Iris Indios: Piano Music of Bolivia. Recently, Walter added the founder and president of the Foundation for Bolivian Artists to his resume. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to discovering and promoting Bolivian musicians through the Cantuta Concert Series and aims to create a vibrant community, providing musicians with exposure on prestigious stages and propelling their careers. Committed to artistic growth, collaboration, and connecting with professionals, the foundation emphasizes empowerment and cultural exchange to uplift these musicians globally. So here we are today to explore Walter's multifaceted contribution to the world of classical music, including his role in empowering and promoting Bolivian artists through his impactful foundation. Before we dive in, a warm welcome to new listeners and big thank you to our faithful TPP fans. Please don't forget to rate and review the show on your favorite podcasting platform. I am thrilled to welcome my dear friend, Mr. Walter Aparicio, to start our conversation. Please stick with us till the end for a reflective discussion on keeping classical music relevant in today's changing world. Please enjoy the show. You are listening to The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century. Here we are today with special guest whom I get to call my colleague and friend, Mr. Walter Apricio, pianist, educator, founder and president of Foundation for Bolivian Artists. Welcome, Walter. Yay!

Thank you, Yukimi.

Thanks for having me. So excited to be here.

Thank you for being here today. So we go all the way back. You are actually one of the very first group of people that I met when I first moved to New York to attend NYU. Yes, yes. And I don't exactly remember where and how, but probably through one of the Studio classes by Dr. Deirdre O'Donoghue, right?

That's right, that's right. I do remember that.

Yeah, yeah. And we both had a privilege of studying with her a while. Yeah, she is incredible. She's filled with knowledge, and every time you need a question about— any questions about piano literature, she's a go-to person, right?

That's right, that's right. No, she's like a fountain.

I know, I know. Amazing. And of course, after graduation, you invited me to be part of this nonprofit organization out of New York City, um, Piano Teachers Congress of New York. At the time, you were the president, and I had the privilege of serving as a VP for several years. Yeah, so since then I've been really following your career, and I've attended a few concerts you performed. And by the way, congratulations to the recent milestone that you achieved. You performed at Lincoln Center Futurus: New Ideas in Composition, curated by Neil Lettenweber. Tell us, so what's all about this?

It was such a really extraordinary and fun event for me to be able to participate in because this organization, New Latin Wave, really is on the forefront of curating and programming different kinds of not just music, but art by Latiné and Latinx artists and musicians and composers. And this particular series, Futuros: New Ideas in Composition. Futuros means futures, and that's really exactly what it is. It's new ideas and how are these composers who are either mid-career or just starting out or really well established, how are they pushing the composition forward and also looking into their Latinx identity, right? So, it was 3 nights at the Piano Pod with David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, which is already actually a really fun space because during the day it's a community space. So you can go in, you can have your coffee, there's a coffee shop there, you can have a gathering. I saw, you know, even in our sound check there were these older women playing chess. Oh, or no, no, maybe they were playing cards. Anyway, you know, we did our sound check and they were just listening and it was so fun. So already that community aspect which is actually one of the ideas that the New Latin Wave wants to promote is the community aspect of musicians, Latinx composers, and people in general. That idea is already in the atrium. And so it was 3 nights and each night with just incredible artists. And I was such a— so fortunate to be a part of the 3rd night and I performed a set of about 30 minutes of music by all Latinx living composers. And a couple of them were actually from Bolivia, which I was, in a way, I was really adamant about including music from Bolivia. Yeah, it was really incredible. And I think it was just a nice evening, you know?

Yeah, yeah. And then it's just a perfect, performance or recital for you. Like, you've been really such an advocate and influencer. And recently, you know, you have to say influencer. That's like a correct terminology, you know.

Right, right.

Yeah, but you are in many ways of contemporary music, especially Latin American music. And then your career as a performing artist and educator is really dedicated to the genre, of course, as well as traditional genres and eras as well. And you're one of them also the organizers of the 20th/21st Century Piano Festival at the Piano Teachers Congress too. So well before the recent surge in promoting diversity within our industry that sparked in 2020, you were already a fervent promoter and supporter of diversity in music, and particularly focusing on Latin American music and composers. I don't know if Latin American piano literature itself is considered diverse these days too, still, in many ways, I hope. Like, it's a really big genre, right?

Sure. I think that Latin American music in general, let's just talk about like popular genres, I think it's less in that realm of like being othered, right? Because we have like a lot of artists like in popular genres becoming much more popular in the mainstream. But in terms of classical music or art music, whatever you want to call it, you know, I think people still don't know about it. You know, when I was in school, when I went to do my master's, we had a piano literature course. You know, of course, we studied the Western canon, Western European composers, which are, of course, really important. And in a way, that's where most of this music started. But I remember very specifically, we spent one day, we spent one class on Spanish-speaking countries. Most of it was from Spain, right? So that gives you— I mean, of course, this was like quite a number of years ago, but it gives you an idea of not even that there's a lack of knowledge or a lack of music. It's a lack of interest, you know? And so that's partly why I started playing music from all these different countries and, you know, specifically Bolivia. So of course, I mean, there are outliers. Composers like Ginastera, we know Villalobos, Piazzolla, but even then, they're almost like considered like this, like little novelty, and people play them for like something else, or they want to fulfill a jury requirement. And so that's a little sad to me, but I think little by little it's starting to change. And, you know, even like Piazzolla, like the music is great, wonderful, but so much music from Argentina in general. There are tons of composers. It's such a huge classical music hub in South America, and people only know this like one tiny aspect that, oh, Argentina is tango, but there's actually even such a huge part of the country that is actually more in line with like Bolivian culture because it's in that part of— it's in that geographical area that it's in the mountains. So there's a whole world out there, and there's like almost too much music to cover in general.

Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. So that's why it's— I know within our really limited time, it's hard to talk about all these things that we're about to cover, but, you know, just in the sense that you are going to introduce, uh, our listeners about what it is this Latin American music is about, and also specifically Bolivian music. I'm very, very interested. So let's start and continue our conversation with the topic of piano literature of Latin America, and later we will be focusing on piano literature of Bolivia. So what's the current global reception? Well, we kind of talked about it, but Latin American piano music, has there been notable shifts in initiatives to bring this music to wider international audiences? What hurdles or triumphs have emerged?

You know, now that I'm a little bit more connected with musicians and educators from Latin America, I actually do see that there are huge push to make this music known to the world, you know? And we're so lucky at this time in our lives actually that we're able to, even if you're in a small country like Nicaragua, you can go on YouTube. You can go on Instagram. You can find, you can make something so that the world can see. And so, I think that's amazing. And so, this is actually how I'm finding so many of my sources because there's nothing— very little of this music is published, and there are very few, like, kind of professional recordings, if you can call it that. But, no, so I see that there are strides. There are strides being made for this music to be, like, pushed out into the world. Last March, I attended actually a conference. It was called the La Frontera International Piano Conference. And La Frontera means the border, and it actually is— It takes place in Brownsville, Texas, which is a border town in the US, and it's on the campus of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. And this was the original— well, it was the inaugural year, and they focused on music of Latin America. And it was amazing because there were so many kind of like-minded people in this conference, and I was lucky to present and perform the music of Bolivia, which I think, was pretty well received because it's not, uh, too well known, you know, uh, bigger countries and kind of more economic powers, if you could say that, get the highlights like Mexico, Argentina, all these like bigger, bigger countries. And even, even like Venezuela because of all the ILC STEM and all this stuff. So anyway, uh, the conference was amazing, but in a way we were all like preaching to the choir. You know, it's like all these people who have— are researching and are wonderful and promoting their music, they're— we're promoting it to each other. So, I think our responsibility is to go out and bring it to the world, you know. So, I was able— I learned so much about music from Costa Rica, from Nicaragua, from all these places, even like Mexican composers I had never heard who are actually— all these composers are popular in the countries. But they don't make it out. So, I think this year their topic is women, but every other year it's going to be Latin America, and it's— that's kind of like its main focus, this conference. So, I think, and I hope that there will be more kind of endeavors like this. I've seen people make recordings. There's a very particular recording by a Spanish composer— sorry, a Spanish pianist from Spain. His name is Antonio— Ollarsabel. We can maybe put that in the program notes because it's a very, very good recording. It's called El Fin del Silencio, The End of Silence, and it's all recordings by women composers from Latin America. So, it's even more niche. It's even more smaller, right? So, that is a— like, what a gem of a recording, and he's like touring it everywhere. It's a really good listen, and I really do appreciate he does include one Bolivian woman composer, the only one that like kind of is of note right now. So there are things, so there are incredible resources out there. So you just have to like be willing to find them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in many ways, positive things are really slowly happening.

