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Anastasia Rizikov: Poetic Genius of the Piano
The world bemoans the plight of Ukraine, weeps at the innocent Ukrainian civilians who lie dying by the thousands from the indiscriminate murder; atrocities that shock and sadden the civilized world. With equal measure, the music world is beginning to recognize and celebrate the genius of Anastasia Rizikov – at the very least the cognoscenti and discerning listeners ought to do so. Miss Rizikov is not really unknown in the world of music, but her genius is certainly not given its due.
“Artistic genius,” wrote Olivier Bellamy of that epitomé of a genius, Martha Argerich [to whom Miss Rizikov is, coincidentally, being compared these days] “is something that cannot be explained. Indeed, this is its defining characteristic. Those who live with it are unable to reveal its secrets. Absorbed by its contradictions, ill at ease in the real world, alarmed by their uniqueness, blinded by a truth that common mortals can only dimly perceive and swept along by a force that is beyond them, geniuses play like children. Baudelaire made no mistake when he wrote: ‘genius is no more than childhood captured at will.’”
M. Bellamy continues: “Like Cziffra, Horowitz, Miles Davis or Jimi Hendrix, Martha Argerich belongs to that breed of performers of genius who have a natural rapport with their instrument.” Adding Miss Rizikov to that rare tribe of musicians makes eminent sense, for listening to her jaw-dropping performances – first at Zoomer Radio Hall at the New Classical FM, Toronto and a couple of days later, at St Vlodomyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral [also in Toronto] – playing her favourite all-Ukrainian repertoire we are convinced of her genius. When she plays the piano it is no longer a piano; it is a violin, a clarinet and an oboe, a harp, a percussion section; indeed, a whole crashing orchestra together. “It is,” as M. Bellamy continues, “music in spirit and flesh.”
When she caresses the keyboard as if it were a lover, beckoning her seductively to paint a melody with the flesh and the very nerve-endings of her fingers, Miss Rizikov unveils the lyrical sound of perfect freedom. Thus she draws comparison – in my humble opinion – with the legendary Greek poet, Sappho who was celebrated as the greatest lyric poet ever, and “The Tenth Muse”. Again, listening to the concerts delivered by Miss Rizikov, this comparison might never be construed as hyperbole. Miss Rizikov made melodies – the “Élégie” and “Barcarolle” – composed by the great Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko come to life like the sparkling waters, rising and falling and tumbling from a pristine stream in the Carpathians.
By the time Miss Rizikov was into her live performance over the radio, she seemed to become lost in the music. Her eyes closed – sometimes tightly shut – as she began to inhabit the music. Melodies and harmonies seem to speak to her in a very special way; certainly they seem written on the very slate of her heart, their secrets from there to be read before unfolding them in streams of music on the concert grand, which she commands seemingly by the nerves of soft, pink fingertips. But if it feels like dancing with genius when listening to Miss Rizikov, it is also certain that the pianist takes nothing for granted. It is also true that there is a noble poise of her pianistic demeanor. She does nothing that is wildly idiosyncratic, not is she iconoclastic, à la Glenn Gould, a pianist whom she considers an idol.
This young Canadian-Ukrainian pianist plainly understands that every interpretation is just one possibility. Accordingly, Miss Rizikov with her interpretation proceeds to offer us the most enticing interpretation – an opportunity to open our minds to the wonders of Ukrainian music rarely heard on the concert stage outside this country rich in a tradition all its own. On her radio concert, for instance, her playing of Anatoliy Kos-Anatolsky’s “Prélude No. 2” and “Prélude No. 4” was one of the high points of the recital with apparently effortless distinction between the many filigree lines and the aristocratic elegance of the former, and champagne finesse of the latter. The “Gavotte No. 7 in B minor” by Viktor Kosenko unexpectedly took us into another world. It was full of glinting lights, mysterious depths, expectations, hopes and joys, like the shattered shadows of a quasi-Mendelssohnian scherzo.
In sheer colour and variety, in the depth of its characterisation and the exceptional range and refinement in her pianism Miss Rizikov imparted a prescient power and joyous stature to Ihor Shamo’s astounding “Ukrainian Dance”. Her arrangement of Shamo’s iconic work, “How Can I Not Love You, Kiev of Mine?” [Ukrainian: Yak tebe ne liubyty, Kyieve mii! Як тебе не любити, Києве мій!] brought many [including myself] to tears as she showed herself – with body and soul – to be a master of mood and atmosphere, with the ability to coordinate colour and structure to a rare degree, thus revealing her exceptional versatility and resourcefulness in this regard.
The other highpoint – to some, the recital’s very apogee – came with her encore: Nikolai Kapustin’s “Variations, Op. 41”. Miss Rizikov displayed effortless Chopinesque urbanity and lyricism to this item. Her playing here displayed her absolute control of the keyboard and mastery of this two-handed knuckle-breaker of a piece. Here she played Kapustin’s mesmerising piece with buoyant, aristocratic grace and psychological ambiguity. Her utterly ravishing performance here was almost insolently effortless, bringing untold and debonair virtuosity and swagger to one of the more volcanic works by another Ukrainian composer and pianistic genius.
All in all, this radio performance was a whole new world of pianism evoked by a pianist of uncommon genius at the tender age of just 23. Conventional wisdom should suggest that Miss Rizikov ought to be lionised by audiences the world over. However, while she is – like the Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla – recognised by the cognoscenti, Miss Rizikov has yet to be accorded the status equated to the genius that she truly is. Perhaps not having the name of a well-known Anglo-European conservatoire against her resume may have something to do with it. Who knows?
At age seven Miss Rizikov first walked onto the concert stage and dazzled the audience as a pianist whose feet barely made it to the pedals as she performed with the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra. Soon, competing in competitions with pianists twice her age she won a slew of prizes: the Rotary International Piano Competition in Spain in 2011, the 13th Giuliano Pecar International Prize for Piano Interpretation Competition in Italy in 2013. The pinnacle of her success may well be when she placed first in the Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition in Italy and certainly – competing as a 15-year-old in an adult category – when she placed first in the Jaén International Piano Competition in Spain in 2015. After the latter she recorded her debut disc for Naxos.
Since her orchestral debut in Kiev, Ukraine, at the age of seven, she played in over 40 orchestral performances internationally and has worked with great conductors and musicians, such as Peter Oundjian, Emmanuel Ax, and Bernhard Gueller. Ms. Rizikov played in master classes for Sergei Babayan, Awadagin Pratt, Ferenc Rados, Anatoly Ryabov, and has worked with András Schiff, Menahem Pressler, Gabor Takács-Nagy, and Olga Kern.
Miss Rizikov graduated at Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris with top honors obtaining a Concert Artist Diploma under Professor Marian Rybicki. And then there is also the fact that genius was nurtured until her 18th year by her grandmother and pedagogue Professor Maia Spis, and aided by mother Liana Spis-Rizikov, who is herself a singer and actor of considerable repute. From the time spent with her grandmother and her supremely gifted mother Miss Rizikov has much to give thanks for her Ukrainian heritage. This is also why she has thrown caution to the wind and plunged into a whirlwind tour to promote Ukrainian repertoire through the not-for-profit Pysanka Foundation that she founded with two of her friends to promote Ukrainian arts, culture and education-based programmes. And it was under the auspices of this foundation that she decided to put together a fund-raising effort to benefit her brothers and sisters in Ukraine, suffering untold misery in Putin’s unjust and murderous war in that country.
The concert at Zoomer Radio Hall in Toronto on the 31st of March was the first of these concerts in Canada and was put together thanks to the enduring relationship she enjoys with Moses Znaimer, legendary media entrepreneur and founder of the New Classical FM, Zoomer Radio and Vision TV and the good offices of her Canadian management. This recital was followed by one organised by her and her mother in the relatively small basement of St Vlodomyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on Bathurst Street, Toronto. The proceeds of contributions and ticket sales were all transferred to the Canadian-Ukrainian Foundation for Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal. Every cent raised was sent to Ukraine. Remarkably these efforts raised a total of $20,000 a phenomenal figure considering Miss Rizikov, together with her mother, was almost solely the spine behind this herculean effort.
The concert at the cathedral on the 3rd of April was a slightly longer affair and the music was not interspersed with interview segments as was the made-for-radio-and-television of the one on the last day of March. That [cathedral] concert was broken up into two parts. The Lysenko and Kosenko repertoire was slightly changed. The former included the composer’s “Two Popular Ukrainian Songs”, his “Impromptu” and the vibrant “Shumka-Dumka”. From the word go the audience recognised Miss Rizikov’s exceptional sensibility and the finish and lyrical naturalness of her playing. Her playing of Kosenko’s three pieces from his “Etudes in Ancient Styles” constituted a command performance with more sharply defined declamation and more room in the frame for the music to breathe. Clearly here was a pianist with complete mastery not only of the keyboard, but of the repertoire itself.
