Understanding the World through Music: Pianist Orion Weiss on His New Album, Gauging Personal and Musical Growth, and Discovering the Ab Roller
Orion Weiss. Credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
For classical musicians, the process of exploring and learning new repertoire never ends. That's especially true for pianists, who have a titanic amount of literature available to them — from seminal keyboard works of the Baroque to the freshly inked compositions of today.
Climbing that mountain of music can be intimidating — but not for Orion Weiss.
Although his student days at Juilliard, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Pianofest in the Hamptons are well behind him, it's the piano's incredible wealth of literature that fuels his inspiration to create music.
"I have an insatiable hunger for discovering the musical literature," Weiss says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "It's endlessly enriching to have this repertoire to work through and try to understand and grow with ... I won't ever feel like I'm not a student anymore — I'm striving to achieve something I haven't yet."
Weiss's endless curiosity has served him well throughout his career, and it's the foundation for his latest album, Arc I. The first installment of an ambitious trilogy — what Weiss playfully refers to as his "Lord of the Rings of the piano" — the new album features piano works by Granados, Janacek, and Scriabin written during the frantic build-up to World War I, an unsettling time that sees many parallels to today.
"When I was recording the album, I was trying to understand feelings and the world today. It's hard to know what the future is, but connecting to periods where people were more stressed than normal and had reason to be, somehow makes me feel like the music can explain something to me — how to proceed, how to deal with it, how to understand emotionally what's going on."
In this conversation, we discuss future installments of the Arc trilogy, the ways Weiss sees music as a form of time travel, and how a career in classical music is a lot like climbing an endless Stairmaster. Plus, he shares more about his personal wellness and fitness routines, his favorite spots for the spiciest Szechuan food in New York City, and the power of dark chocolate when he can't muster the energy to practice.
Listen to Arc I on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream or download music.
Follow the Classical Post podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms.
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