I mean, absolutely, absolutely. But as I said before, like the— there has to be an interest because you have to be— you have to look for it. It's not in front of your face.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Totally. And then I think we still have to make the constant effort to choose the repertoire wisely. As classical musicians, we have to present in such a way that is— you bring awareness and interest from the public. Yeah, so next couple questions are for those who are yet to learn and discover the world of Latin American music, piano literature, and composers. So considering the diverse cultural and historical backgrounds across Latin America, you know, amidst the push for diversity, is there growing interest in specific cultural styles rather than the broader label of Latin American music?

I don't know if we're actually there yet. I think very much it's still on the fringe, and— but I'm hoping that little by little people will start to take an interest in being a little more aware that they don't lump Latin America as like one thing. That's like saying Asian composers. It's like, what is that? You know, there's so many countries in Asia. There's so many countries in Latin America. And look, yes, there are obviously similarities. There are obviously cross-fertilizations, cross-influences, but in a way, every— Mostly every country, more I would say every little smaller region has their own identity. And I think it takes people who are kind of more connected to it to like, to highlight those differences because they, you know, those people would know more. So yeah, I think it's about taking an interest, you know? The difference between like Mexico and Argentina is like so vast that they have nothing to do with each other really. You know, so it's besides the language, that's some of the only things that they have in common if you think about it.

And the Latin American music often blends indigenous and African and European influences. And tell us how these diverse cultural elements manifest in piano compositions across the region.

Well, for example, much of the Bolivian music that I play is inspired by the Andes. Much of the piano music that I play is inspired by the Andes, indigenous life in general, indigenous music. In fact, Bolivia is one of the countries in South America that has like the most kind of percentage and population of indigenous people kind of still thriving and active today. So, there's an obvious— even in everyday life, but there's an obvious inspiration from the music because it's kind of surrounding you, you know? Yeah. And for example, I don't know, like in Brazil you have like the choro. Sometimes they call it like a Brazilian tango, but it originated in Rio de Janeiro. And, you know, it's like a very kind of fast, lively, like happy rhythm piece. And like there's a really famous one by Ernesto Nazareth, called Odeon. So that's like an example of like a very specific genre that's only specific to Brazil. Yeah, so there's influence from all over the place. There's, yeah, depending on what region you're in also, it changes little by little, right?

Right, yeah. Are there overarching themes, rhythms, melodies that are commonly found in Latin American piano music transcending national borders? What elements unite the music across the— this continent of Latin American or the genre?

Well, it's— if you think about it, it's South America, right, plus the Caribbean and then Central America and then Mexico. It's huge. But I think one of the things— so it's hard to say because like it's not a one kind of answer thing. But obviously, the most blanket answer can be that there's a European influence from colonization, right? First, the colonization aspect. So they brought in their music and also so many musicians and composers would go to Europe to study because that was like the place to be, specifically Paris. So it's hard to say if there's, you know, an influence that encompasses them all. But I guess there's some European influence that kind of can cross genres. But like that's like the canvas you know? Because when we're thinking about piano music, it's already an European instrument, right? So already we're thinking in the 12 half steps, and so you can't have microtones or things like this or different kinds of scales that perhaps that are more present in indigenous music. So that European influence is obvious. But it's hard to say. I think that, I don't want to talk about like countries particular, but it's more like regions. And in regions you can say that like Bolivia, Peru, some part of Ecuador, and some parts of Colombia, like they have very similar styles because of where they are. And even that part of Argentina, like Jujuy, where I was talking about. And so yeah, if you have like different pockets of regions that have similar— a lot of the Caribbean music is very similar. Those, I mean, those are tiny countries. So depending on where you are, there's a rhythm or a dance or kinds of ways to construct the melody that can be unifying to a region, you know, a smaller region.

Right. And but it just has such a complexity. It's hard to talk about, you know.

Oh yeah.

No, it's incredibly complex because even within the countries there are elements that are different, you know? I mean, what comes specifically to mind, of course, is, I mean, the idea of dance. And dance is obviously like a unifying force for everybody. So in Latin America or in South America or in the Caribbean, like dance music is very popular. And a lot of the piano music that's written is dance music. You know? Of course, it's not dance music to be danced to. It's piano music, much like, you know, stylized Chopin waltzes, et cetera. Sure.

Mazurka, too.

Mazurka. Yeah, absolutely. All these kinds of dances. And but one thing I can say is it's the, you know, if you have like a 6/8 rhythm, something that's pretty common within all the— and it may actually be the same influence, maybe the Spanish influence or maybe some— African influence, but it's the idea of 6/8 and it— there being a dichotomy there, almost like a duality between feeling it in 3 and feeling it in 2. And within the same piece, it's constantly changing. That is actually kind of what gives some of Latin American music some kind of personality, right? So that's something, I mean, also changing from— like major to minor, back and forth without any kind of warning. That could have even been influenced by Arabic. So, you know, there's, there's so much history there that it's hard to actually know.

But so, but there, there are potential in, in many ways, like in the near future, each artist can really dig into one particular region or one particular culture within the Latin American genre and focus on that topic, just like you do with the Bolivian music, right?

Absolutely. Yeah, there's a wealth of very specific kind of genres of music out there, and some of that I'm— of which I'm not even aware yet. And I'm still learning. I mean, in this— I'm teaching a course at Manhattan School of Music at the pre-college, and one of the levels of the class is, you know, undiscovered piano music and I'm like pushing these students to find music from different places. And right now, actually, we're in Latin America. So what I do is I give each student a country and I make them do the research. You know, I make them find piano music that's interesting. Of course, you don't want to just play anything, but interesting music and why is it interesting and what does it say to the country? Does it, or is it just European sounding? And I'm actually finding— they're finding composers, rather, that I've never heard of. So that's even better for me.

Sure, sure.

Then I have this like roster of amazing music. So yeah, it's overwhelmingly— and it's incredible, actually, how much there is.

Yeah, sure. Well, you're teaching at MSM Pre-College, so you're part of this big educational institution now. Are there initiatives to preserve and promote Latin American piano music. And obviously, you know, I consider you are the front runner of the initiatives, and later we will be discussing about this, but you recently started the foundation, Foundation for Bolivian Artists. So besides you and other artists individually, how are educational institutions like MSM, for example, contributing to this effort?

I think it really does come down to the faculty. To push students to learn this music. Although, no, Manhattan School of Music has done some really good things about Latin American music. I'm not really so sure yet. Maybe there should be a course on Latin American piano music, because right now there is a course by wonderful Dr. Lisa Yewi, which I know you know from New York and Piano World, and you've also interviewed her here on this program. She created a course on music by of composers from Asia, a whole semester course, which is, I mean, it's, that's just so enriching for the students, not for something to be glossed over. For there to be this course, I think that's really, really having a step in the right direction. There should be one about African composers. There should be one about Latin American, and all the regions, you know, and I don't think it should replace the regular piano literature, I mean, obviously, all these kind of more mainstream composers are important, otherwise they wouldn't have been around for 200 years or more. But I do think that students need to have a choice to be given, because if there was no choice, you know, I wasn't given a choice, so I had to find it myself.

