What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

This is one of the questions in my Meet the Artist interview, and it often elicits some interesting, and occasionally surprising responses. It also offers insights into “what musicians do all day” – something which continues to intrigue and fascinate audiences, and those outside of the profession.

It is a common misconception that classical musicians spend all their time between concerts practicing, closeted in grim practice rooms or their home, cut off from the real world. Others believe musicians spend their days lying on a chaise longue in a Lisztian salon, smoking cigars and trying to connect with their muse….

Neither of these is true, and the question at the head of this article sheds an interesting light on the life of professional musicians in the 21st century.

Many musicians find inspiration in the music itself: not necessarily the music they are working on and performing at the time, but in listening to recordings, going to concerts, simply being immersed in music… Others draw inspiration from spending time in nature, getting away from the sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere of the practice room. For some, stimulation comes from other art forms – art, theatre, literature – and for others, sessions at the gym or other forms of exercise offer a healthy respite and a chance to “reset” body and mind. The company of family and friends, enjoying food together, or simply hanging out, also provides inspiration and much-needed relaxation.

Nikolai Lugansky, pianist

Nikolai Lugansky © Marco Borggreve

There’s no substitute for practice, but what truly nourishes my inspiration is simply listening to music. I listen constantly to everything: recordings, the radio, whatever I come across.

Xuefei Yang, guitarist

Xuefei Yang Plays Gnossienne: No. 1 – Satie (transcr. for guitar by Francis Kleynjans)

I often get inspiration as a result of travel – places and people. Seeing historic sites, architecture, and learning about their history and how it relates to the culture of the location. Talking with people who’ve lived a different life to my own – their life experiences all help shape my own outlook on life. I get inspired by adding more layers to my thinking and understanding.

Yulianna Avdeeva, pianist

Yulianna Avdeeva

Frédéric Chopin: Fantasy in F Minor, Op. 49 (Yulianna Avdeeva, piano)

I am convinced that inspiration can be found anywhere — it can be a colour from the sky or of the leaves on a tree; it can be a conversation, or a great book, or even a smell — like the smell of the air in the autumn, or the aroma of a fantastic meal. I just have to be very open to be able to absorb it.

Harpreet Bansal, violinist & composer

Harpreet Bansal Trio Live Feb, 2023

I walk in the woods…. And I play a lot, improvising alone to find new melodies, build structures and form. And sometimes there are things that unexpectedly turn out to be inspiring. It can be anything. And travel is great, because variation is inspiring in itself.

Alban Gerhardt, cellist

Alban Gerhardt

I have always loved to read books, mainly fiction, and I’d say, besides having attended a huge number of concerts in my life (which have always been a source of inspiration), books have had the greatest impact on me, be it Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Thomas Mann, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kazuo Ishiguro or Ian McEwan.

MILOŠ, guitarist

MILOŠ © Christoph Köstlin

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les Boréades: The Arts and the Hours (arr. M. Lewin for guitar) (Miloš Karadaglić, guitar)

I love to live a very varied life. I love being surrounded by people from different walks of life. I like to be inspired by talking to artists in different fields, to writers and philosophers, to business people, to people who do regular jobs. I often look at the barista, who makes my favourite coffee at the café near where I live, and I just think whenever you do something with love, you are really giving something beautiful to the world, and it doesn’t really matter what you are doing. So I’m inspired by all those small and big things…

Perhaps what these responses from some of our leading musicians demonstrate is that inspiration can be found anywhere. The writer Ray Bradbury said, “ideas lie everywhere like apples fallen and melting in the grass“, and it’s true that inspiration comes in many shapes and forms, and often many very personal forms. And just as there is no right way to play Bach, there is no right way to seek inspiration for one’s creativity and music-making.

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