Hello, and welcome to Pianotech Radio Hour, the weekly bridge to the future of the piano tech community. I'm David Anderson.

And I'm Ethan Jani. And we're here to ask great questions, and then we'll shut up and listen to some of the authorities, experts, and most outstanding personalities in our little world of pianos.

So put on your best set of headphones, and let's get started.

So hello, everyone. Welcome to the Piano Tech Radio Hour. My name is Emerus. I'm Ethan's assistant stepping in for him again this week because he is out of town. So today's Pianotech Radio Hour will be a recording of a previous conversation that Ethan had recorded.

So in just a second, we will go ahead and get that started. We just have one more person joining. Alright. So I will go ahead and get the conversation started for us.

Hi, everyone out there. I'm Ethan, and I am the host of Pianotech Radio Hour. And I am on the road again this week, so we'll be featuring a pre recorded session. Actually recorded a little bit over a week ago, and, you'll get to see me in the context of my Disney World vacation with my family. A little peek at that, a little hint at that.

But mostly, the episode is about a very talented piano player and bendonianist, who we'll introduce later. But for the time being, what I'd like to do is introduce the show as we do, would say, welcome to Pianotech Radio Hour. We gather here every Saturday to meet with and learn from the most fascinating and knowledgeable folks in the piano world. This includes manufacturers, rebuilders, musicians, makers of other instruments, and of course, piano techs. Our mutual goal is to become better at our craft to help each other and to create an ever more musical world together.

Piano Tech Radio Hour is brought to you by Piano Technicians Master Classes, an online learning resource that brings you cutting edge instruction for piano industry's masters without leaving your home. You can find out more at pianotekniciansmasterclass.com. This program, radio hour, which happens every Saturday, can also be subscribed to for just $16 a month. You get direct access to each week's private Zoom call as well as all, like, all archival recordings of over a 175. Now nearly a 190 episodes in our member area.

You can join Pianotech Radio Hour using the link bit.lyforward/joinptrh. That's bit.lyforward/ join p ptrh. Bitlyforward/joinptrh. Without further ado, let's kick it over to that prerecorded interview.

Okay, everyone. Today's guest is Claudio Constantini. He's an internationally acclaimed multi instrumentalist known for his exceptional skills, both as a pianist and a bandonionist. Born in Lima, Peru in 1983, he combines classical roots with a passion for Latin American music and improvisation. His performances in renowned venues, collaborations with top artists, and critically acclaimed albums have solidified his reputation in the music world.

Konstantini's dedication to music education and his unique blend of musical genres makes him a standout figure in the music industry at large. So, Claudio, welcome to Pianotech Radio Hour.

Thanks. It's a big pleasure to be here.

Yeah. It's been a been a while since we've been arranging it. You're in a different time zone here.

Yeah.

And so it's not always easy. What time is it there, and where are you?

Well, I'm at home in Madrid in Spain. It's, about 8 o'clock here in the evening. Okay.

Nice. Well, you have a lovely apartment there. I love that you have the piano open in the background. That's that's perfect. Right up our audience is alley as piano technicians there.

Have you been messing with the insides at all? Is it more about, recording or or the sound?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I I do love the aesthetics of the of the piano, the inside of a piano. And, as you might know, I'm very active on social media and on YouTube, and, I usually record my videos here in this room. And I'd like to put, the piano to leave the piano open so that adds a little bit of, distinction.

But I I'm also, messing a little bit around with recording because I I try new things every day. So I'm recording myself on the buttonion, my other instrument, and on the piano. And, I haven't really got yet the sounds right in, in the piano, so I'm still experimenting with that. And that's why I usually keep it open so that I can easily put the microphones on.

Alright. Excellent. Yeah. It's beautiful. And we we have talks a tiny bit about mic and pianos on the show, talking with, actually, another, pianist that's in out of Spain.

I don't know if you're familiar with, I might be blanking on his name right now. He's a jazz flamenco piano player. And, and I've actually done it quite well. I'm blanking on his name. But he was living in New York when I met him.

And then during the pandemic, he, like, went back to Spain and, and kinda was trapped there or whatever. He had a property, and he was staying there. I'm not sure where he is located right now, but I'll bring his name up later. You might recognize it. And, and he talked

a little bit about how

he likes the Mike Pianna. I do have a couple, maybe, mic recommendations for you. I'll have to look them up and maybe a little bit of ideas about placement. So

No. That would be great.

