here<\/a> \u2014 your eyes will have a task keeping up with his fingers.<\/p>\nSham was in California, \u201csomewhere near San Jose,\u201d when we had the pleasure of chatting with him over Zoom. And our topics wound up running the gamut of gorging on Cheesecake Factory fare, the infinite world of music, and his love of Brahms (not to be mistaken for Braum\u2019s).<\/p>\n
FW:<\/strong> So now that you\u2019re back in Fort Worth, are you going to hit up any eateries you might\u2019ve enjoyed while competing in The Cliburn?<\/p>\nAristo Sham:<\/strong> Well, no, I didn’t do anything [while I was in Fort Worth]. Basically, when I was there, I think I went to Panther City Barbecue once, and the place I went to the most, this is so embarrassing, is the Cheesecake Factory next to Bass Hall.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> I would say that makes sense. And I would think that that’s probably what a lot of competitors do while they’re here.<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> Yeah. And during the competition, I was eating vast amounts of food because I was practicing a lot; it was a lot of physical and mental labor but also stress. So, I was eating those crazy Cheesecake Factory portions.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> Well, you\u2019ll for sure get a lot of sustenance that way. So, how has your life changed over the last four months [since winning The Cliburn]?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> I was performing anyway before [the competition]. And when I was younger, I had quite a significant media presence, as well \u2014 in Hong Kong especially. So, it’s not exactly new to me. It’s just the intensity and the frequency of everything is much higher than before, which is great. I am naturally restless and curious anyway. And I\u2019m also at a point in my life where I feel ready to tackle and embrace all of this.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> What was it like when you returned to Hong Kong?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> They responded in a way that I didn’t expect, or I don’t think anyone expected. It was almost like when [Van] Cliburn came back [to the United States] from the competition [in Moscow in 1958], that kind of thing. Because Hong Kong is a small place, right?<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> Small and big, but I get what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> So, they received this news with an elation that I did not expect. I played in all the National Day stuff, I was doing a full-length feature every day, and I was interviewed by every mainstream media outlet in Hong Kong. And it dawned on me during that time that I had this platform and outlet to try to be a positive influence on Hong Kong, on music, and hopefully the world. And, obviously, that’s great for classical music, as well. Suddenly so many people are listening to classical music in Hong Kong, and a lot of people tell me in, \u201cAfter I heard your performance, I picked up the piano again.\u201d Or a lot of people came to my concert who had never been to a classical music concert before.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> Speaking of people picking up the piano again, I know you started playing the piano when you were 3. Yet, you have such an energy to your performances that I can see genuine excitement in what you\u2019re doing. How have you remained so dedicated to and excited by the craft for so long?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> I\u2019m someone who explores new interests all the time, but I think music is also a particular lens. The world of music is so infinite that one can explore crevices all the time. Even in one single piece \u2014 well, if it’s a good piece \u2014 there’s always more layers, more depth, more angles to explore. We can understand and reinterpret a piece all the time. I also feel so privileged to be able to access that.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> I know you\u2019re playing famous pieces by famous composers when you play live, but do you ever have room to improvise?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> I used to improvise during performances when I was younger \u2014 up until I was 20. But, today, I improvise in a way where I\u2019m still playing pieces written by other people, but the way I do it is so different every time. I think that comes with being prepared, feeling ready, and musically knowing what you stand for. When we know a piece really, really well, then we have, I would say, the right to experiment on stage while still respecting what’s written on the score.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> You just mentioned knowing what one stands for musically. Can you put into words what you stand for musically?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> First of all, music exists to express what we cannot say in words or any other way. My hope is when people hear my music, they feel something or understand something that they couldn\u2019t have felt or understood in any other way. With the music I play, I think the common denominator is that there are all these emotions and conflicts, but the overriding message is that everything will be okay. Everything will work out. Musically, I enjoy strong composition, technique, and craftsmanship. And when you combine this with a strong message, this is what makes music compelling.<\/p>\nThe greatest example of someone who does this perfectly is Brahms, which I played in the finals at the competition. For me, he exemplifies this because he’s so meticulous about every note. And while we remember Brahm\u2019s for his amazing music, we also remember him for his humanity. The pieces are so strong because the foundation of what he\u2019s saying is so good.<\/p>\n
FW:<\/strong> What can Fort Worthian\u2019s expect during your two performances at the Kimbell?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> So, this music is actually going to be on my new album, which will be out at the beginning of November.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> Oh, you\u2019ve got a new album. Great! What\u2019s it going to be called?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> No. So, that\u2019s actually a problem. I owed them a name, like, yesterday (laughs).<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> (laughing) Oh, I couldn\u2019t relate more \u2014 words can be so hard sometimes.<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> But, concerning the show, it\u2019s a journey, there\u2019s transformations, and there\u2019s also a lot of joy. I think that\u2019s the key to this performance.<\/p>\nFW:<\/strong> So, you\u2019ve done so much with music already \u2014 enough to make a career \u2014 but what ultimately is your end goal? What do you plan to achieve with music?<\/p>\nSham:<\/strong> With music, the key tenet is just to reach people and to make a positive impact on people’s lives. And I hope to keep doing that for the rest of my life. I do think I\u2019ve accomplished the immediate goal, which is to establish myself as a performing artist on the circuit with the major orchestras of the world, and to have the freedom to play the music that I love. I\u2019m very privileged that I get to do that. It\u2019s all sort of a living dream right now. But I also like to say that I want to eventually own a vineyard with a hotel and restaurants \u2014 maybe multiple of them around the world \u2014 and host music festivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The last time piano maestro Aristo Sham paid a visit to Cowtown, he left with a gold medal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":270489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,133635,18602,29751,7371,7372,40401,55660,358,135243,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,109265],"class_list":{"0":"post-270488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-aristo-sham","10":"tag-bass-hall","11":"tag-brian-kendall","12":"tag-fort-worth","13":"tag-fortworth","14":"tag-kimbell-art-museum","15":"tag-piano","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-the-cliburn-foundation","18":"tag-top-story","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa","26":"tag-van-cliburn"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115301666765624171","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}