PHOTO CREDITS: GAVIN EVANS

THE GREAT CAREER OF GEORGIAN PIANIST KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI HAS COME VERY NATURALLY AND AFTER GIVING HER DEBUT PERFORMANCE AS A SOLOIST WITH AN ORCHESTRA AT THE AGE OF SIX, THE PARIS-BASED PIANIST IN HER LATE 20S ENLIVENS MAJESTIC CLASSICAL TUNES AND CONTINUES TO CAPTIVATE AUDIENCES WORLDWIDE WITH HER REFINED SENSIBILITY AND VIRTUOSIC TECHNIQUE. KHATIA LEADS AN ACTIVE MUSICAL LIFE AND NOT LONG AGO THE PIANIST WAS INVITED BY THE FRONTMAN OF BRITISH ROCK BAND COLDPLAY TO PERFORM A PIANO PRELUDE IN ONE OF THEIR NEW TRACKS. A NICE EXAMPLE THAT REAL ART IS AN OPEN SPACE, WHERE TWO DIFFERENT MUSICAL GENRES CAN HARMONICALLY BLEND… 

KHATIA, PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY. 

I am versatile. On the one hand, I am precisely disciplinarian and on the other, I am fond of complete freedom. Sometimes I’m too sensitive and sometimes I fully control myself with a cold brain. But still, love of freedom and sensitivity exaggerates over my cold, controlling mind and demand of accuracy. I have been working on myself from childhood to learn how to cope with my eclectic character, though, in my opinion I am a balanced person. 

WHAT IS THE MAIN INSPIRATION FOR YOU? 

Love. 

HAPPINESS IS… 

Untouchable- like love, it makes a fleeting moment eternal. 

WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST? 

My childhood. 

HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR FREE TIME? 

In different ways. I try to give my all on stage and the left emptiness is filled through communicating with my loved ones, or by reading, watching films and being in nature… But I never have any free time and I have to steal it. 

IF NOT MUSIC… 

We would live in a melancholic silence. 

WHAT CHARACTERISTICS DOES A PIANIST NEED TO REACH SUCCESS? 

I don’t know what the main reason for success is, but I can tell you what makes a pianist distinguished: individuality, polyphonic thinking and ear, intellect, depth, authentic phrasing and sound, a sense of dramaturgy, form and entirety, diligence and durability. 

WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL GROWTH? 

Most of all my mother. Also my sister and father. Gizi Amirejibi (a Georgian pianist and teacher), Oleg Maisenberg (a Russian-Austrian pianist and teacher) and other peoplewho I loved and love. 

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WHICH PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN MOST SIGNIFICANT FOR YOU SO FAR? 

From the recent period the iTunes Festival which gave me an opportunity to reach people through the internet in every corner of the world, including those who made or would make changes in my life. Also, a concert in Carnegie Hall (USA) – lots of people have inhaled their soul in this historic concert hall to retell their own stories from the other side of the ocean, so I know it will bring colorful changes to me, too. 

GEORGIA TO SEE MAGAZINE IS ORIENTED ON TOURISTS AND FOREIGN VISITORS TO GEORGIA, SO WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THEM WITH REGARDS EXPLORING THE COUNTRY? 

I would advise them to explore Georgia’s diverse nature and character, as this country is unanimous in its diversity. 

NOT LONG AGO YOU APPEARED IN A PROJECT OF THE FAMOUS BRITISH ROCK BAND COLDPLAY, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THIS COLLABORATION AND HOW IT WENT. 

Chris Martin, frontman of the band, invited me to work with him on this project. It was very interesting to be a part of blending two different musical worlds and genres. Apart from my piano prelude in the track ‘Kaleidoscope,’ one can hear the emotional voice-recording of Barack Obama (a piece from ‘Amazing Grace’) and poetry by the XIII-century Persian poet Rumi, recited by his English-language translator Coleman Barks. The text of this poem has philosophical and very personal importance for Chris Martin. 

A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR PLANS IN 2016. 

My new album will be released this year and it has the same name ‘Kaleidoscope’. I choose this name a year ago, before meeting Chris Martin, and I haven’t told him about it yet. This mental coincidence is a very significant symbol for me, showing that there could be invisible threads between people in different places in the universe. This year will also bring concert in almost every country of Western Europe as well as in China, Japan, India, the North and South America. The permanent process of traveling is not new for me, but this year it feels as if I am being hurried to touch the earth from every corner.