Right.

And actually, I just saw a posting from a university. I think it was one of the University of Texas, but there was actually a call for a piano faculty— not piano faculty, a music faculty for the Latin American Music Department. So they have a Latin American Music Department. And there are very few. I think Indiana University has one too. And they were looking for someone who was an expert in mariachi music. So that— I mean, that's not like classical music, but, you know, it's a very important aspect of Mexican music. So, of course, that can tie into any Mexican composer, Manuel Ponce, who— who really based much of his compositions on popular song. If you don't know mariachi music or popular song, you don't understand Manuel Ponce's music. So, you know, little by little, I see little things here. So hopefully there will be more and more courses and ways that students can be able to discover this music.

What trends or developments do you anticipate for the future of Latin American piano music?

I think the more people can find that they can play music that connects to them, then there will be a resurgence of people playing music from their own cultures, music from their own backgrounds. If you very, very dearly and intimately connect with Chopin, by all means, play all the Chopin in the world, in which I love Chopin, but, you know, I feel like an outsider looking in through a little window on Chopin's world. That doesn't make it any less amazing to me, but it's just like a separate, like removed way of experiencing the music, right? So, I think the more people can find the music that specifically connects to them, music that they relate to, music that is about them, then I think in Latin America that music will be pushed forward. And when people find music that connects to them, the audiences also connect with it. With it.

Totally. You can really tell. Yeah. Even like students' performance, you hear, oh, this is someone that the teacher told this person how to play this piece versus the student play really from the heart and how she or he is connected to the music. You really can tell.

Yeah. No, it's incredible when you're sitting at a lesson and a student plays something, you know instantly that they like the piece.

Yes.

You know?

Yes, I know.

It's immediate. And then, you know, I kind of sometimes when I'm teaching, I make it a specific point to be like, this is how everything should feel. Just so they don't think that like this is like this grand anomaly or this thing that happened that like is so like beyond them. No, no, no, this is how everything that you play should feel. So like I, you know, I always try to give them choices. But even for us, you know, some— and you know, there is like Bolivian music that I don't connect to, so I don't play it. Because it's a Bolivian composer doesn't mean I'm connecting to it, you know?

Right, right, right, right. So speaking of Bolivia, you were born and spent your really, like, a few couple of years in your early childhood years in Bolivia until your entire immediate family moved to the United States, correct?

Yes, yes. So I was born in La Paz, Bolivia, which is the capital. It is an incredible place. It is one of the most like unique cities, I think, in the world in the way that one, it sits like about 13,000 feet above sea level. So it's very, very high. It's the highest capital in the world already. That makes it interesting because we don't even have a fire department because it's, there's, you know, There's not enough oxygen anyway. So it's really, really high. It's really, really high. And yeah, so I was born there. I spent about 5 years there and then, you know, we moved to kind of the New York metropolitan area in North Jersey.

You know, at first I thought maybe you moved to the United States when you were in your teenage year, but it was much earlier.

It was much earlier.

Yeah.

I'm so American in my upbringing and, you know, as a child, as someone growing up here, and you know, we also didn't move to a community where there were a lot of Bolivians. And there are very few. There's like, there's one in Alexandria, Virginia area, like that area, there are a lot of Bolivians. And we didn't move to Queens. And even in Queens, there are much fewer there than there is in the DC area one. So we didn't move to a Bolivian community. And the community that I grew up was mostly It was very like Spanish-speaking Latin American, or mostly I'm gonna say 99% Cuban. And those were my friends, those were the people growing up. But so I didn't relate to them at all, you know? So in a way I was an outsider in the outsider world, which is why I think most of my childhood and up to my teen years, I like rejected the whole, I'm not from here, I'm American, you know? It was very kind of inculcated by my parents that, no, you are, you are from Bolivia, you're this, and it's amazing. And I mean, living in the tiny bubble of our apartment, it may as well be Bolivia. It may as well be in La Paz.

Oh yeah.

Yeah. But I mean, with some groceries from the US, but, but no, but the, the music, the, the, the cooking, the dancing, all the decor, like everything, it was like we were there. So, but you know, I left the house and I was like, no, I'm American. That was kind of my mindset for a really long time.

Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, it's a coping mechanism, I guess. Yeah.

Of course. And I kind of sort of can relate to that. I was, I'm Korean, but born and raised in Japan. So plus coming here, I was like a young adult coming to the United States, but you know, I had to totally immerse myself. To this culture in order for me to blend and being accepted.

Also succeed, right? Because if you— I mean, keeping, keeping all your traditions and everything is great, but you have to adapt to what's happening. And so I feel like there has to be a fine balance between making sure that you keep your traditions and your culture and your integrity as a person from somewhere else, but also make sure that you're able to succeed. And I think, you know, in a way my family was like, yes, you should, you should do all the American things so then you can succeed, you know?

Of course. Yes. So your early years of piano lessons, so that started in the United States then?

Oh yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. And I don't know anything about, you know, the education there of like pedagogy and things like this. I'm not super aware of.

So, but tell me, what it's like to be a piano student, early years of piano lessons. And you just briefly told me about your upbringing at home. So piano lessons and maybe a little bit later on training at MSM and NYU.

So my first piano teacher is— I mean, it was like craziness to me now that I think about it as a piano teacher. It was this wonderful, very nice Cuban old lady. And she was very sweet. She must have been 80. And so we went to her by the recommendation of, you know, a neighbor or something like this. And so she taught like group lessons, but they weren't really group lessons. They were private lessons, but at the same time. So there was like 3 uprights in one room, and she would go to me, and then she would go to the next person, and then she would be like, okay, now you practice. And then she would rotate around the room but we were all playing totally different things and they were upright. So it's not like you can like be in your own little personal world. It was kind of chaos. And in the other room, she was teaching ballet. Anyway, so it was like a whole little art center, whatever you want to call it. But, you know, I kind of like outgrew that quite quickly. Then I went through various teachers until high school or so where I kind of settled on a teacher. Nearby, and he was great for me. He gave me a lot of inspiration and kind of, you know, set me up to prepare me for college auditions, etc.

And then you entered MSM as an undergrad?

No, undergrad I went to NYU. NYU was actually a really interesting and wonderful place back then. I mean, I don't know it too much now. I know the department has grown huge and they're doing like innovative things and wonderful things. But when I was there, it was very small and everybody knew each other. I was only 1 out of 3 piano majors. I was the only one to graduate because maybe the other people went to different things or anyway. So it was a very small program and it was very kind of, Everybody knew you and that was very special. And I really liked that you could take classes here and over there and kind of get a well-round— I say well-rounded, but you could be curious about other things, you know? And I think that was a really good— I'm sure it's still that way in a certain sense, but it's grown so much that I think it may be very like piano music-centric now. So no, it was great. So I did that and you know, that's when I met Deirdre O'Donoghue, and she was wonderful, and she encouraged me to audition for Manhattan School. So actually, it was the only audition I did.

And then you got in.

Well, yeah, but I wasn't going to audition for my master's. I thought maybe I need a year to, like, practice or something. Anyway, I took the audition, and they accepted me. So that's where I met Philip K. Wynn, and I worked with him 2 years at the school and also like a number of years afterwards. And, and that was a very different kind of experience, but also I think I was ready for it and kind of game to work really hard.

But when I met you, was it while— when you were at NYU? So you were undergrad?

I must have been undergrad, yeah. I must have been like a junior or a senior.

Okay, okay.

Yeah, and that's school. And then you later realize that school isn't real life.

Yes, the real life is. So what was it like after you graduate from this old glorious NYU and MSM? And then was it all red carpet ready for you?

And oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah. Next day I had my Carnegie Hall. No, but I was a person who, like, I'm an immigrant and we didn't have any money. Really growing up. And so to put my way through school, I worked, you know, and at NYU I worked at the music office. And by the time I was at MSM, I was teaching piano lessons at like certain little studios, but also I had some private students. So it was like very different from like maybe a lot of my colleagues who just could practice all day.

I know.

In a way, I graduated and I already had jobs, you know, because I had been working for like a number of years already. But so I find that kind of lucky. But also, I like the hustle mentality was real. Like you had to say yes to every job. I'm glad that I did it because I felt like I got so many random experiences and, you know, you're just always better for it.

So, and afterwards, and then not only, you know, obviously you already had that sort of like a street-smart kind of skills you already had, but also you had amazing concert experiences, Carnegie Hall, solo concert, and many others. But what led you to be in touch with your heritage?

I had never played Bolivian music. And in a way, as I said, it's about access, it's about information, it's about curiosity. No one told me to be curious. No one told me you should— I mean, not even my parents, because my parents didn't know about piano. I taught them about classical music in a way, you know? It was kind of that. They learned as I— when I played a Beethoven sonata, they're like, "Oh, now that's Beethoven." And it was actually incredible to see their growth. By the time I was like, I don't know, let's say 24, 25, they would— we would be in the car, and they're like, "Oh, the Vivaldi. I love this Vivaldi." And to me, that's incredible. Anyway. So, no, I think it was at MSM actually, Mr. Kaywin said, "Is there any Bolivian music that you could play?" And I thought, "Well, I don't know." So, the next time I did go to play a concert there, I found— well, I went to the conservatory in La Paz and I went to the library and I was like, "Give me all your music." So, I found— specific composers. I found specific— I got a lot of music and I, you know, I didn't touch it for a long time. And I was like, oh, maybe this is good. But I did play a couple of pieces, a couple of pieces that are actually on my recording by Eduardo Cava, which is one of the foremost like nationalist composers. To me, they sounded like the most Bolivian. They were nationalist. And so, I did play that and that was 2007. '07 when I did this kind of Carnegie Hall concert, a solo recital there. So, I did include actually from then music by Bolivian composers, which I'm actually very grateful that I did that because there's like a timeline, like a stamp of when I started that. And then, to be honest, like for the next couple years, I was still— I wasn't really playing all that much music from there. But little by little, I started thinking maybe I should do something different. And in a way, I just started connecting more to the music. You know, when I was in NYU and when I was in even high school, I really connected with music that had rhythm, like very specific rhythms. My piano teacher from high school, his name was Philip Dico. He was actually amazing in the way that like he tried to find pieces that were of interest to me. He gave me like pieces from Latin America. So, he gave me like Lecuona from Cuba. He gave me Ginastera pieces. So, and I actually did really, really connect with them. But I'm like, oh, this is nice. I must like rhythmic music. So, then I started playing some Bartók. And I was like, oh, this is great. Oh, I love Bartók.

Oh, it's Bartók.

I must love folk music. And then finally, when I started, more Bolivian music, and when I heard it, I'm like, oh, the reason I connect with the other composers is because they're closer to what I know. There's a folk music aspect. There's the rhythmic aspect of some kinds of pieces. There's like pentatonic scales.

There's—

it's like imitation of different kinds of folk instruments in Bartók and Dzunas. There are all this stuff, the guitar, and so, there was a moment where I was like, oh, it's because this is the music like that I know from growing up. So then, yeah, I mean, I've just been more and more delving into it.

Sure. And then just going back a little bit, like when you mentioned about the capital of Bolivia, La Paz, and how the altitude was so high. In many ways, so that's kind of like isolating from many other towns and cities, right? Because it's hard to get to and hard to get out of the town because it's— right? And then plus that element itself, like, preserve the culture. Uh-huh.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's, uh, yeah, that's a very interesting point. I mean, because the, the city is like, it's a bowl-like kind of place, you know? It's like in the part of like an Amazon basin. Then it's surrounded by all these huge tall mountains in the high plains. And there's always one particular mountain that we call, it's a 3-peak mountain, it's called the Illimani. And it's a national symbol of, well, particularly La Paz, but Bolivia in general. And actually the logo to my foundation that we'll talk about later is based on that mountain.

I, that's what I thought. I just, yeah, it came to my mind. Wow. That's clever. That's really good.

I had a very good, uh, graphic designer work on it.

We're going to talk more about that, but yeah, so I'd love for you to take us on a trip to Bolivia right now. What are some distinctive cultural traditions and celebrations in Bolivia that particularly resonate with you and that you find really fascinating?

In general, so much of the culture, as I said before, has to do with indigenous life. So a lot of the indigenous kind of traditions I think are really interesting. Even there's a kind of reverence for nature, that nature and like the earth and the sky are really important. Of course, that comes from like indigenous, like gods that they have, the Inti and the gods. And they call like the earth, they call it Pachamama, which is like Mother Earth. And like you give to Mother Earth so that it gives back to you. So those kinds of things to me are like really beautiful. In terms of like cultural things, I think Bolivia is special in the way that we have so many of these like dance troupes that dance in parades. Actually here in New York City, there's a ton of that going on right now. So, all these dances have like beautifully elaborate costumes. The music, of course, for each dance troupe is a very specific dance. You have like all these— well, there's like a morenada. I mean, I can go into so many of these kinds of dances. And actually, the piano music does reflect some of that. Yeah, so those kinds of traditions. And of course, you know, every culture is centered around food. So, of course, The food always brings me back. And besides that—

Tell me more about food.

Sorry. Okay, well, actually, you can try some Bolivian food at Bolivian Llama Party in Queens. Shout out to them. Let's make a date to go to Queens. We can— Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the kind of the main staple there is a salteña. Salteña, if you think about a mix between an empanada and a soup dumpling. So it's like a— it's like an empanada shape with a very delicious kind of thick dough, and inside is like a stew. Um, so it's perfect, um, for the kind of climate of, you know, the high— all the mountain region. And, uh, typically you have it at like 10 AM. It's like your before— before lunch snack. And, uh, so that's really amazing. Um, and they have actually a very good menu at Believing in part of it. So, you— the salteña is really wonderful. And also, one of my favorites, which I'm going to make, I think, very soon because of this cold weather, is the peanut soup, which is quite unique. So, it's not a— if you think about peanuts in other cuisines, you maybe you think about like Thai or like peanut sauce, things like that. And that's sweet. But this is a very savory, like, creamy soup that You can put meat in or not. And that's one of my favorites. So those kinds of two things. But, you know, it's a mountain country and we actually have like 300 different kinds of potatoes, all these different kinds of potatoes. So it's a potato country, of course, very like mountain, rice and meat and potatoes. And so, you know, very hearty for climbing the altitude.

Sure, sure. Wow. Makes me really hungry right now.

I'm hungry too. Yeah.

Now, so that's one way of being, you know, expression. So other cultural expression would be like, you know, for example, visual arts, dances.

Yeah.

Are you familiar with— I know you have another Instagram account besides your main account about this Andean, let's say, culture?

Well, yeah, that's right. Well, mostly there I like to promote music from Bolivia because like all the sounds are from the Andes. So, it's mostly there. If you want to check it out, it's called Andean Sounds. And it's really just me promoting the music of Bolivian composers. And I should upload there soon because I have a couple videos waiting. Other artists I mean, of course, visual art. I mean, there's like all these visual artists are always inspired by the land, really the culture. There's a specific one, he's an Aymara. There are like two main indigenous groups, which they're the Quechua people and there's Aymara. Of course, there are like actually like 34 other indigenous languages that are official languages in the country, but those are the two like most popular ones. Yeah, some of them are just like very small. So, but to kind of preserve the indigeneity of it, they make them official languages, which I think is actually really beautiful too for preservation. But anyway, this Aymara artist, his name is Mamani Mamani, and his work is very significant and he uses a lot of like Aymara indigenous traditions and symbols and His work has really been kind of exhibited all over the place at this point, all over the world. So, he's basically, I would say, the most important visual artist. Of course, there's a lot of textiles and all these kinds of very kind of trade artisanal traditions too.

My impression is that Bolivian art or even fashion are so colorful, just like the flag of Bolivia, right?

Um, yeah, the— there's like the original flag. Well, I can't say original, it's the like the flag if you look on Wikipedia, that's the flag. It's red, yellow, and green, which is like, it's like in a way the colonial kind of flag, very bright colors. But there's also the wiphala, um, and the wiphala is the indigenous flag, and that's actually more colorful, and it's like little boxes. It's hard, maybe I don't know, it's hard for me to explain it, but it's a lot of little boxes, all different colors, and they represent different like forms. I don't— I'm not really actually too knowledgeable about what each color and things represent, but it's a square flag and it represents the indigenous people.

So, you know, we talked about food and art, so let's talk about piano music of Bolivia finally. So what distinguishable characteristics or themes can be found in Bolivian piano music? Compared to other Latin American countries?

You know, when I was talking about my recital debut a long time ago, where I wanted to play music that was like Bolivian sounding, I chose these pieces by Eduardo Cava, the nationalist composer, which was "Iris Indios." And so, those particular pieces have a number of elements. You have kind of like different kinds of scales, different kinds of harmony. You have like pentatonic scales. You have some modal scales. There's definitely a sense of imitation of instruments. So, The Piano, as we know, is the greatest orchestra, and so it can imitate almost every instrument. So, it imitates the pan flutes, which you may know of. It imitates like the small guitars. We call— there's like a 12-string guitar called the charango. Yeah, there's— in terms of like melody, there's like ideas of like rhetoric. So, there's a lot of like speech-like melodic aspects. And then, even the way composers play with register can be important because that could represent perhaps the earth. And then, the high register can represent the sky. So, there's a lot more kind of in a way references besides just the actual notes, right? So, yeah, I think those are the kind of ideas. There's ostinato, you know, many of the aspects that are present in folk music in general are present in this kind of music. Yeah, even like, you know, when composers use like grace notes in rhythms, in melodies, that sometimes signifies like a microtone. Because, you know, we can't play between the notes, so we do a grace note. Almost like blues does that too, right?

Makes sense. Yes, yes, totally.

So, and of course, like all the dances, all the specific dances that are referenced are more specific to Bolivian music than let's say something else from Latin America, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, I can, if you want, I can demonstrate a couple of things.

I would love to hear it.

These pieces, "Aires Indios," the translation is actually "Indian airs," right? "Aires Indios." So already knowing what we know about the landscape of the particular region of the Altiplano, which is the high plains, the mountain region, you already know that there's no air. So it's about air, right? So we think about the natural quality of air and indios meaning like Indian, but also that just means indigenous really, like the, you know, indigenous person, like the natural air. But also, of course, we know that the reference to an aria, which is like a vocal piece. So in a way, to me, I don't know if it's what the composer necessarily intended, but to me, they have the aspect of the natural element of air, plus the vocal quality. So this first excerpt is from one of those aires indios, and you'll hear a lot of like quintal harmony, lots of open fifths, lots of beautiful melodies. Also, there's changing meters because that's kind of— irregular meters are part of folk music, right? So that's nice. Think. It's so beautiful. And you hear like kind of a— there's a serenity. There's like a wandering aspect perhaps. There's a sense of repose. This one's a little different. I think this in the next excerpt, it's like the ground, the earth, the Pachamama, and the sky. So you get kind of the hollowness in the unison, kind of hollow, empty, austere. And then you get a complete opposite, so much harmony and beautiful color when we have the contrast there. One last one, um, here we're imitating, uh, instruments. To me, this is imitating a sampônia, which is like a pan flute, like those pan flutes that you see. So, uh, really, really those open fourths, uh, like a sampogna. And actually, it's more true today for— because my piano is out of tune. So these instruments are very rarely exactly in tune, right?

It's more—

actually, a lot of composers, actually more modern composers, would probably give it a dissonance or something like this just to actually highlight the fact that these instruments are very rarely in tune. I mean, they also use different scales. So that's just like a little bit of a sample of what kind of sounds I'm talking about when, we talk about Bolivian music, you know?

Wow. Gorgeous. What a gem. Oh, just to even get to know. Oh, so beautiful. Now, and then that's the Iris Indios you mentioned. And did you play that in your album, right?

I did record these almost like 8 years ago. I put out this recording actually. So there are, it's a set of pieces. 10 Aires Indios, but I only recorded 6 because at the time the other 4 hadn't been found. So, the recording has the 6 Aires Indios, like the original Aires Indios, but I think 2019 or 2018, one of kind of the foremost pianists in Bolivia and researcher and expert on Eduardo Cava found the other 4 and has since published them. So, I do play some of the other ones but they're just not in my album. And, yeah, on the CD is also 8 Motives of Folklore from Bolivia, right, right? Also by Eduardo Cárdenas. Those pieces are very interesting. Because they are actually inspired by the valleys of Bolivia, totally different from the plains, from the altiplano, from the highlands, right? So, they're like more easygoing. There's like a sunniness to them. So, it's interesting how the topography, how that climate even will elicit something different from a composer.

Yeah, but really, I enjoyed listening to your piece, the pieces that you played in the album, and I loved all of them. It was just, took me to a quick trip to Bolivia.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And in a way, that was my intention with the album originally because people don't know this music and I wanted, exactly, I wanted, that's a nice way to put it. I wanted to send them, on a quick trip to Bolivia? What kinds of sounds are there? From where are they inspired? What will you, you know, experience? What kinds of sounds can you experience from there? That was the intention. So, I'm glad that kind of came through. But also, you know, since then I've started, you know, I play a lot more like kind of current and modern music from Bolivia, which is in a way always inspired by the culture. But maybe not in an overt way, you know?

If I want to play this piece, where can I find the score?

Yeah, okay. That's the trouble, right?

Yes.

So, you contact me.

Okay. Okay.

No, no, no. There are a number of ways to find this music, but it really is like a community of the people who are like— I know the woman who sells the Ayres Indios and the volumes of these. So, anytime somebody wants to play those, any piece by Eduardo Cava in general, I send it to her. She has a WhatsApp and, you know, she'll send you a digital copy with a small fee, you know? And so, that we're maintaining copyright and I do find that that's important because that is her research. Other than that, if it's in public domain, I'm, you know, I'm happy to share the music. You know, or maybe a lot of— obviously, a lot of living composers are very generous. They'll just send you the music.

So, tell me just a little bit about Eduardo Caba, and then also you performed pieces by Simeón Ronca and then Marvin Sande.

Yep, that's right. So, Eduardo Caba is the first, or in a way, the most important nationalist composer. He's a— an early 20th century, late 19th century composer. He studied in a number of places in Argentina, but also Spain. He went to Spain. I mean, that's what I'm saying is like all these people went abroad to study and they brought back with them salon music. So, that's why, you know, a lot of— actually, this woman who does the Eduardo Cava editions also has a whole volume of salon music by Bolivian composers. So, all of those pieces will be waltzes, mazurkas, polkas. I mean, nothing to do with Bolivia. They went to the places, mostly Paris, came back, started writing in that style. But Eduardo Caba did study in Spain. He studied actually, he was a student of Joaquín Turina, who is a pretty well-known Spanish composer. In a way, was the first nationalist composer. So, he, in kind of an intuitive way, he wasn't intending to mimic sounds, you know, or be like, this is this dance, this is this dance. But he would, as you heard, those were all pieces by him. They are inspired by so much of the culture, the instruments, the folk music, the landscape, the, indigeneity of the Pachamama, perhaps. And he does have a lot of other pieces, and he does have some salon music as well. And then the other composer, Simón Roncal, around the same era.

You know, I love that piece, Rosa.

Oh yeah.

