'Music most direct, soul to soul conversation': Ukrainian pianist

By Hilal Ustuk

ISTANBUL (AA) - Music is the most direct and heart-to-heart conversation to express feelings worldwide, according to a Ukrainian-American pianist.

"Music starts when the world ends. This is correct because we all understand feelings, which is the most direct communication from soul to soul," musician Valentina Lisitsa told Anadolu.

The world-known pianist expressed her views on music being an important form of communication for human beings because "normal ways of communication are a little bit broken."

Lisitsa added that she had many concerts in war zones, noting that the tragedies experienced in different parts affected her music.

Music is not entertainment for those people; it is like oxygen, she said, saying that music should bring people together.

Noting that Ukraine was among the war zones in which she performed concerts, Lisitsa said that she gave a master class in shelters in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2015, when the conflict with Russia began.

"I was born in Ukraine. I'm a citizen of Ukraine… It's a real (fight) of brothers against brothers," she said, adding that it is more like a "circle of violence."

She hopes music and art could help to stop the ongoing violence in the region.

Regarding the Gaza war, the famous musician said she would like to perform in the region.

"It is a very terrible situation that the children and their families are harmed," she noted.

Valentina Lisitsa, born in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in 1973, became known worldwide after a performance on her YouTube channel in 2012, which was viewed more than 50 million times.

Lisitsa, who performed the works of composers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff and Charles Ives in her concerts, gave highly praised performances in many countries.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar