CAFE 541: Six questions with Daniel Hsu
by Matthew Denis, The Register-Guard
published March 12, 2020
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Matthew Denis: “Almost every quote about you refers back to the feeling or emotion within your music. Where does the emotion come from within your music and do you purposely play with that feeling — is it intended?”
Daniel Hsu: “I think music inherently is an extremely personal thing. It’s an art form, just like every other kind of art, it’s extremely personal and individual. … I personally believe that as a musician or as a performer, it’s our responsibility to interpret and bring to life the original composer’s intentions. In the case of classical music, there’s a lot of stuff written into the music. There’s history and what was going on in the composer’s life and what each piece might be about. At the same time, I also feel like the performer’s personal experiences influence the music. Ultimately, music is about communicating something — a story and emotions that you aren’t able to say in other ways. And every performance is an opportunity to express that story. That’s the charge of playing piano for me.”
Read the full interview here.