Karishmeh Felfeli
Encyclopedia
Karishmeh Felfeli is a radio broadcaster, pianist
, vocalist and creator of Offbeat, a critically acclaimed classical music and arts radio program for Dublin City FM
. As a radio presenter, Karishmeh Felfeli has also been heard on CBC Radio 2 and more recently, on BBC Radio 3
.
She was born in Pune
, Maharashtra
, India
to a Persian
Zoroastrian family of non-musicians, is of Irani ethnicity and an Irish
citizen.
Karishmeh has described Canadian pianist Glenn Gould
as a personal musical icon, a creative thinker, an extraordinary musician, writer and someone who constantly challenged the evolving yet stagnant world of classical music
in an interview with Doug Fisher in the Ottawa Citizen
. Her musical development and journey was transformed when, aged twelve, she heard a Gould recording for the first time in India
. Between 2007 and 2008, Felfeli has presented lectures and masterclasses (including two on Glenn Gould's own Steinway CD318 as well performed at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, in an experimental performance of Johann Sebastian Bach
's Concerto in D Minor for piano and live electronics, along side other works from the classical and popular repertory.
Despite embarking on an extremely successful career as a performing artist at some of the world's most illustrious venues, where she presented repertoire ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach
to Charles Ives
, and giving her first concerto performance at the age of ten, Karishmeh left western classical piano performance at the age of nineteen to devote herself to music education
(in particular with amateur
and adult students), cross-genre music and radio broadcasting. As a pianist, vocalist and concert-presenter she has curated numerous sold-out concerts at Ireland's National Concert Hall
, amongst them, the platform series "Musicians of the Future" as well as lecture-recitals featuring diverse programs, from early vocal music to contemporary repertoire under her "Sarabande - The Glenn Gould Project" outreach project. She has also written on the subject of music education, amateur pianists and alternate careers in music for Pianist Magazine.
Following her acclaimed radio interviews and features for RTÉ
Radio 1 on Glenn Gould
as well as her contributions to the station's flagship Arts programs, The Eleventh Hour and The Arts Show, Felfeli began presenting and producing her own independent classical music radio program for Dublin City FM
(formerly Anna Livia FM) entitled Offbeat in 2008. Notable guests Felfeli has interviewed on the program include Kronos Quartet
founder David Harrington, Canadian pianists Louis Lortie
and Naida Cole
, legendary American pianist Leon Fleisher
, Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie
, Hollywood Singer and American Soprano Marni Nixon
as well as impressario Maxim Gershunoff, Guitarist Pierre Bensusan
, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain
and many more acclaimed musicians. More recently, Karishmeh has been featured in two separate conversations with the British rock guitarist Dave Davies
from the 60s band The Kinks
as well as sufi rock musician Salman Ahmad
of Junoon fame, Indian soprano Patricia Rozario
, legendary pianist Byron Janis
and the film and television composer David Carbonara
. The program includes conversations, essays, prose and discussion about music, and has featured composers as diverse as Charles Ives
and Eric Satie, as well as A. R. Rahman
and Bollywood
. An avid animal lover, Felfeli is passionate about animal rescue and has been involved with numerous animal charities in her native Pune, as well as in Ireland and England doing hands-on rescue work, as well as fundraising through her music concerts.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, vocalist and creator of Offbeat, a critically acclaimed classical music and arts radio program for Dublin City FM
Dublin City FM
103.2 Dublin City FM is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Dublin Public Service Radio Association Ltd, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 103.2 MHz FM frequency...
. As a radio presenter, Karishmeh Felfeli has also been heard on CBC Radio 2 and more recently, on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
.
She was born in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to a Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
Zoroastrian family of non-musicians, is of Irani ethnicity and an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
citizen.
Karishmeh has described Canadian pianist Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
as a personal musical icon, a creative thinker, an extraordinary musician, writer and someone who constantly challenged the evolving yet stagnant world of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
in an interview with Doug Fisher in the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
. Her musical development and journey was transformed when, aged twelve, she heard a Gould recording for the first time in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Between 2007 and 2008, Felfeli has presented lectures and masterclasses (including two on Glenn Gould's own Steinway CD318 as well performed at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, in an experimental performance of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Concerto in D Minor for piano and live electronics, along side other works from the classical and popular repertory.