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. That. Yeah.

So, I'd love to I'd love to reach back into your roots there in Peru. I'm not sure that we established this already, but I myself actually lived in Peru for about a year and a half. Yeah. This was around 2015, 2016. I brushed up on my Spanish, and I actually was calling myself an ambassador of pianos in Peru.

And so I would tune pianos for for free, just in exchange for the ability to tell the stories of the people and the instruments that I was, I was encountering. And, by the end of my journey in Peru, I had befriended a, a diplomat, that was a piano player, and and, Fernando Torres Fernandez or Hernando Torres Fernandez was his name. You should meet him as a as a fellow Peruvian. I'm sure you guys would get along very well. World traveler.

And I actually ended up working with the president's pianos in the presidential palace Wow. By the end of my journey. Yeah. That was, it was pretty fun. So so I would love to reach back.

And and given I have a little bit of exposure to Peru, I'm also curious. What was your life of a developing musician in Peru? You know, education, mentorship, musical influences, environment. What was that like for you?

Well, I was fortunate enough to, be born into a musical family. So my mother is an orchestra conductor, and my father was a pianist. He was my first piano teacher. But, to be honest, I didn't, I wasn't interested in in music at all. I mean, I loved music, but I wasn't interested in music until I was a teenager.

So when I was about 12 years old, I asked my father for lessons. And so it was just around then when I really liked music. I I mean, I started to fall in love with music, and I started to think that maybe being a pianist would be something I'd like to do. And, that escalated really quickly, and I became completely obsessed with piano. My parents, they they were fortunate enough to study abroad, so they studied in Rome.

They studied in New York also, and they brought with them lots of records and lots of sheet music. So I had a very good, library of of vinyls, long play albums, and and and sheet music. So, what happened was that I started exploring these vinyls just on my own, and I started recognizing the music that my father used to play at the piano or that my mother used to conduct. And, this connection made me fall in love with music. So, it became, as I said, my obsession.

I could I went to school, but before going to school, I woke up, like, at 5 AM in the morning just to practice some piano before I could go to school. And when I came back, I went straight to the piano to play. So I spent all my day at the piano apart from school. So so I advanced quickly, and made up for the lost time from childhood when I didn't study any piano. And, basically, I could say that my biggest influence in music have been my parents because they, they nurtured this love for music that I that I have.

Okay. Fascinating. And and, did you have access to a pretty nice piano growing up? Or or what kind of instrument did you get a chance to learn learn on?

Well, my father used to buy and sell piano. So, we we always had, like, different piano at home to practice, mostly uprights. Eventually, we got a very old, Blutner piano, a grand piano, a half grand, and we stayed with that one for quite a while. But mostly, I have been practicing in old German pianos, upright pianos, and at home.

Okay. Yeah. And are you familiar with Anders' piano out of out of Louis?

Course. I'm familiar with him. Yeah. He he is, he has been there, like, forever. He's, like, the main the biggest or the most well known tuner and and piano dealer in Lima and I guess perhaps in Peru but, he also tunes the piano for the Philharmonic Society where I, often give concerts.

I will actually give a piano recital in in a couple of months over there, and I always meet him over there.

Okay. Great. Yeah. I made friends with him when I was there, and, we've talked about, we've talked about Anders piano on this program before, incidentally. Uh-huh.

That was kind of one of the one of the encounters I had in my journeys, and I wrote some blog posts, about about working with him. And, yeah, we went out for some, some, ceviche a few times out there in Lima. He's a great guy. Nice. Nice.

That's awesome. Well, you definitely have to meet Hernando as well if you don't know Hernando because, like Yeah. I don't know. You would get along. Probably have to know some some of the same people as well because he was well connected in the music industry, in Peru.

Alright. Well, that's that's really fascinating. And, clearly, you had a lot of rich, you know, resources to work with as you was growing up. Yeah. Did the Bandonion, come a part of your journey with your parents?

Did they introduce that to you, or is that something that came later in by that point?

Yeah. Yes. But, by accident. Because, when they were living in Rome, Piazzona was also living and and working in Rome, and he was very popular. He became very popular because he made, the music for the World Cup at that time that was played in Argentina, the Soccer World Cup.

And, my parents got to know his music, and and they liked it so much that they bought us bought an album of Piazzona. And many years later, I discovered this album at home, and I put it on, and and it was so amazing. I I loved the music. Immediately, I fell in love with him the sound of the instrument, but I didn't even know how the instrument looked like because in Peru, bandonion is not a traditional instrument. There's more accordion, but not really bandonians.

So I didn't even know how could I even get one or or what it looked like or how you could play 1. So, it was kind of like a dream for me, like a daydream to be able to play the band And it stayed like that for a few years, until I was living in Finland at the time. I was about 20 years old, and I decided to buy a bentonian and I I bought and I that was the very first bentonian that I saw. The bentonian that I bought from Argentina, they sent it to to Finland and I my journey with the bandonium was solitary because in the beginning I didn't have any teachers. I was in a town up north in Finland called Lachti and, a small city of about 40,000 people compared to Lima, which has several million people.

It's, very small. And, as I said, there's there was no Bandonian feature or Bandonian player that I could, get any sort of advice from. So there was, and there was no YouTube. There was no tutorials. So it it was I'm speaking about year 2002 more or less.

So I didn't have access to to lots of of information over there. But, as I said, it was kind of an accident that my parents introduced me in this way to to the bandonian via Piazzolla's music.

Okay. Fascinating. Now I feel like the bandonian, it's not one of those instruments that, every every kid in their, you know, as their development. I mean, maybe the electric guitar or, like, the, you know, harmonic or the piano or whatever, keyboards. I guess, what's that experience like?

I guess, sort of having a feeling that such a resonant connection within the instrument, that is is, so unique, I suppose. And and I guess, probably, at some points, maybe or maybe not, you've made connections with others that have connections to that instrument. You know, how, you you know, somebody grows up, you know, liking punk rock music, but they're the only person in their high school that likes it. And then all of a sudden, they go off and they meet some other people, and they get together, and they kinda resonate. They have this common thing.

Did you have that with the Bandonian, or did you encounter a teacher at some point? Or has it kind of been a solitary passion? Yeah.

Yes. Well, it's that has happened only with other Medoninists. So

Yeah. It's

and and there are not very many bandonianists in the world. So Yeah. Mostly, the bandonian is more traditional in in Argentina, of course, because of the tango music, which is an Argentinian music, traditional Argentinian music. But the bandonion is actually German. It's a German invention.

And in Europe, there's a few places where there are some players. Like, for example, in in the Netherlands where I also used to live, there's a few good Pantonian players also in France, especially in Paris, and also in Germany. So, sometimes when I visit these places, I I know who are the Bandonians over there because there there there are so few of them And, eventually, I meet them or sometimes, Bandonians from Argentina fly over to Europe. And, if they're in Madrid, they will contact me even if I even if they have never met me or spoken to me personally. But we are so few, Badonians, that we know of our existence.

So we get together in in whatever opportunities we have. I did get a teacher, when I was in Holland, and, I studied for 1 year. I had already learned by myself how to play the instrument, but I perfected a lot of, of details with this teacher, of course, because he he has been a professional mandolinist for forever and and had begun playing the instrument since he was a child. So, he he is a great mandorianist, Victor Vlena. He's one of the best mandorianists in in the world.

And, so I got some great advice from him. But that was still a short time. It was 1 year, and, I did learn a lot by playing in ensembles with other mandolinists. So, by playing together with with people, you know, before in popular music, nowadays it's a bit different but, before everything kind of kind of was, education or or information was, passed by in a kind of oral way, in a traditional way in the sense that, you learned by playing. So you learned, jazz players, for example, learned by playing with other jazz players.

You couldn't really go to to a music school to learn jazz. I mean, nowadays, of course, you can. But, when when jazz was still young and when tango was still young, musicians didn't many times didn't even know how to read music. So they learned kind of by playing and imitating others. And this is a way that, this is the way that I also learned and developed a lot to play by listening to others who played who were much more advanced than me and playing with them and learning from them.

So this is a great way to learn.

That's fascinating. Do you have, by a chance, if I'm going on close at hand that you could could hook up and show? And and maybe yeah. Could you just show for our audience a little bit, you know, what what the instrument is made of? And it's sort of accordion like.