Adorable. So beautiful.

Those pieces are cuecas, and a cueca is a very specific dance that is from Bolivia. But I mean, also they dance it in Peru, they dance it in Chile. It actually is kind of a blend of a Spanish dance that kind of came from the— called the Sama Cueca. Well, originated like mostly in Peru, but it is a kind of an evolution of the Fandango. And so, but because of the Indigenous people, there was like some elements that got mixed in. So eventually it became a kweka. And so this is a very good example of when you have a 6/8 piece that goes between 3 and 2 all of the time. And it's actually a courting dance. And the courting dance between, in this case, a man and a woman with like handkerchiefs in their hand, they're courting each other. And the man is trying to like overtake Or like woo the woman rather, not a berserk, woo the woman. And so there are 3 sections and in a way some, what's interesting is a lot of the dance motions resemble like a rooster and a hen. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you get some of that, like a kind of like the proud rooster and like this kind of more coquettish head perhaps. Anyway, so those are the quick guys. And the last composer on the album is Marvin Sandy, who we don't know too much about, but he does— he was like a real big proponent in the early 20th century of modern music. And he was also like a philosopher and was into all these other things. But these pieces reminded me so much of the music that I loved growing up with of Bartók. So there's like a Bartók kind of barbarism aspect, which is very cool. So I really like those pieces.

Honestly, I heard that Bartók-like elements.

Yeah. So even if— even that word, like pantheistic rhythm. So it's not the idea of like a colonizer religion, but the pantheism of like indigenous people, you know?

Hey there, TPP family! The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song is now into our 4th season, and it's all thanks to you. Since 2020, you've been with my journey with the TPP, exploring this burning question: how do we make classical music resonate with today's audience in fresh and captivating ways? 4 years in, and the journey has been nothing short of magical. The Piano Pod isn't just a podcast; It's a movement, a space where pianists, composers, and educators brainstorm, debate, and reimagine classical music's place in our fast-paced world. We're together on a mission to ensure classical music doesn't just survive but thrives in our modern age. But here's the thing: to keep bringing you these insightful biweekly episodes, I need your help. Every bit of support goes into The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song, from hosting to high-quality recording tech, and the countless hours behind the scenes. So do you want to be part of this journey? Click the PayPal link in the show notes or head to thepianopod.com to donate. And as a token of appreciation, I will personally mail you The Piano Pod's snazzy logo sticker. So hit the subscribe button, spread the word, and let's continue our mission and journey as classical musicians. Now let's continue with the show. Now I would like to know the foundation you built, Foundation for Bolivian Artists. So before asking you specific questions, what is this all about? Uh, just give us the brief overview of the foundation, please.

Foundation for Bolivian Artists is a nonprofit organization that we just started. This is our first year, really. And so, this is all very new to us, the nonprofit world. But it's exciting. And the organization is dedicated really to supporting classical musicians of Bolivian backgrounds specifically. And the reason it's not a Latin American Foundation for Artists or Spanish-speaking or Andean Foundation for Artists is because I truly believe that Bolivia, the country, the people, its music is completely overlooked all the time. You see that in every aspect. And so, people don't even know where it is on the map, for example. Forget about what it stands for, what kind of people come from there, what language do they speak. I've gotten so many things. People think I'm from Africa. People think I'm from Europe. I mean, I've gotten it all. And I have— I mean, it's not their fault necessarily, but it's just not in the pop culture, you know? I mean, people know— I mean, obviously it's far away. So like, obviously people know like more about Mexican culture because here we have a lot of Mexican immigrants, which is— much closer, obviously. So, we understand and there's like a whole Tex-Mex and the food. So, I understand, but also in other kinds of things, it tends to be just a little bit ignored. So, there are a lot of— even in classical music, there are, you know, people play Argentine composers all the time. People play Cuban composers, all these things. But it just tends to be always overshadowed by perhaps like bigger economic powers, people tend to leave Bolivia to go study classical music. I mean, we just had 3 examples of composers that we were talking about, the ones from the recording. They all studied somewhere else. So, the infrastructure for classical music is perhaps not ideal, but there are talented people coming out of the country. Our mission is to provide all these wonderful musicians with kind of like career-changing opportunities for them to present themselves, especially in New York. Because I see all these musicians, thanks to social media, thanks to all these recordings and internet, I'm finding musicians left and right. And this is why I didn't want to call it something else. It had to be something for Bolivians, and I wanted them to know that.

So the eligibility would be only Bolivian pianists?

Well, yes. So the eligibility is really you have to be of Bolivian background. So, for example, there was a participant or an applicant this year who is very, very talented who had a Bolivian parent. I don't remember which one, but she lives in Berlin, I believe. I believe, born in Berlin, speaks perfect German, but actually speaks Spanish too. And she does Bolivian dances in Berlin. And so like, it's like amazing. And she's, you know, was one of our finalists. And so yeah, completely eligible to participate in our programs or apply to our programs. And so we wanna give these participants an opportunity to come to New York City, and we're going to give them an all-expenses-paid trip to come and play a recital debut in New York City this year. It's in Merkin Hall. And, you know, this all started because I received, for me, what was kind of like a life-changing opportunity in that Carnegie recital. And I, you know, there are very few opportunities for specifically Bolivian musicians out there. And they never come to New— you know, maybe they're playing all over the world or maybe not, but they're not playing here. So be that source. And our foundation is really dedicated to that. Right now, just piano, but we'll see. We're just starting out, so we really want to eventually expand.

So just knowing you and, you know, learning more about you today, this is just very touching. Yeah, the whole motivation behind it and the cause, and you basically want to fill the gap, right?

Yeah, exactly. No, it's filling the gap because, you know, every musician, no matter where they're from, deserves a chance. You know, to come here to, especially from, as I said, like an often overshadowed place, you know. And actually, more than that is like the musical heritage of Bolivia needs to be preserved, needs to be highlighted, needs, there needs to be a spotlight on it because there isn't one. If you ask somebody what musicians from Latin America you know, they'll never, they'll never name a Bolivian musician. So, I want that to change. I want them name 5 Bolivian musicians off the top of their head.

Do you have like a specific repertoire requirement, for example, for them to— in order for them to compete, do they have to play 1 or 2 maybe Bolivian composers or compositions?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's part of— I mean, in a way, this whole idea has so many layers to it and it's hard to wrap my head around it sometimes. But besides promoting the musician, giving the musician a an opportunity to play in like in a kind of a recital here on their own. And that's also something really important that I wanted to mention is that this is a solo recital, full solo recital. So these musicians have to be kind of top-notch. We have to know that they're going to be reliable to play this full amazing program. But the requirements are vast in a way. Sorry, what I mean is that they can submit almost any video, right? Regardless of video quality, they can submit a concerto. We've had so many concerti submissions, which was very interesting, but it showed us kind of the commitment to who they are, you know? And but one of them, there has to be at least one Bolivian composer in the requirements. So that will, already promote Bolivian composers that we may not know to be performed in New York.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Perfect.

Exactly. And so, what we want to do is, besides that, they have to submit— and actually, in a way, this is like the heart of the application— they have to submit a proposed program. And so, they will propose a program, of course, including one Bolivian piece, or— sorry, minimum one Bolivian piece, and they will kind of elaborate on the reasoning for their program. To me, that is the most important part because they're— we're giving them tools to succeed in the real world, which is when you're asked to play a concert, you have to give a program. And this is— it has to show who you are. It can't just be, I'm gonna play 3 Bach inventions, and then I'm gonna play the Liszt Sonata, and then I'm gonna play a rag, and then maybe I'll play Schumann. What does that say about, to me, an artist? What does that say about what you like, what you play, what you play well? So I think the important part is submitting something and explaining it in a way that it is thoughtful. We've had many applicants who were very, very good, but in a way that the program wasn't right.

For us.

