French pianist Vanessa Wagner continues her exploration of the minimalist repertoire by introducing her audience to pieces by acclaimed composers, young pianists, and genre-bending personalities from the ambient and electronic scenes.

Described by Libération as “curious and captivating”, dubbed “the most unique pianist of her generation” by Le Monde, Vanessa Wagner, has earned herself a formidable reputation over a remarkable and trailblazing career. Utterly unafraid to go against the status-quo, she has brought her bold originality to stages all over the world: the Barbican and King’s Palace in London, Copenhagen’s prestigious Jazzhouse, and the Philarmonie de Paris, to name just a few. In her new album, Study of the Invisible, she presents a fine curated list of pieces by the composers of the 21st century like Caroline Shaw, Bryce Dessner, Julia Wolfe or Nico Muhly.

What are your greatest inspirations or influences as a musician?

"Study Of the Invisible" is a follow-up to an album I recorded in 2018 called “Inland”, which already travelled through the so-called minimalist repertoire. It's a repertoire that is relatively untouched by classical musicians, and that I started playing when I collaborated with Murcof for the album “Statea”, released in 2016. This music is both minimal but also very powerful emotionally, it covers a lot of different feelings, light and melancholy in particular. I certainly wouldn't have been attracted to this type of music when I was young, because it's very intimate, very solitary, but today it touches me enormously and I find that it corresponds perfectly to the period we are living collectively. 

Tell us a bit about your creative process? What was important for you while performing and curating the pieces for "Study of The Invisible”? How did you create the visual content for the album?

This album was recorded in the middle of the pandemic when all the concert halls were closed and we had no social links, no cultural view and we artists were unable to perform. I asked my label InFiné if I could record it, it was like a lifeline for me, I really feel like it saved me. I worked a lot, deciphered, discovered new pieces and started working. I also called a beautiful Auditorium where I had already recorded two records and they opened their doors for 4 days. The building was completely empty, there was only my sound engineer, the piano tuner and me. I think there's something lonely and strange about that time and it comes across on this record. 

We were all separated from each other, all deprived of the essence of our lives, and to take refuge in this music that was so strong, so melancholic was a great comfort to me. I built the tracklisting like a story, with a beginning and an end, all connected by invisible words, secret stories. There is a lot of sensuality in these tracks, and when I saw Laurent Pernot's sculpture in an art gallery, I found it very soft, very tender and also very mysterious. This feeling of intimacy, of closeness and distance at the same time, corresponded completely to what I wanted to express in this record

What are the themes you touch on with your new work/music? 

Intimacy, emotional depth, and of course, the notion of the invisible: what cannot be said, formulated, what is said between the sounds, between the notes, what inhabits the silences, what is not immediately comprehensible, but which inhabits us.

How has this year changed your creativity and how do you see the world changing moving forward?

These two years of the pandemic have upset our models, our lifestyles, and the cultural world will of course be transformed further. I see this pandemic as an accelerator of a model that was already taking shape. I am rather pessimistic, and the great speeches about the world after, more virtuous, more respectful, more open to others, unfortunately, do not seem to be successful. On a personal level, I try at my level, as a citizen and as an artist, to live in accordance with the few principles that govern my conduct. It seems to me that we have the means to avoid following roads that are too selfish, too closed, and that sometimes it takes a few leaders to show the way. 

Do you think the art world needs to change, and if so how can it be improved?

The artistic world is constantly changing but it is also under the control of the business world, the market. The arrival of DSPs has revolutionised the way we "consume" music, today we have a huge catalogue at our disposal but the algorithms try to lock us into comfortable circles. It takes power, willpower and curiosity to break out of this. In the same way, artists need strength and courage to go against established models and to take steps aside.

What does wellbeing mean to you? 

To preserve oneself from external chaos, to know how to wonder, to protect oneself, not to let fear and anxiety invade the space because it brings us to a standstill. Take moments of introspection so as not to let bad emotions drive your life.  Surround yourself with beautiful people.

The album release is out on the 25th of March via InFiné Label.