Yes. But yeah. It's it's relative of the accordion and of the concertina. The concertina is actually like the forefather of the bassonian. Only the Badonian is bigger.

I mean, it probably looks in the camera much bigger than what it actually is because it's closer to the camera than what I am, but it's not really that big if you see it like this. However, the bellows do expand quite much.

So Oh, wow.

They go really, really large, and this allows for, very long lines so you can, you can hold a note for a really, really long time. And, another characteristic that it has is that the the keys change depending on whether you push or you pull the the instrument. So, for example, if I play this, a chord, made up of these 3 notes. I don't know if you can hear that well.

Yeah. I could hear it. Yeah.

So now I'm pulling, the bellows and these. If I press the same buttons while closing, it will sound like this. So it's absolutely different. The the keyboard is completely different depending on whether you push or pull just like the concertinas or the harmonicas, you know, when you're blowing, depending on whether you're, inhaling or exhaling the air, the sound changes. So it's a bisonoric.

It's known as bisonoric instrument. What I love about this instrument is that, it allows me to do what the piano cannot do, which is exactly what I said about the lines. You can you can, hold a single note for a really long time. You can make it expand or you can make it decrease. In the piano, the legato is, an illusion.

Pianists have to, learn how to construct the illusion of a legato because, as you know, each as everybody probably knows, each note decays immediately. The sound decays immediately. So we have we depend on our technique and the way that we produce the sound to be able to make a line that apparently is legato. Apparently, each note is not, cut in the middle. But on the bandonion, it's physically possible just like a violin or just like the human voice.

So this is the thing that I really love about the instrument is that I can do that with what I can't on the piano. So that's, a little bit of about the

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. And we could hear a little bit of the I think Zoom filtered out a little bit of the sound, but, I think we heard a little bit of the chords as well. It's almost like the and I played a butt like a butt in accordion or kind of like a what was the first type, the German instrument that you mentioned?

The concertina.

The concertina.

Yeah.

And, yeah, it is. It's like you're playing a completely different chord. It's like it's like you're playing the next chord up in the in the sequence or something with it pushing and pulling. So it's a lot to wrap your head around if you're coming from a a very linear instrument like the piano, I suppose. Yeah.

It's it's

very difficult. The the the medallion is a very difficult instrument to learn to play because it has that and also the the fact that you cannot see the keyboard. So because the keys are here to the sides. So you don't you don't have any vision towards the keyboards. So you have to actually memorize everything.

And in the beginning, that's so hard. It's it really takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. So you really have to be able I mean, you really have to want to play it. Astor Biazzolla actually said, that you have to be a bit crazy to play the bandonion.

I can't say that. Yeah. Well, you seem sane enough at least during this interview, but I can imagine you have your own insanity. I get I get that side of things. I mean, I think even to be a musician and be dedicated to, you know, the arts, especially in our modern times, you know, with all the all the, you know, corporate structures around us, you know, pushing towards that kind of a lifestyle.

You gotta be a little crazy as well for that. But, yeah.

You really have to love what you do. If you if there's no love with and there's no even obsession, I'd say, it's very difficult to to to continue on this path because it's it's it's hard just like any just like anything, I think, any profession or any thing, you really need to to love it. Otherwise, you will fall behind or you'll eventually give it up or or you'll just be unhappy doing it. And it will it will feel always as work and never as enjoyment.

Yes. I've noticed here, you know, you mentioned you lived in Finland, and you mentioned other countries like Argentina, and you're in Spain right now. You mentioned your parents spent some time in New York. It seems quite worldly that you've been that you've done quite a lot of travels. Can you tell me about, you know, how that came about?

Is it just a sort of wanderlust wanting to live in different places? Is it professional opportunities? Is it touring? What's brought you across the globe? Is it a mix of all of those things?

Yeah. I'm a mix of all of of all of those things. In the beginning, it was, of course, I wanted to study abroad because, Peru is especially during the time when I was a teenager, it was not the best place to be, musically, as a classical musician, which was what I was pursuing, classical music. Of course, there's fantastic folk music in Peru, which, and and fantastic musicians that play traditional music from there, but my area was classical music and people in Latin America, especially all around Latin America, want to go either to United States or to Europe to to study in the in the big, great conservatories where the greatest teachers are teaching, of course, and when there where everybody wants to go and there's so many great musicians around. So that's the the best environment to to learn because you you're right in in contact with people who, as I said before, are much more advanced than than you, and that's something to look up to, constantly.

