BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Freddy Kempf isn’t your everyday pianist. While most of us spent our childhood learning how to read and write, Freddy was off performing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – debuting at just eight years old. Now a master of classical piano, Freddy has performed some of the greatest works ever written to audiences across Asia, Europe and America. Taking a break from his practise, he tells us a little about the man behind the keys.
What’s your funniest memory of a gig?
There are some memories which certainly were not funny at the time, but are definitely funny looking back on them. I was recently in one of Asia’s massive cities and the organizers had decided it would be fabulous to put on one of the concerts in a park in the city centre, open air and amplified. What they hadn’t discovered was that another organizer was putting on a rock concert across the street in another park – and of course rock music is generally louder than classical. I remember in rehearsal, I couldn’t hear anything whatsoever of what either I or the orchestra was playing. Luckily the concerts didn’t take place at the same time!
What do you do when you’re not slamming away at the keys?
Just normal stuff. If I’m on tour, I’m catching up with doing running, weight-training and then just seeing friends wherever I am. If I’m home then I do have two young kids which suck all my time away – but I do adore them, of course! I love cooking when I’m at home too. My only real hobby that I can keep going now is languages. I’m fascinated by languages and although I’m still pretty lazy when it comes to learning them, I love using them and improving them. I always learn the language spoken where I’m travelling – my ambition is to speak 10 fluently one day (I have five or six now) but have studied 20 in total and always want to learn new ones.
Favourite bands?
I do like Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga more than the rest. I did think Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call me maybe’ was a great song! And, I really do love Alicia Keys’ work. Otherwise, have been a long standing fan of Jamiroquai if anyone can remember them – and Maroon 5 too.
What’s your practise routine?
In all honesty, I still hate practise. But having said all that, the toughest part I’ve found about actually being a pro classical musician is finding the time to practise – it all seems to disappear in meetings, travel-delays, or you find you’re in a foreign place and there’s no place to practise. If I’m home, then I have three piles of music on my piano – the first pile is stuff I really need to do every day. The second pile is stuff I have to keep ready to perform but doesn’t need to be on the first pile, and the third pile is stuff I don’t really need to practise but should still be reminded of the fact I need to perform it sooner than later.
What do you love about classical music?
I personally love the challenge it gives me. It is the most difficult thing, physically and mentally, that I am capable of – and that’s compared to climbing up mountains unharnessed, pushing myself skiing, running a marathon or driving at 270 km p/h. Each time I go out on stage, I don’t yet know that I’ll get through the show in the way that I want – composers really pushed the boundaries of what’s possible on the piano. It’s just really satisfying if I set out to play an incredibly hard piece, walk out in front of thousands of people, get nervous as it’s a really hard challenge and I only get one go, and if I do succeed it’s a really amazing high.
Some of the sounds the composers have managed to make are just so beautiful and so complex and sometimes so powerful. Yes, it’s much more difficult to get into – but I don’t think people should force themselves to love it – just remember it exists and at some point, maybe when you start getting bored of the pop music you’ve always loved, give it another go again and you might just love it. I think pop music is unbeatable for inspiring us to feel the emotions we know from our first kiss, our first love, our first breakup. Classical music digs much deeper.
Image supplied.
