LAYLA
RAMEZAN
“I am at my most honest and true self when at the piano”
Layla Ramezan has always sought to create a
connection between her Persian origins and
the contemporary music which she encounters
daily. As pianist and president of the Geneva
based Matka Contemporary Ensemble, she
has instigated several intercultural exchange
projects with Iran and collaborated with
composers such as Tristan Murail, Michael
Jarrell, Luis Naón, Nicolas Bolens and
William Blank. Her musical education began
in Tehran with Mostafa-Kamal Pourtorab. After
moving to Paris in 2000, she attended the
École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred
Cortot,” followed by Lausanne’s Haute École
de Musique, obtaining two Master’s degrees
in performance and accompaniment. She is
sponsored by Albert Roussel Fondation in
Paris and Engelberts Fondation in Lausanne.
She is the founder and artistic director of the
“Barbad Piano Prize” competition in Shiraz for
the young pianists. Layla Ramezan tours and
performs in Europe, USA, Canada and Iran and
appears as soloist with the Tehran Symphony
Orchestra and the Tehran Orchestra for New
Music. Her performances had been
broadcasted by Radio France, RTV Swiss
,NPO Netherlands and CBC Radio Canada. Her
primary recording project is 100 Years of Iranian
Piano Music(Label Paraty Production (Harmonia
Mundi)), which will span four volumes, the first
of which was released in January 2017 and
it exposes the 50's and beyond Iranian piano
music.
Q: Layla please tell me, when and
mainly what was the crucial motive
that opened you door to the wonderful
world of music?
A: The first time that I heard the piano,
I fell in love with the sound of the instrument.
I insisted immediately to my
parents that they buy one. Eventually,
they gave in and I started to take piano
lessons when I was seven years old.
Q: How do you combine your Persian
roots with classical music and
your apparent contemporary influence?
A: For me, Persian traditional music
and European Classical music are two
very different worlds of music. The one
type seeks freedom through structure
and written notation, and the other rejects
these notions with the hope that
something new is created from this. My
interpretation is a collision of these two
worlds. I am always trying to express
and inspire myself with one world or
the other, with a focus that strays away
from stereotypes. For example, all of
the Traditional and Folk Persian music
of my childhood in Iran, has given me
a particular sensitivity to rhythm in
Western Music.
Q: What describes best your musical
character? Are you the same
person in everyday life with Layla
whilst performing?
A: I always try to be very honest in my
interpretation and faithful to the score
which I am interpreting. I can say that
I am at my most honest and true self
when at the piano.
Q: You have been many times performing
on the occasion of Iranian
events. Are there state representatives
in arts and especially in
music?
A: In recent years I have had performances
in Iran in various different
cities. Some of these performances
were organized and supported by the
“Iran Music Association” (anjoman e
moosighiy e Iran), which is one of the
musical state representatives. Sometimes
these concerts are supported by
private foundations such as “Sharhr e
Aftab” in Shiraz. However, in general
when you perform in Iran as an artist
you need permission from the government.
Q: Would you like to name people
that have influenced you until
today, but also people that our
readers should be aware of their
names and their contribution to
music?
A: I would like to mention my husband,
Blaise Ubaldini, renowned French
composer and clarinetist, whose way
of seeing music is always a source of
strong inspiration both in my life and
my projects. My first professor, Mustafa-
Kamal Pourtorab, had a very important
role in the development of my artistic
personality and Svetlana Navassardyan,
the great Armenian pianist, who
taught me during my years in Paris.
Among the great composers across
all centuries, I would like to mention
and quote Mozart, as he said, “By the
power of music, we will walk cheerfully
through the dark night of death”. Also,
the great musical personalities such as
Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim and
Giorgy Sokolov, without forgetting the
great proponents of Iranian music such
as the composer Fozié Majd and the
researcher Mohammad-Reza Darvishi.
Mr. Darvishi travelled across Iran
over a period of thirty years in search
of the roots of Iranian regional music,
creating his prize awarded book named
“the Encyclopedia of the Musical
Instruments of Iran.”
Q: What is your involvement with
young artists, how do you promote
music to the young generations?
You have been part of groups like
the “Triofan3mg” that one could
say that radicalize
in the promotion
and performance of classical instruments.
A: I love to teach the piano and to give
the benefit of my musical experience
and knowledge to my young students.
I always try to pass on, the love of the
very pure music of my childhood combined
with the knowledge I gained studying
in Europe. I am also the Artistic
Director, and one of the founders, of the
« Barbad Piano Prize » in Iran-Shiraz.
My goal is to increase the motivation
there to create a healthy competitive
environment for youth. In addition to
this I would like to create an opportunity
for Iranian pianists to study in world
class international music institutions
and conservatories. I also founded the
chamber ensemble “Triofane3mg”, with
French clarinetist Blaise Ubaldini and
Swiss violinist Valerie Bernard. We created
Triofane3mg in order to perform
some pieces of the classical and contemporary
repertoire that often are not
performed for the public, and to present
this work in venues that aren’t necessarily
made for these types of performances.
We would like this remarkable
music to become accessible for everyone,
especially the younger generation,
who can appreciate and understand this
type of music like any other style.
Q: Do you believe that the use of
technology directs children’s interests
to specific types of arts/music
minimizing potential choices? How
do you predict the future regarding
this issue? Undoubtedly music has
also evolved through the progression
of technology, but is the “mixture”
of music and technology always
towards the correct direction?
A: For me, music cannot evolve without
progression in technology. The piano
is a result of the evolution of the
harpsichord thanks to technology. Today
I see my husband, like many composers,
writing music with the help of
programs on his computer. I think that
we should benefit from the technological
revolution without forgetting the
old musical traditions, a lot of which
are a strong source of enrichment to
music written today.
Q: Do you agree with the opinion
that art flows in certain people’s
veins or that it is inherited somehow,
or you believe that it is purely
cultivated?
A: Everyone can discover a talent in
music, and from this point of view, it is
something innate. But those who have
a musical family are given an advantage
to help develop this talent very
quickly. I, however, was not raised in a
musical family.
Q: Please talk to us about your origins,
your life livings in Switzer-
OPINION LEADERS
land, its influences and the best and
the worst part of it’’.
A: I am Iranian, born in Teheran. I lived
in Iran until I was eighteen, and afterwards
moved to Paris, and Lausanne,
where I still live, to continue my piano
studies. My life in Europe has been
very enriching and I have been able to
interact with many different cultures
and nations. It has also deepened my
musical knowledge and allowed me to
study at prestigious institutions under
the tutelage of great masters of the piano.
I married a French musician, who
has an interest in language and other
cultures, which has helped me see my
own country and culture through different
eyes and ultimately, to create
stronger ties to Iran, and an appreciation
of the life I have in Europe. This
is why I have endeavoured to create
several intercultural musical projects.
Studying in Europe has allowed me to
take an interest in the piano repertoire
of my native country and I have created
the project “100 years of Iranian Piano
Music.” I will record a total of four CD’s
dedicated to this repertoire, which will
be distributed by Harmonia Mundi.
Living far away from your family and
home country is difficult, because you
often feel like you have to make an effort
to be understood or accepted. There
are good and bad sides to living away
from your country of origin.
Q: What has been your motto in
life?
A: Trust in yourself, before anyone else
does. ■
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