Despite embarking on an extremely successful career as a performing artist at some of the world's most illustrious venues, where she presented repertoire ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
to Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
, and giving her first concerto performance at the age of ten, Karishmeh left western classical piano performance at the age of nineteen to devote herself to music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
(in particular with amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
and adult students), cross-genre music and radio broadcasting. As a pianist, vocalist and concert-presenter she has curated numerous sold-out concerts at Ireland's National Concert Hall
National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....
, amongst them, the platform series "Musicians of the Future" as well as lecture-recitals featuring diverse programs, from early vocal music to contemporary repertoire under her "Sarabande - The Glenn Gould Project" outreach project. She has also written on the subject of music education, amateur pianists and alternate careers in music for Pianist Magazine.
Following her acclaimed radio interviews and features for RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
Radio 1 on Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
as well as her contributions to the station's flagship Arts programs, The Eleventh Hour and The Arts Show, Felfeli began presenting and producing her own independent classical music radio program for Dublin City FM
Dublin City FM
103.2 Dublin City FM is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Dublin Public Service Radio Association Ltd, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 103.2 MHz FM frequency...
(formerly Anna Livia FM) entitled Offbeat in 2008. Notable guests Felfeli has interviewed on the program include Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
founder David Harrington, Canadian pianists Louis Lortie
Louis Lortie
Louis Lortie, OC, CQ is a French-Canadian pianist. He currently lives in Berlin.He is known for his interpretation of Ravel, Chopin and Beethoven...
and Naida Cole
Naida Cole
Naida Margaret Cole is a Canadian-American concert pianist who left a successful career as a recording artist and touring musician in 2007 to pursue medicine at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School, where she is currently enrolled.Cole's website and Facebook pages state that she is a...
, legendary American pianist Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher is an American pianist and conductor.-Early life and studies:Fleisher was born in San Francisco, where he started studying the piano at age four...
, Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBE is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo percussionist in 20th-century western society.-Early life:Glennie was born and raised in Aberdeenshire...
, Hollywood Singer and American Soprano Marni Nixon
Marni Nixon
Marni Nixon is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She has also spent much of her career performing in concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world and in operas and musicals throughout the United States.-Biography:Born Margaret Nixon...
as well as impressario Maxim Gershunoff, Guitarist Pierre Bensusan
Pierre Bensusan
Pierre Bensusan is a French-Algerian guitarist. As a sephardic Jew, his family came from Spain, Spanish Morocco and French Algeria. The genre of his acoustic guitar music is often characterized as Celtic, Folk, World music, New Age, or Chamber jazz. He has also published three books of music and...
, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (musician)
Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
and many more acclaimed musicians. More recently, Karishmeh has been featured in two separate conversations with the British rock guitarist Dave Davies
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon "Dave" Davies is an English rock musician best known for his role as lead guitarist and vocalist for the English rock band The Kinks....
from the 60s band The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
as well as sufi rock musician Salman Ahmad
Salman Ahmad
Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani musician and former actor, who used to be a member of Vital Signs but left after their debut album due to creative differences. He went on to form Junoon, South Asia's biggest and longest-lasting rock band. While still enjoying the success of Junoon, he was involved in...
of Junoon fame, Indian soprano Patricia Rozario
Patricia Rozario
Patricia Rozario, OBE is a Mumbai-born British soprano.Born and educated in Bombay, India, she went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London....
, legendary pianist Byron Janis
Byron Janis
Byron Janis is an American classical pianist.-Life:He made several recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips Great Pianists series. His discography covers repertoire from Beethoven to David Guion and includes renditions of major piano concertos from...
and the film and television composer David Carbonara
David Carbonara
David Carbonara is a film and TV composer as well as a music editor. Most recently his music has been featured in the TV series Mad Men, for which he is the series composer....
. The program includes conversations, essays, prose and discussion about music, and has featured composers as diverse as Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
and Eric Satie, as well as A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
and Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
. An avid animal lover, Felfeli is passionate about animal rescue and has been involved with numerous animal charities in her native Pune, as well as in Ireland and England doing hands-on rescue work, as well as fundraising through her music concerts.