Name: Luka Faulisi
Occupation: Violinist
Nationality: Italian-Serbian-French
Current release: Luka Faulisi's debut album Arias is out via Sony Classical.
Recommendations: Book: Confessions by Saint Augustine; Piece of music: Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite n°2

If you enjoyed this interview with Luka Faulisi and would like to know more about his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences?

I started playing the violin at the age of three and a half, but my love for the instrument existed even before that age. I was very inspired by the recordings of David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin whose documentaries I watched very often.

What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

It is almost inexplicable. There is something in music that speaks to all of us, that touches us in the deepest part of ourselves, without even knowing how sounds, harmonies, have the capacity to move us so much.

I would say the beauty, the singularity.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

The sensations we have when we listen to music are crucial, that's what attracts us so much. I would say that the works that strike me the most are the ones that take the guts!

As a performer or as a composer, I think our goal is to make the audience feel emotions as strong as those that convinced us of the greatness of classical music.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

Musical life is a permanent evolution, and we can see over the years that we prefer certain works to others, or that we play a piece better than a few years ago, or that a work that seemed uninteresting is now a great source of inspiration.

I would say it is important not to stay in the status quo, try new things and hope the audience likes it.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

My identity is a bit complex because I was born in Paris, of an Italian father and a Serbian mother. The three cultures are mixed and seem to be impregnated in me without me really realizing it.

It is also a richness, because the fact of speaking several languages, of having rubbed shoulders with several cultures, helps me in my artistic life to better understand the different characters of the composers.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

I would say that the key word is: creativity! Not to lock oneself in boxes, not to be always in conformity with the artistically correct - these are the ideas which seem to me to be those of my daily life and those of the future

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

Instead of opposing innovation and timelessness in music as two different visions, I would rather go in the direction of combining them.

My ideal would be to keep our flagship works that have built the beauty of classical music while giving a chance to our current composers or collaborating with other categories of entertainment such as film, theater etc. …

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Since the age of 15 I had the chance to play on an 18th century Italian instrument signed "Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini" and I am aware that without this instrument I would never have been able to express my emotions so well.

Apart from the violinistic technique that we learn from a very young age, there is also an apprenticeship that must be done to know how to make the violin "breathe", to make it sing by itself sometimes, in order to obtain a result that reflects as much the rarity of this type of instrument, as the fruit of our work.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

Before starting my work day, I start with specific stretchings, which aim to relax the joints so as not to hurt or weaken one's strength during the work. Then, I start the violin warm-ups: scales, arpeggios, right hand exercises, and then, I usually start with the most difficult pieces in the repertoire I am studying at that time, until lunch.

Then, I sometimes have to answer emails or other things before starting to work on the violin again in the afternoon.

In the evening, I may be working on the concerto I am currently composing, orchestrating the ideas I have written down or recorded before.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

I like to look for new pieces that are underrated or forgotten, to make them rediscovered by classical music lovers. This quest for new works is also reflected in my desire to discover the talent of contemporary composers and to compose myself, without ever forgetting the genius of those who have gone before us and made our art so well known.

Whether for a concert or an album, the process is the same: to recall the greatness of the leading composers and their works, while putting forward new ones.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

As far as I'm concerned, I like to be in a great solitude when I'm working on the music I play or compose: as if I was in my own musical laboratory!

There is indeed this paradox between, on the one hand, the solitude of an artist who works on his work alone for months or even years, and on the other hand, the concert which is a moment of sharing and spectacle which brings together the audience and the artists. The balance between these two "worlds" makes music an art as special as it is splendid.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

These days, as artists we have to be very reactive to the changes in society and especially in the music industry. To ignore the evolution of art in our world would be to put ourselves almost voluntarily out of the game.

Whether it is in what we propose in our concerts, our records or even on our social networks, it is crucial to be in tune with the times. Everything goes so fast today that we have to propose something new, without ever denaturing ourselves or abandoning our art.

Music is there to make people travel, to immerse them in a fairy tale where problems no longer exist or are fictitious, and to access for a few moments to a new world.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

I have the impression that music makes you feel at an extreme level the suffering, the joy or love etc...: without words, it has the power to express itself very clearly. The great works make us understand their speech much better through music than through words.

I am not sure that we can understand with great precision death or the greatest sufferings through music. But in any case, an intense journey is proposed to us to feel all the emotions at their peak.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?  

Music is itself a science, a very special one indeed! Whether it is composition, instrumental work or performance on stage, all this is very similar to science where everything must be mastered, calculated.

However, what is most original about music is that we can play with subjectivity (the taste of each one), whereas science, well understood, must be objective and of an exemplary precision.

We are lucky enough to be able to change our interpretation from day to day without betraying our work ethic. This is a great asset!

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Creativity is everywhere! Whether it's a new piece of music or a new pizza recipe, it's the same thing! The only difference is that we create from what we have at hand.

If I'm a screenwriter, I'll try to write an unexpected story; if I'm a pastry chef, I'll want to invent the most delicious dessert that will go around the world; if I'm a composer, I'll want to write a piece that will touch everyone's heart and get a message across.

The great thing about music is that we can express a multitude of things that we could not communicate through a delicious dish or the construction of a beautiful house

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

I can't explain the power that music has over us! It touches everyone, it fascinates, but also remains a mystery.

The answer would be rather metaphysical, spiritual in that music seems so banal when studied from a material point of view. But it is so powerful when experienced personally.