So I wanted to go abroad, and I wanted to go to New York. That didn't work out, unfortunately. Then I I tried, I mean, I saw other options, and I went to Finland because, in Finland, education is or at least was during that time, it was free. It was free. It was state, financed.

Mhmm.

And I got a a scholarship by sending a video, from the Lions Club, to to pay for my airfare, my ticket to go to get there. So that was completely adventurous because I I had no more money. I mean, I had absolutely no money. So I, arrived in Finland. I would had been admitted to the conservatory, of course, so I knew that I could study for free, but I had no money to live.

So, I had to immediately find whatever job I could, so I worked in every imaginable thing. And, that was the beginning. I I was there 4 years, so I did my bachelor's degree in Finland until I was 22. Then I moved to to the Netherlands. I did my master's degree there.

I did a diploma, which is, like a postgraduate study after the master's in Paris for a year, you know, in, a really old, great school. And then I stayed in the Netherlands for for a few years just working, and, eventually, I moved to to Madrid, to Spain. That was in 2013, where I live now. And, just because, I really love this place, not not because of any other reason. I wanted to live here.

That's that's it. And it was, for me, it was, not really so important where I lived because I my life consisted of touring. So, I've always been, a concert artist. I've never been in so involved in teaching. I did teach for a while when I was in Holland, but it was just like a part time job.

I gave it up, because, I didn't have enough time for that. I had to prepare for the concerts and everything, and and my focus was always trying to to be a concert artist. So trying to perform. And, so my my studies took me to all these places, but the concerts have taken me to over 30 countries around the world. So, but, however, most of those places, I don't really know because, I arrived there.

I practice. I try the piano or I try the acoustics. I play, and next morning, I leave again. So I've actually been in, in over 30 countries, but I know very few of them.

Okay. Interesting. And in terms of and in terms of Madrid, you're in Madrid currently, right, in in Spain? Yes. Tell me, you may have mentioned it and and but I just wanted to reiterate how you ended up there, how you settled in Madrid currently?

Well, it's, it was it's just a place that I I really liked every time that I came here. I wasn't completely comfortable in in the place where I lived in the Netherlands, in Rotterdam, because I I wasn't really doing much in Holland. I was all all the time traveling, and it just felt a little bit more at home here in Madrid. Of course, it's my own my mother tongue. Spanish is my mother tongue, And I have many I have many friends here.

So it it was it seemed like a better option for me to live here. And, I can easily get from Madrid to different places in the world. For example, to Latin America, or to United States or also to to Asia or, actually, the whole world. Madrid is a really, really, great place as a central hub

Mhmm.

To travel anywhere.

Great. I have to visit Spain. I haven't been there, but I've got a lot of reasons to come. And by the way, the artist, I couldn't give his name before, Chano Dominguez.

Oh. Have you heard of Chano Dominguez? Yes. He's a great pianist. Very, very well known here in Spain.

Yeah. Jazz Pitrest. Yeah. Jazz Flamenco. Yeah.

Yes. Yes. So we've had him on on the radio hour a few times. In the podcast, recently, we re rebroadcast an episode, actually, both featuring him. Yeah.

He's a really great guy. And and, if you haven't had a chance to meet him, I'd recommend it. So I wanted to talk to you, of course, you know, this show that has a foundation of pianos and and and an audience of of piano nerds, you know, a lot of piano technicians, people in the piano industry. And so it's always interesting to explore our guests, especially musicians, relationships with piano, the mechanics, and, like, the the the people, you know, piano technicians and piano tuners. What has been your relationship with us thus far?

Do you is it one where you you you haven't encountered a lot or or or or, you know, you just kinda show up and the piano's ready? Or, have you gotten to know any tuners and technicians or tried to learn about the piano's mechanics or anything?

No. I mean, just the very basic stuff, but I I wouldn't dare to try tune my piano or any anybody's piano. Perhaps my enemy's piano.

Haven't heard of that one before, but I like this.

Well, I don't have any enemies, but I hope so. But, no. I I really don't know because, I think it's it's just something that that you really need to spend time to really master, and that's why there's people who who dedicate exclusively to this. So I trust very much, my tuner. He's a great tuner.

