Stir Q&A: Pianist Jane Coop on being a Steinway Artist, the thrill of the piano, and livestreaming
The artist has upcoming performances with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as well as with Vetta Chamber Music
Vancouver’s Jane Coop is one of just 1,600 Steinway Artists in the world.
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents In Stillness, featuring Jane Coop, premiering April 9 at 7:30 pm via TheConcertHall.ca.
Vetta Chamber Music presents Jane Coop and Friends, June 10 to 13 online.
VANCOUVER-BASED PIANIST Jane Coop is considered one of North America’s most distinguished artists. Hailing from Saint John, she grew up in Calgary, trained in Baltimore, and has gone on to be appointed a member of the Order of B.C. and the Order of Canada.
She has performed in more than 20 nations at prestigious venues such as the Bolshoi Hall, the Kennedy Center, Roy Thomson Hall, the Beijing Concert Hall and the Salle Gaveau in Paris.
The UBC professor emerita and distinguished university scholar has 16 recordings to her name, three of which are Juno-nominees.
Stir connected with Coop to hear about her two upcoming streaming performances and more.
You've performed in some of the world's greatest performance halls and concert venues. What has it been to shift to the pandemic-era reality of livestreaming and playing for a video camera?
It does seem very strange to have had all my live concerts cancelled for the past year. I have been lucky, though, that I have had projects that have kept me engaged and busy during this time. I've done some online teaching and master classes—I don't teach on a regular basis—and have played some exciting music. It is certainly a different feeling to perform for cameras and mics only, with no human beings in the audience, but over the years I have made many CD recordings, so when the red light goes on—the sign that cameras and sound machines are rolling—it's not a shock. I'm also fairly self-motivated, and have spent some time just working on my own technique. One can always improve!
You're a Steinway artist, one of just 1,600 around the world, along with the likes of Lang Lang, Diana Krall, and Billy Joel. What is the significance of this title to you? Can you tell us about the instrument you play at home?
Being a Steinway Artist is important to me, partly because of the company that I'm in (Steinway Artists the world over), and partly because Steinway is my favourite instrument. Of course, each and every piano is very different—in sound quality, action, sustainability, bass richness—but in general, Steinway does a wonderful job in keeping the margins fairly narrow. I have a Hamburg Steinway at home, which I bought from a local woman who had purchased it in London, England. The Steinways from Hamburg are a little different from those made in New York. I like them both, and I chose mine not because of its provenance, but because it suits my own way of playing very well. It has a lot of colour and depth, as well as power. I've been very happy with it for some 20 years, and I don't foresee changing it out.
What drew you to the piano initially and what is it about this instrument that has you so passionate about and dedicated to it so many years later?
I began piano lessons quite early in life, just before turning six, because my parents, who were not musicians, loved music and had a piano. My older sister was taking lessons, and I dearly wanted to play too! Aside from a couple years of playing the double bass in my high school orchestra, I never deviated from the piano. It has always challenged and thrilled me - for the huge repertoire that is ours for the taking, and for the ability to be a truly satisfying solo instrument as well as a collaborative one. Especially in these times of having to stay home, I am perfectly happy to make music in my studio, on my own.
What can you tell us about In Stillness premiering April 9 with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, featuring Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, and Vetta Chamber Music’s Jane Coop and Friends, running in June?
With Vancouver Symphony, because of COVID distancing, we used 11 players including me. I personally arranged the full orchestra score for 10 instruments, and we played without a conductor. The result was a chamber version of a major piano concerto. The VSO musicians were wonderfully supportive and contributed highly to the sheer delight in the whole experience.
[In Stillness also features associate conductor Andrew Crust guiding an ethereal interpretation of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres. In addition, Coop will perform in and lead a VSO performance featuring Mozart’s K.488 premiering May 2, for which, as with Beethoven’s Op. 58, she arranged a chamber version of the concerto.]
With Vetta Chamber Music, we will be performing and video-streaming two big works: Cesar Franck's Piano Quintet and Mozart’s Concerto K.271 arranged for piano and string quartet. I look forward so much to this. My collaborations with Joan Blackman and the Vetta personnel have, without exception, been stimulating and rewarding on many levels.
What has helped you cope with COVID-19?
This past year has been challenging and quite scary. Luckily, my family members live close by, and while we haven't been able to see each other indoors, we've often got together outside. I would say that music and family have kept things in perspective for me. I feel tremendously lucky that no one close to me has been infected.
I’m keeping my plans for the future very loose. I’m supposed to be in the US in the summer, playing and teaching at a festival that I've been participating in for twenty-five years, the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine, but naturally I won't be going if it does not look possible. If that is the case, I'll feel very sad, but I'm staying optimistic.
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