Yeah. And we want it to be about the person. We don't want it— we don't want, you know, of course we want you to play well, but they do. And are, you know, the people who apply play excellent. But I think that is the main thing with our requirements, you know, that is really part of the vision.

Now, so then as a— this was the inaugural year and then the first concert is coming up on March 1st. Tell us a little bit about the winner.

We've had 23 applicants for our first iteration of our program. And right now we're just focusing on piano. We had really excellent applicants, really from all over the world, of course from Bolivia, but there are applicants from Argentina, applicants who are studying and living here in the United States, from Portugal, from Germany, from United Kingdom, really from all over, all over the place. And I was very impressed and delighted actually that so many people were interested in our program. So we had 3 really excellent adjudicators who kind of painstakingly whittled down to 3 finalists. And we went back and forth on who it could be because they were, the 3 were really, really top-notch and all really, really deserved. But our winner is Sergio Escalera Soria. And he's a really, really wonderful musician, very talented. And to us, he really represents a 21st century artist. He's had an amazing trajectory all over, really all over the world where he's worked in countless places playing piano, of course, with orchestras, but also solo recitals and chamber music. He's an educator. And he's so kind of interested in how to learn so much about the world so that it can be nurtured in his art. And I think that's really important for a 21st century artist to not just, I don't know, play all the Chopin etudes perfectly well, but to have some kind of thirst for knowledge, for different cultures, for different— he spent some time in Armenia. He spent some time in Palestine. He spent some time and all over the place learning, teaching. And so, we're really excited for him to come. And his program is wonderful. It is kind of like a journey through his life from Western European classics in the beginning because that's his foundation to sounds of Bolivia and other Latin American countries. So, oh, well, he can tell you more about that.

So here we have Sergio Escalera Soria, concert pianist and the Foundation for Bolivian Artists Earth Scholarship Recital recipient. Thanks for being here, Sergio.

Hello, Yukimi. It's a pleasure to be here.

Congratulations on winning the scholarship to perform at Merkin Hall, one of New York City's prestigious and finest concert venues, in a few months, right?

Yes, exactly. In a month and a half exactly from today. I'm super excited and very honored.

So before we talk about the concert, why don't you introduce yourself to The Piano Pod's audience, your current residence, and then maybe your current status or standing as a pianist, like your performances, educational background.

Of course. I'm Sergio. I was born in Cochabamba, which is the third or fourth largest city of Bolivia. Although for the past 15 years I've lived abroad in many different countries. Right now I'm based in Portugal, in the city of Lisbon. It's— I think it's the seventh country where I've lived. I'm not fully sure. So I've been moving around a lot and like chasing or being chased by musical opportunities. And super fortunate, of course, for having done that. And yes, at this moment, I'm very privileged to combine solo playing, chamber music making, and teaching like in different formats here in Portugal, in Europe, in Latin America, and in the Middle East as well. I'm not currently enrolled in school. I've taught recently. I'm not teaching like formally at school, but I don't exclude that option for the next season.

Now, so what motivated you to enter this competition? What specific aspects that really appeal to you? Perhaps you're, you know, obviously you're of Bolivian heritage and so maybe the potential opportunities as a winner that attracted to you?

Yes, of course, those things. Anything that has to do with Bolivians and with Bolivian music is super appealing to me. I'm always eager to share my music and to participate in the larger Bolivian musical scene, although it's not actually that large. It's not that big. I'm afraid to say that Bolivian, like, opportunities for Bolivians are actually scarce. And this is why the work of the Foundation is incredibly valuable. And yes, having this opportunity is not an opportunity for myself alone, but I feel for other people who support my work and who kind of work with me sometimes, or students that I have seen in Bolivia that can see what somebody can do with music and what stages we can play at. This is very, very inspiring, and I hope other people also can feel or get, you know, receive that message transmitted through me.

This foundation gives classical musicians of Bolivian background access to the world's most prestigious career opportunities. But just tell us about your heritage, but also tell us about the country, the beautiful culture, musical, maybe musical scene of Bolivia.

You know, it's very interesting that a lot of Latin American countries, including Bolivia, have a huge, like, diverse ethnicity, diverse population, a diversity of culture that is even unimaginable sometimes, you know. And it's hard to hard to predict how our culture is portrayed or is showcased sometimes. So in my case, yeah, my Bolivian-ness, I guess, comes, yeah, from, you know, I'm fully Bolivian. My parents are Bolivian. We have indigenous roots, you know, from the different indigenous communities that were there for a long time. We also have Spanish blood as well, you know, that's the product of colonization. So Europe has brought a lot of things to, to Latin America, let's say the instruments, let's say some of the rhythms, let's say some of the academia that is now present in Bolivia and in Latin America to systematize our music. But in fact, we are also very rich in other things that are not fully part of the Western classical spheres. For example, our folk music traditions, our instruments, our— our modes, our own scales and ornaments that are actually not very present or not visible at all, I would say, in Western classical music. So in a way, I took advantage of that, you know, like of my heritage of having been brought as a classical pianist, but actually benefiting from the other aspects of music making in Bolivia to actually come up with, yeah, with a unique and personal proposal, which is, yeah, play the great masters of Western classical music, but as well my own arrangements of Bolivian music, other like Bolivian composers' music as well to bring them to light as well. And yes, I feel fully Bolivian, although I've spent so much time abroad. And actually, I dream of coming back home and living there in the upcoming future, hopefully.

That's wonderful to hear. Now, so speaking of Bolivian music, so let's talk about the repertoire that you're going to be presenting at Merkin Hall on March 1st. So tell us the list of the repertoire, the pieces that you're performing.

Well, I'm performing— first, I feel I need to speak about these two Bolivian composers that I'm playing. One of them is Matilde Casasola. She's a woman, an 80-year-old. A singer and songwriter from Sucre, from the historical capital of Bolivia. I'm playing her music seen through my own eyes and through my experience of the past years. So it's an arrangement that I'm doing at the moment. And her style is, of course, emerging from the popular traditions of folk dances, folk songs, lullabies. So I'm taking one specific song from her. I'm taking then another composer who's from my native town of Cochabamba. His name is Manuel Rodriguez. He was the founder of the first orchestra of my city. And he's well known for that, but his music is actually not known at all. It has never been published or edited or performed even. It was performed perhaps in a few casual occasions by my former teacher from Cochabamba. Although my former teacher was not Bolivian, she was Russian. So she, she tried to rescue the, you know, the work of this wonderful person and like founder of this musical movement in Cochabamba. And, and I took over that, you know. I said, yeah, I want to play this music. I go to that house of the Rodriguez family to, to visit Manuel Rodriguez's daughters who are still living there. They are incredible people. They facilitated the music to me so that I could teach to other people or perform it myself. So I'm playing two of these pieces in New York as well.

Wonderful.

And then, well, of course, those Bolivian pieces are in the context of other Latin American genres. You know, Latin music is so vast and so huge. I'm playing six Cuban sones. By Carlos Fariñas, who is a very well-known composer in Cuba, but not often performed in the format of solo piano. And I'm playing Uruguayan composer Héctor Tossar, also very well-known and very important composer for Uruguay. But, again, you know, because of the geography and the history of our continent, not very visible in the international music scene. So I'm playing a brilliant, magnificent— magnificent work full of, like, virtuosity and power by him. It's the Creole Dance by Hector Tossard. Perhaps I could just say a few words about the first half of my program that includes Chopin and Debussy. You know, of course, everybody will know these names, or most people, right? And they are inseparable for me because, one has inspired the other. I mean, Chopin's music has inspired, of course, other composers as well, but there's a direct link of his pianism, the French school, the touché, that has actually been part of my life in Switzerland and France with— I worked on this music with pianists that I admire a lot, Pascal Roger, for example, and my very own teacher and mentor, Ricardo Castro. Whose playing I really admire a lot and who has inspired me to search in depth something in me that could ring with this music, French music. So Chopin's Second Sonata, which is one of my favorite pieces of all time, and the, yeah, the masterpiece by Debussy, Estampes, which is I consider a revolutionary work, you know, like forward thinking, forward looking, It's a long program, but I feel very demanding, but full of passion and full of love, actually. I really love this, the proposal I'm making.

