Franco-American pianist blends music and visual art

New Delhi, Apr 3 (UNI) Fuelled by her passion for Indian culture, internationally-acclaimed pianist Ariane Gray Hubert has surpassed another frontier-- creating a new blend between music and visual art.

The unmatched creation weaves the best of both western and eastern worlds, taking the viewer into her collection of collages through a musical journey.

The music, composed by her on the piano, wafts throught the air as the viewer moves from one collage to another, transporting him to a different world.

''I see sound and hear vision,'' says the versatile pianist, explaining her new creation, 'A Woman Changes Seven Keys', a delightful tapestry of sound and colours.

She says she has always been fascinated by the vibrancy of colours along with the vibrancy of sounds.

''What I see, I compose, I see colours,'' she told UNI at the Habitat Centre here where her creation is on display till April 7.

Striding two western cultures, this multifaceted Franco-American pianist draws inspiration from Indian culture.

And this cross-cultural journey, which began in 1997 when she was introduced to 'Drupad' by singer Ritwick Sanyal, has found expression in some of her collages like 'Tanpura' and 'Just India', but most profoundly in her musical compositions.

She is more than awed by the time concept in Indian classical music-- the day and night concept of music.

''Different music for the day and night is unique to India,'' she says and she pours out her love for Indian music.

Along with her collages, Ariane is also giving a musical performance in the Capital, called 'Piano Rag(a) Time', a mosaic of melodic and rhythmic variations.

Especially created by her, it is a concert beyond the classical world of music, jazz and classical with Piano and Indian Percussions--Tabla (Ustad Akrm Ali Khan) and Ghatam (S Karthick).

The programme is a tribute to both Indian and western traditions composed by her and her chamber ensemble with compositions such as 'Manik', 'Incantation' and 'Tamil Nadu'.

Ariane's love for India blossomed when she came here in 1997 and 1998 for the Carnatik musical festivals in Chennai and in Varanasi.

She returned to Delhi for a series of concerts, which led to a closer study of the connection between music rhythms and the day/night cycle in Indian music with Western music.

Through her creations and her vibrant mezzo-soprano voice, she explores and reveals the correspondence between musical traditions, bringing an element of spiritualism to her art form, a very Indian concept.

Ariane is a solo nonpareil, with a vast and varied repertoire that encompasses Bach to Beethoven as well as 20th century composers.

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