Listening to the seductive way in which she seemed to bend the notes in employing moody Ukrainian Dorian [Scale] or altered Dorian scale. This fourth mode of the harmonic minor scale gave the music a tantalising feeling of virtuoso ululation. In Miss Risikov’s hands the music that employed this Misheberak or Av horachamin [Compassionate Father] scale. Moreover, in the manner in which Miss Rizikov slurred and sculpted the long inventions of Kosenko’s “Preludes in Ancient Styles” and Lysenko’s “Impromptu” – and most of all the diabolically difficult Kapustin piece – it was clear that there was not a single semiquaver that had not been fastidiously considered.
Throughout the concert – and you can see this from the video below – that Anastasia Rizikov brought distinction and a musical ease that seemed effortless. I’ve no doubt that it wasn’t the case though! It is given to few artists to renew our experience of a wide range of great music as vividly as she did, while appearing to impose herself on it so lightly. This made for a true encounter with a genius whose career ought to have seen a much more meteoric rise… Perhaps now is the time for that upward curve to skyrocket.
Please help bring relief to Ukrainian men, women and children – both those stuck in the country as well as those who have flown the country. Your donation will be gratefully accepted here.
How one composer spent four decades forging a distinctly Québécois path through the experimental music landscape
When Joane Hétu picks up her alto saxophone, she claims territory. At sixty-six, the Montréal composer, vocalist, and saxophonist has spent forty years carving out space for experimental music in Québec, building institutions and communities that define the province’s musique actuelle scene.
Her latest recording, Elle a son mot à dire, captures Hétu leading Ensemble SuperMusique through thirteen of her compositions from across two decades. The album opens with “Elle n’a pas de mot” (She has no words)—a brief ambient piece that stacks wordless singing atop a chorus of “whirly tubes,” ribbed hoses spun above players that pirouette through the harmonic series. An apt introduction to an artist who has spent her career finding new ways to give voice to the unspoken.
Finding Her Voice in the Underground
Hétu’s path began in the early 1980s with avant-pop groups like Wondeur Brass, Justine, and Les Poules. These bands merged the pluralist ethos of New York’s downtown scene with European progressive sensibilities while maintaining something distinctly Québécois. “I was very young, in my twenties, and this fusion happened quite instinctively, without real premeditation,” she recalls. Through connections to figures like Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, and Fred Frith, and the Recommended Records network, these groups found their place in an international experimental music community.
Even while performing with these bands, Hétu was thinking beyond individual artistic expression. In 1980, she co-founded SuperMusique with Danielle Palardy Roger and Diane Labrosse. Eight years later, they organized a Festival of Innovative Women Musicians, devoted entirely to women’s groups working in avant-garde music—a radical curatorial gesture that signaled Hétu’s growing interest in building infrastructure alongside making music.
“We were connected to the New York scene,” Hétu explains, “but we wanted to create something here, something that would support the community we were building in Montréal.”
From Performance to Institution
The instinct to support that community would shape Hétu’s career as much as her compositions. By 1998, she had taken on co-direction of Ensemble SuperMusique, transforming the organization into one that explicitly welcomes “emerging artists, mid-career artists, and major figures alike.” Where many experimental music scenes fragment along generational lines, Hétu has consistently worked to bridge those gaps.
“This intergenerational cohabitation is a great richness for us,” she explains. “It opens perspectives, stimulates listening, and provokes essential exchanges.”
On Elle a son mot à dire, this collaborative philosophy becomes musical practice. In “Mot elle a,” vocalist Sarah Albu’s written part interweaves with improvised percussion, creating what Hétu calls “flexible, malleable” pieces that depend on interpretation. “For now, I only have one recording, but I hope it will live through other recordings and interpretations,” she says. “This is one of the objectives of open scores: to encourage multiple and living interpretations.”
[click on image to enlarge]
The Economics of Experiment
Running an experimental music organization led Hétu deeper into the infrastructure questions that determine which music gets heard and preserved. As founder and longtime president of DAME Records (Distribution Ambiances Magnétiques Etcetera), she took on the less glamorous work of documenting and distributing Canadian experimental music—a role she maintained for three decades.
“I’ve always had a passion for sound recording,” she reflects. “From 1985, I got involved in Ambiances Magnétiques, then DAME took over.” The work came with unexpected costs. “After my daughter’s birth in 1990, I was looking for a certain stability, knowing that tours would be more difficult. Naively, I believed that having a record label would offer a form of security. It was quite the opposite. This enterprise cost me a lot in creative time. Looking back, it’s perhaps what I regret most: having carried it for so long, for thirty-three years.”
Despite the personal sacrifice, DAME has documented a vital chapter in Canadian music history, providing a platform for artists like Jean Derome, Pierre-Yves Martel, Tim Brady, and dozens of others who might otherwise have remained unrecorded. “DAME documents this precious musical heritage and ensures that these musics are represented, supported, available, and that this artistic history is accessible,” Hétu explains.