He tunes the best calls here in in Madrid and, very nice guy. So I'm lucky that I found him early on when I moved here, and and and and that's it. And and then when when I'm in when I go to a concert, I'm I don't know. I don't really have much relationship with with with tuners. Sometimes they just ask me a few things, but usually, it's, it's just a really, brief polite encounter with the tuner.

So I I don't really have much relationship with that world, unfortunately, though, but, because I I'd love to know more. I mean, there's some pianists, for example, Grigori Sapolov is well known for being very specific and very, meticulous about the mechanics of the piano and and knowing everything about it. And and and it goes with his obsessive personality and his great perfectionist, and that's why he's such an amazing musician, of course, in in that sense. But I I don't have that, mental or time capacity to to focus on that because I'm I'm focused on other things.

Got it. Well, your piano's open there, so you probably picked a few things about the mechanics, I suppose.

Well, yes. Of course. And and my father was really, a great, mind when it came to these kind of crafts. So but he always did everything himself. He knew how to tune his piano.

He added weight to the keys by, with, by drilling holes and putting some, self made, weights and all sorts of stuff. I've observed him doing these things. So, I mean, if something breaks, like, if a hammer goes out of out of place or sometimes, a hammer goes a little bit to the side and it touches a little bit of of the of the the string the the string right next to it. So 2 note sound. So I know how to regulate it so that it goes back to its place just by observing it.

So but that's, I think, very basic stuff. So

Do you, recollect your do you recollect your piano technician's name in in Madrid there?

Yes. David Esquierdo. David Esquierdo? Yes. Mhmm.

Okay. Cool. We'll have to look him up. Maybe we'll try to get him on the program as well.

Yeah. Actually, he he has his own company, now that his son and daughter are also piano technicians. So they handle, like, maybe 50% of the piano of all of the pianos in Madrid.

Oh. Yeah. It's, it it's fascinating to at this program and and some of our other educational activities have given me a chance to know, you know, people in pianos all over the world, which I've really appreciated. In in Finland, I know piano technicians there. There's a woman named Kiersi Lassi, who was one of our our first, kind of enthusiastic participants in our master classes.

And, Yeah. Peru, you know, we have Chile, Chilean piano technicians who tune into this program, for example. A lot have you ever you ever heard of Clavin's pianos? David Clavin's? No.

I recommend you check that out.

Where is that? In what country?

He is in, Latvia currently, but I'm not sure if that's where he's from originally. But back in the eighties, he designed an entirely new type of piano. It's a vertical piano that you had to climb a staircase to play. So it's it's the strings and the sound board are are as larger larger than your typical concert grand piano. But it's a vertical vertical instrument.

And, and he sort of it went to the traditional piano building school, and came out of it, you know, saying, hey. Wait a second. Some of the things they're teaching me, they're kind of, like, sidestepping what's really going on. I think I could design a piano that, you know, has has different qualities that will fulfill, you know, better scaling and and things like this have a better base, base range and and stuff like that. And he kind of invented this new type of piano.

And then, he's he's been making those ever since. And more recently, he's been creating smaller versions. So he has this UNA CORDA 60 4 key piano with with only a single string per note. But, yeah, just, you know, getting a chance to to interface with all sorts of people all over the world that have always appreciated, cross culturalism, and this program gives us the opportunity for that. So

That sounds so interesting.

Yeah. It's great stuff. Tell me a little bit more about kind of what's going on, with you now in terms of, you know, what are your focuses in in your projects, you know, things you think people should pay attention to or what's coming down the line, stuff like that?

Well, I'm all always, thinking of new ways to reach more people with music, of course. My my greatest, motivation yeah. My greatest motivation is to to perform music, to play music, and and to reach people with music, to touch people's hearts with music, to sound a little bit, cliche, but that's really what I focus on. And I like to explore all sorts of technologies for that. That's why, I become so active in social media and so active in YouTube and on my newsletter, which I write daily newsletter.

And, so I'm I basically work a lot. I focus a lot on recording music at home and, and and showing that through the various, channels, various media. Of course, I perform a lot of concerts, but I'm trying to keep them, I'm trying to keep, less tight agenda because I've traveled so much, now that I have a family, now that I have a young daughter. I like I enjoy being home so much. And, it's it gets harder to to leave.

