Composer-in-Residence Alexey Shor reflects on Classic Piano competition and InClassica Festival

Renowned composer Alexey Shor shares insights on his enduring affiliation with the Classic Piano International Competition, highlighting its rigorous selection criteria and the joy of hearing performers interpret his compositions. He emphasises the importance of emotional connection in music for aspiring professionals and discusses the role of competitions in showcasing young talents. Additionally, he contrasts his roles at InClassica and Classic Piano, and expresses excitement about premiering new pieces at InClassica. He lauds InClassica's impact in promoting classical music in Dubai and acknowledges the city's potential to become a cultural hub. Excerpts from the interview:

Your journey as Composer-in-Residence at the Classic Piano International Competition has now been quite a long one. How does it feel to return to the contest again, and what is it that continues to draw you back?

The competition attracts some of the best young performers in the world. It has a very unusual and difficult selection criteria. The competitors, in order to arrive in Dubai for the finals of the competition, have to be winners of one of the preliminary competitions, and, therefore, there's an extremely high level of participants. It's always a real pleasure to be affiliated with this competition and to hear the performers play my music.

How do you find your relationship to be with the participants at Classic Piano? Do you like to provide advice or feedback, or do you prefer to just observe from a distance and see what they make of the work themselves?

Well, I don't really have any relationship with them. I just supply the music to be used in the competition. Otherwise, I just sit by and observe.

Do you continue following the careers of the competitors once each edition is over, especially in the case of the winners? Are you still in touch with any of them?

Yeah, definitely. Both of the previous winners are amazing musicians and one of them was back here as part of the classical music festival last year.

The eventual prize winners of the competition will of course be decided by the jury panel, but if you had to say, what are the qualities that you feel are most important for an aspiring professional musician to truly nourish?

Well, everybody sort of takes for granted the extremely high levels of technical proficiency. So what I'm looking for is emotional connection with the music. If I was a jury member I would have had to worry about more technical answers to this question. But, since I am not part of the jury, I have the luxury of just sitting back and enjoying the performance and just thinking to myself in vague terms whether I like it or not.

What are your thoughts about the importance of competitions in general, and the role they play within the world of classical music at large?

I think they're very important. There's always a lot of buzz about the upcoming performers. You hear from many sources that certain performers are really special, but you rarely get to hear them actually perform, and also you hear different things from different people. Competitions are not the only way to build a musical career, but it's the most straightforward way of bringing the world's attention to a few young up-and-coming musicians.

This year you are holding the role of Composer-in-Residence for both InClassica as well as Classic Piano. Do you find the experience to be any different for the two events?

These are two very different things. InClassica is a music festival, so there are concerts every day in the evening, and there I actually have a useful function to perform, which is to come to the rehearsals and maybe interact with the performers and the orchestra, as far as the performances of my music are concerned. But for the Classic Piano, my job is done when I give them the scores. So at that point I'm just a spectator.

You will be premiering a number of new pieces at this year’s InClassica. Are you excited about sharing them publicly for the first time, and is there ever an element of nervousness in you with regards to how they will be received?

Yeah, I'm always excited. And as much as I may be playing the music in my mind, hearing it live with a real orchestra is always somewhat of a surprise. I hope people like it, but I can't say I'm nervous because my job is almost done. It's up to the performers to present it and not much is really in my hands. So in that situation I don't see any reason to be nervous.

How ‘hands-on’ do you like to be when it comes to premieres of your work? Are you very involved in the process or do you leave it completely in the hands of the musicians?

I definitely try to come to the rehearsals for all the premieres, but at that point, 95 per cent of the work is really up to the performers.

What do you think about the work that InClassica is doing in helping to spread classical music across the Middle East? Do you feel that Dubai can go on to become a natural home for classical music, comparable to the music capitals of Europe and America?

Dubai can go on to become anything it wants to become. If it wants to be a centre of classical music, I'm sure it can be a centre of classical music. There are many people from different cultures here, and it's a beautiful city. There's so much to love about this place.

And InClassica is by far the biggest festival in the region. It attracts some of the best performers in the world. I don't think there's anything else that's even close to this in the Middle East.

Do you feel that your experiences of the Middle East have had any impact or influenced your creative process in any way, and if yes, can these influences be felt in your new works?

Every time I come here, I meet my old friends and I make new friends from the music world. I hear my music being performed, so all of that is very inspirational. Whenever I come back, I have all kinds of new emotions and desire to write more music. For instance, there's a double concerto for violin and viola that's going to be premiered in a couple of days. It actually all started here around a year ago when the violinist, violist and myself were all present. They were both suggesting that it would be great if I wrote a double concerto. So this work directly relates to my last time being here in Dubai.

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