Claiming Creative Territory
The questions of space and belonging that drove Hétu’s institutional work find their most direct artistic expression in her concept of territory. The idea runs through much of her work, most explicitly in her piece La femme territoire ou 21 fragments d’humus. For Hétu, territory encompasses everything from the intimate to the political: “the Earth, my room, Quebec, my soul—a woman who becomes vastitude.”
“In it, I take a position, as a woman, on my territory—intimate and collective,” she explains. “I doubted while writing it; I had trouble trusting myself. Today, I’m happy with the path traveled and with this work.”
The territorial thinking extends to her approach to voice and instrumentation. Hétu never formally learned to sing, drawing from influences like Tenko, Phil Minton, Jaap Blonk, and Paul Dutton. “I have a deep love for the voice and its noise-making potential. It’s visceral and fundamental to me,” she says. In her work with La chorale bruitiste JOKER, founded in 2012, she explores what collective vocal improvisation can accomplish using techniques like soundpainting.
[click on image to enlarge]
Seasons of Composition
Hétu’s relationship to place extends to her famous engagement with Québec’s harsh winters. Where others see obstacles to cultural life, she found creative catalysts. Her trilogy Musique d’hiver emerged from the practical reality that “January, February and March are rather quiet in the record industry, which leaves time to compose.” But the relationship between season and creativity runs deeper than scheduling.
“I love winter, I love the sound, the cocoon effect it produces,” she explains. The final piece in the trilogy, Récits de neige, focused specifically on snow’s geometry: “I hoped to compose 30 short pieces that musicians could amalgamate as they want, like snowflakes, which each have a different geometry.”
Building for the Future
Today, as Hétu approaches her fifth decade in music, she remains committed to the experimental principles that have guided her career while grappling with new challenges facing the experimental music community. “I believe the public has the capacity to welcome innovation,” she argues. “But it needs tools, which are becoming scarce: radio broadcasting, interviews, production support, and venues dedicated to new music.”
Her work with Ensemble SuperMusique continues to demonstrate that experimental music can build lasting institutions and communities. Recent projects include ongoing workshops in graphic scores and conducting gestures, international collaborations, and regular concert series that have sustained the musique actuelle community for decades.
“I respond to the call, to the impulse of the moment. I am still, fundamentally, the same composer,” Hétu admits. Viewed across four decades, her work reveals a consistent thread: the understanding that experimental music concerns itself with creating the conditions for a community of artists to flourish.
In an era when funding for experimental music remains precarious and cultural institutions focus on measurable outcomes, Hétu’s approach offers a different model. Her career demonstrates that sometimes the most radical act is creating space for other voices to emerge, building the infrastructure for artistic communities to sustain themselves across generations. After four decades, Joane Hétu still has something to say. She’s still creating spaces for others to find their own voices within the experimental music territory she has helped map. In Québec’s cultural landscape, that may be her most enduring composition.
“One of the most unforgettable moments of the Festival was the electrifying performance by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue”
The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal took place from June 26 to July 5, 2025, in the Quartier des Spectacles. The 45th edition of the world’s largest jazz festival was a resounding success, attracting jazz enthusiasts from around the globe.
The Heart of the Festival
Located in the heart of downtown Montreal, the Festival site becomes a meeting place for jazz lovers worldwide for ten days. The area is closed to all vehicular traffic and remains open until midnight, allowing visitors to enjoy close to 150 indoor concerts and more than 350 free, open-air shows presented on the specially redesigned Quartier des Spectacles.
A Personal Journey
As a jazz fan and festival enthusiast, I had always intended to attend the Montreal Jazz Festival. Despite missing several chances, I finally managed to go this year, although for a shorter time than I would have preferred, from June 30th to July 3rd.
Arrival and First Impressions
I enjoyed a pleasant 5-hour Via Rail train trip from Toronto to Montreal, arriving around 2 PM. After settling into my Airbnb, I found the jazz festival site and met up with Danilo Navas, the editor-in-chief of That Canadian Magazine. We eagerly waited for the first act to perform on the TD Stage, a free concert by UK tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia.
Garcia and her band delivered an energetic and incredibly enjoyable set that featured music from both of her recordings. This is an artist I will be watching more closely.
One of the most unforgettable moments of the festival was the electrifying performance by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. This mind-bending concert had everything thrown into the mix, creating an explosive fusion of world jazz, funk, and New Orleans soul.
The unbridled excitement and energy from the stage were infectious, drawing the audience in and making them an essential part of the show. The crowd danced, cheered, and grooved to the irresistible beats, unable to resist the magnetic pull of Trombone Shorty’s music.
