“It’s easy for a musician to find oneself lost in a jungle of rules and customs, with no understanding of what they mean, where they come from, or why they still exist. Reflecting on these questions is the most important thing a musician can do, and the depth of this reflection is dependent on not taking anything for granted but continuously seeking new answers.”

 

Within different styles, different devices are used towards similar expressive goals, but the variety afforded by a wide-ranging repertoire forces one to reflect on them. This is why Emil Holmström finds the task of trying to figure out why a composer arrived at a particular solution endlessly fascinating.

 

Born in a row house in suburban Espoo, neighboring Helsinki, Holmström has described his upbringing as “buddenbrookian” (after Mann). It was one of stability, in a home that valued knowledge, education, the arts, and shared family meals, and from which the children began to find their way into various creative fields.

 

If one asks Holmstöm about his most important influences, he recalls the rigorous schooling he received from his teacher Erik T. Tawaststjerna, as well as the deep insights into new music he received from Professor Marie-François Bucquet in Paris. He also recalls taking part in a handful of competitions, both national and international, in which he always did fairly well. But most of all, Holmström says he has been shaped by playing with even more skilled colleagues who, with their presence and example, have showed him what a musician can accomplish on stage or how to read scores with insight.

 

Emil Holmström is by no means excessively picky when choosing projects, but the most important thing for him is that people or projects are artistically ambitious. Still, things can’t always be perfect. If a new commissioned piece doesn’t deliver, or if you play a less than successful concert, you can still comfort yourself with the knowledge that it’s always better to try something new than to stay on the beaten path.

 

“We need works in which musicians find their raison d'etre, a motivation to perform. This goes for both old and new repertory, but particularly the old; I presently find playing historical repertoire quite pointless if one doesn’t come at it from some interesting angle,” Holmström points out.

 

“With contemporary works, things are easier because new art has to be performed in order for it to exist at all. We can’t always tell in advance what will be valuable and what not. But unlike with historical repertoire, there is a broader imperative to create new art.”

 

In the future, Holmström hopes to further sharpen his public profile, not just as an interpreter, but also as a curator and artist who participates in public discourse. In particular, he hopes to offer alternatives to the mainstream institutional arts that dominate the market, and to deepen his work both as a pianist and composer.“

 

I don’t want to sound too negative, but the substance of concert music has been on a downward trajectory for years, thanks to orchestras that operate like factories, manneristic soloists, and semi-competent conductors. At the same time, we have lost touch with both composers and listeners. Smaller ensembles still have the ability to focus on the substance and to become intimate with their audience, but it should be our sacred duty to somehow counteract the dumbing down of our wider music life.“

 

I also believe it to be quite important for today’s musicians to try, on the grassroots level, to deepen the audience’s knowledge and intuition about classical music.”

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Wilhelm Kvist