But before, you know, promoting your concert, in what ways will this opportunity contribute to your journey as a musician, this, you know, performing at Merkin Hall?

Well, it's undeniable. It's an incredible opportunity. I'm honored. I am thrilled. I cannot be more thankful. Fulfill for the foundation and to the incredible pianists sitting at the juries and, and, and judging unanimously me as the winner. Because as I said before, these opportunities are not out there for Bolivians. We, we are not that present or represented in the classical music scene. That's a fact. And actually, I'm totally okay with that. It's not our job to, to preserve Western classical music. We have other things to preserve. We have our own traditions and roots. But of course, everybody has the right to access, you know, the pinnacle of humankind creations, and some of that is that music. And it's really a privilege. I feel this can only make Bolivian artists more visible. This can put us and put our, our value, you know, somewhere like in a shelf that, that like full of dignity and integrity, that, that is not often the case for, for a country that has suffered a lot, whose history is actually quite hard, and whose present is also quite blurry in terms of, of a politics, social structures, economics, geography. So, so it is a unique opportunity. At the same time, I value this opportunity as much as I value other instances of my playing which are not in those incredible halls, but perhaps in other places, as I said before, in Venezuela, in Brazil, in Turkey, in Iraq, or here in Portugal, which I feel I commit— I'm equally committed to any performance I give. I try to deliver my best.

Wonderful. And I can't wait to really meet you in person very soon in March. And then can't wait to attend your concert. You know, as I'm speaking, I'm learning a lot. I'm learning a lot about, especially about Latin American music and Bolivian music and such a rich history and legacy that the music has. And the music is an amazing instrument to connect people together.

Yes, exactly. And Bolivia is full of music. We have like such rich and diverse rhythms, instruments, you know, never heard of instruments perhaps for our audience. So some of these rhythms, of course, are— we are able to arrange now. We are able to hear in concert settings. But I encourage people, yeah, to discover more. I hope that this recital and this episode encourages people to discover a bit more of our rich believe in music and culture.

So what musical aspirations or goals do you have for the future following this triumph in this competition?

It's a competition after all. I know the two other pianists who were finalists and they are equally— they deserve this opportunity and many more, like as much as I do, probably even more than I do, because they are in great shape and I admire them as well. They are incredible pianists. And competition is just that. It's an opportunity to show your work. And I tend to do many competitions, more chamber music competitions nowadays. I like to share and to perhaps open the eyes of those listening to my music and to go a little bit beyond just, okay, we can hear Chopin well and Rachmaninoff well played, Perhaps there is a step beyond that which connects this music to what's happening elsewhere in the world. Of course, Bolivia is very obvious, but my aspirations go beyond Bolivia, go to other parts of the world where I'm learning the music from. I see myself as a traveling musician and never-ending learner.

Sergio, it's been a wonderful conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed. So for all the Piano Pod fans and listeners out there, if you are in the New York City metropolitan area on March 1st, I urge you to attend Sergio's solo recital at Merkin Hall. Walter has generously provided a discount code for purchasing tickets to this fantastic recital. Simply visit the link in the show notes or visit koffmanmusiccenter.org and search Kantuta Concerts Opus 1 and enter the promo code KANTUTA, K-A-N-T-U-T-A, as you check out to take advantage of a special discounted rate. Thank you, Sergio, once again for being here, and I'll be there on March 1st at Markin Hall to attend your recital. I can't wait to meet you face to face afterwards.

Thank you. It's my pleasure.

We can talk about music and piano, and Latin American music and Bolivian music forever. But we're coming to an end of our conversation. But any message or advice for young musicians and piano students?

So I think my main message for young musicians and piano students in particular is to keep doing it. There's something really special about honing a skill for the long term, and there really isn't a replacement for that in life. Uh, seeing like very slow incremental growth, to me, I mean, to me, that's the most fascinating part about, uh, seeing a student grow and teaching students. And I see it in myself, you know, we as humans are hopefully growing little by little every day. And having something like an instrument— it doesn't have to be an instrument. It can be a dance form. It can be a painting. It can be a sport. It can be chess. It can be something that you are consistently— it can be baking. I love baking. Little by little, you get better and better. And to me, that's very satisfying and it instills and inculcates integrity. So that's my main advice. If you are a piano student taking an instrument, you will always be frustrated because it's always hard. But when it gets a little easier, that's the small win. And I think that's very special.

Well said, my friend. Thank you so much, Walter. This has been a really fun and inspiring conversation. Like, I mean, after so many years, I'm getting to know you even better today.

And that's right. No, this is great. Thank you for having me. And so excited.

Yeah, and then I'll be there for the concert, March 1st concert. So I can't wait. So, but before I let you go, we have one more thing to do, which is the rapid-fire questions. And then, yes, here's a little twist. As silly as these questions may sound, your answers may reveal who you truly are. So ready or not, let's go. Level 1: What's your comfort food?

Salteñas.

How do you like your coffee?

Black.

I know this next question. Cats or dogs?

Dogs.

Sunrise or sunset?

Oh, you know, lately I've been doing sunrise. I've been getting up very early, and it's very new. Sorry, I know this is supposed to be just one.

It's okay.

It's very new for me, and I don't think I get up by the sunrise, but I'm getting up early, and I think sunsets are overrated.

Summer or winter?

Winter.

Paper book or ebook?

Oh, paper.

Oh, okay. I'm getting to know you better. Okay. Level 2. What skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't had the chance to?

Capoeira.

What is that? Oh, that Brazilian martial art?

Yeah, the Brazilian martial arts/dance. But, yeah, so I don't know about in this lifetime, but We'll see.

What is your word or words to live by?

Never, never, never give up.

What is the most important quality you look for in other people?

Honesty.

Name 3 people who inspire you, living or dead.

Ooh, okay. Martha Argerich, obvious reasons.

Queen.

I'm going to lump all my friends because they all do such amazing things and every day They inspire me to like keep going and doing the thing. Who's my third? I'll say my husband.

Wonderful. Beautiful. Name one piece in your current playlist.

Arturo Marquez, Dançon No. 2.

Okay. I have to listen to it.

Oh, it's so good. You'll love it.

Level 3. What do you believe is the key to a fulfilling life?

To be honest with yourself.

Ah, yes. Last question. Fill in the blank. Music is blank.

Enriching? I don't know.

Great. Thank you. Beautiful. Beautifully said. So that concludes this episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with Walter Aparicio. Thank you, Walter, for joining my show today and sharing your stories and insights and expertise. So for The Piano Pod listeners and viewers, please visit walteraparicio.com and connect with him via Instagram at WF Aparicio to get the latest news about Walter. You can also find out more about his organization, Foundation for Bolivian Artists, and support it through its website bolivianartistsfoundation.org. You can listen to his recordings, including Iris Indios, piano music of Bolivia, on all major music streaming services, correct?

That's right.

I also would like to extend an invitation to all my dear APP fans and listeners for the March 1st Cantuta Concerts Opus 1 at Merkin Hall in New York City, supporting the winner of Foundation of Bolivian Artists of the Year, Sergio Escalera Soria. Use the exclusive discount code Cantuta, which is K-A-N-T-U-T-A, to receive a special discount. Great, and all the links are listed in the show notes. Thank you to my wonderful audience and fans for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform you use. Remember to hit the thumbs up button and subscribe— thank you— to my channel if you are watching this episode on YouTube. Follow The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song on social media to get the latest piano news via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. I will see you for the next episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. Thank you, Walter.

Thank you, Yukimi Song.

Thank you so much. Bye, everyone.