After this exhilarating experience, the only thing left to do was find a chill spot to unwind and bask in the afterglow of this burst of New Orleans magic.
Canada Day Celebrations
On July 1st, Canada Day, I took a walk to Old Montreal to check out the celebrations. The area, reminiscent of Europe, was closed off to most traffic, allowing visitors to enjoy the numerous restaurants with patios and sidewalk cafes. I indulged in a coffee and biscotti at one inviting cafe before making my way back to the jazz festival area, with a brief stop in Chinatown for some delicious dumplings and soup.
Memorable Performances
This Canada Day was my most active in terms of concerts, with three free shows happening almost consecutively at outdoor venues.
The Sugar Darlings: Miche Love, a key figure in the Montreal blues scene, captivated the audience with her powerful and soulful voice, supported by the electrifying solos of Paul Lucyk on guitar and Kaven Jalbert on saxophone.
Julien Fillion Band: This lively quartet, led by the talented Julien Fillion on saxophone, guitar, and keyboards, delivered an energetic performance to a rain-soaked crowd. The show must go on despite the unpredictable weather challenges.
Endea Owens & the Cookout: Detroit-raised recording artist, bassist, and composer Endea Owens captivated the audience with her soulful singing and jazz and soul-infused playing.
My Last Full Day at the Festival
My last full day at the festival was spent exploring the grounds and soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of the Montreal Jazz Festival, discovering the many facets of this grand celebration.
Christine Jensen Quartet at Le Studio TD
One of the last jazz concerts I attended was at an indoor venue that offered a free performance by the Christine Jensen Quartet, which featured alto saxophonist Christine Jensen. This outstanding group of world-class musicians includes Jim Doxas on drums, Gary Versace on keys, and Adrian Vedady on contrabass. The quartet played tunes from Jensen’s latest recording, “Day Moon,” released in 2023, as well as selections from her other quartet albums.
A Memorable Experience
In summary, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is an excellent event held at a captivating venue, offering a wonderful experience with many free concerts and more. I look forward to returning and delving even further into the modern music of our era.
Editor’s Note: We will publish our photo gallery from the 45th Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in a separate post in the next few days.
Luminato at Harbourfront – June 15, 2025
Somd’agua: A Dance Migration Performance
A mesmerizing collaboration featuring Esie Mensah, Alex Oliver, Reimundo Sosa Reinoldes, and Adrianna Yanuziello, Somd’agua provided a profound exploration of Afro-Brazilian culture. The performance artfully depicted the sacred connection between the deities Oxum and Yemanjá through movement and rhythm.
The fusion of powerful singing, chanting, and dynamic Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian percussion created an immersive backdrop for the dancers’ graceful movements.
As the river meets the sea, the performers wove their magic, creating a flowing exchange of energies that stirred deep emotions and evoked memories of distant lands.
The natural setting of Harbourfront Centre enhanced the experience, with the breeze from Lake Ontario and passing tall ships complementing the performance’s aquatic themes. The audience’s enthusiastic participation peaked during the climactic duet, where the dancers achieved perfect harmony.
Santé! By Cirque Kikasse
Quebec’s innovative circus troupe transformed a food truck into an extraordinary performance space.
Their show seamlessly blended fast-food preparation with spectacular acrobatics, showcasing remarkable athleticism and gravity-defying feats both on and above their unique mobile stage.
Musical Performances and Workshops
Afro-Indigenous roots of Colombia Cumbia workshop with Beny Esguerra
Beny Esguerra, the Juno-nominated multi-instrumentalist, delivered an engaging exploration of Afro-Colombian rhythms. Accompanied by his daughter, who acted as her father’s assistant. She helped distribute percussion instruments.
Esguerra created an interactive experience where the distributed percussion instruments became integral to the musical performance. It featured a fun and engaging demonstration that showcased the communicative power of drumming.
Kombilesa Mi
This vibrant Afro-Colombian ensemble brought the distinctive sounds of San Basilio de Palenque to life. Their dynamic performance merged traditional rhythms (Mapalé, Bullerengue, Son Palenquero) with contemporary hip-hop elements, performing in both Spanish and their native language, Palenque.
Formed in 2011, the group serves as a cultural bridge, connecting young people with their heritage while embracing modern musical expressions. The show was well-attended, and these fantastic entertainers had the crowd singing along, clapping in time, and seemingly having a joyful experience.
The festival experience concluded perfectly with an evening stroll along the Harbourfront paths. The day’s artistic celebrations settled into memory as night descended over Lake Ontario.
Photo Gallery: Adrianna Yunuziello Dance Migration performing Somd’agua
Photos by Paul J. Youngman [click on images to enlarge]
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