So I I love, being on stage. It's kind of what I was meant to do, to be on stage and perform on stage. But I don't have the need to do it as often as I did before. So before I really played every single week, I had a concert, sometimes more concerts per week. So that's that was a really large agenda.

But now I've, tied in it more. I'm more at home, and I, enjoy it more that way because each concert becomes sort of more special. And, I prepare more specifically for each, moment, for each concert, each program. I focus better on each program because since I play 2 instruments and different genres, my programs are my concerts, very, very much, in in mood and in general. So one day, I might be playing Bach on the bandonian.

The other next day, I might be playing Gazzola. Next day, I might be playing a Beethoven sonata, then a concerto with an orchestra. So it's it can get quite chaotic, with the schedule just to practice and learn these pieces, you know, and and get them in in in good shape. That's why I'm focusing so much on, on these new channels to to expand the the viewer amount actually because, I've got some videos which have reached 7 or 8,000,000 people. So that's something that is not possible to do on a concert, of course.

And I've, gotten so many, encouraging messages from from people who, for example, have had given up on their instruments and are picking, them up again, or who are discovering new composers or discovering new music that they didn't know before or are even discovering classical music because of of these videos which are will become viral. So that's something I I really, really enjoy. So and and I'm I'm focusing a lot on that because I think it it brings a lot of, of value to to people around the world. Just like I like consuming, things. I'm I'm not, I don't have a TV, so I don't I don't watch Netflix.

I don't watch any of these, but I I'm an avid YouTube consumer because I find so much gems over there, musical gems, or or I learn every day something from there. So this is a a kind of environment that I want to be part of, and I am part of it. So this is, something I concentrate on daily. Apart from that, I develop my projects, my recording projects. I'm is I I've signed to Warner Classics, so I released one album with Warner Classics on the medonian.

That was last year. I'm planning my next one, which is gonna be with the piano and the Medonian and an orchestra. And, so this is I'm gonna be touring that in next year, 2020 5, 2026. So these are kind of my projects. And, of course, just performing, the music that I love to perform.

Mhmm. That's a lot. When did you get started with the YouTube? And I'm I'm assuming, as as anyone might, you you know, you start put putting things on YouTube and you think, oh, it'd be great if a lot of people see it, you know. And you kind of hope for that, but also, you know, probably had your best.

Like, you might might not like, what you know, how long has it been? And, you know, do you feel like it is kind of like a surprise to to get get get such a response? Or this is just kind of a long time building up the, you know, your your channel? Or yeah. How how did how what was that like?

Well, on YouTube, I did start my channel many years ago, but, it was the typical musician's channel where you just uploaded, every once in a while some video, some perform some random performance. So it was not really, I mean, YouTube is, is a platform which you really need to to know how it works in order for your videos to to get some sort of exposure. So, in terms of the algorithm, of course, just like, the other social media platforms, My real actual, YouTube journey as a creator as a creator focused on doing YouTube videos has started really recently, perhaps 1 year ago or so. And, it has been just since, about October that I've adopted the, the, the habit of of doing, regular videos, uploading regular videos on YouTube and and really putting effort into doing doing them, visually pleasant and And you

have some really beautiful I mean, just just to interrupt and say that we we talked about maybe playing some of your music as part of the program, and we decided, well, there's plenty of your stuff out there so people can look you up, you know, of course, and they could find your videos. But, yes, you have some very beautifully created crafted videos, you know, not just from the musical perspective. The recording quality is very good, but, visually, it's, you know, it's very pleasing, just to make that comment. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. It has been, a learning process, of course, because there's so you see the end product, but, there's much work behind that, to get to that point, you know, to decide what what sort of aesthetic am I gonna use, what's what music am I gonna play, how am I going to record it, how am I going to edit and master it and mix it, and and what sort of color grading am I gonna use? So all of this is it's a lot of information, which, once you you get used to it, then you can do it.

The workflow becomes, more quick, more effective. But in the beginning, it takes a lot of time. And, of course, you get no views. You get no nobody watches your videos. So this is something that eventually comes.

So you really need to to keep up there with the consistency and and believe in that someday it will work if you just do better videos all the time. On YouTube, I I'm growing, quite a lot but, it's not the place where I'm absolutely viral. I'm really viral in Instagram. Therefore, I get really millions of views. And on Instagram, I've been more active since earlier.

So perhaps, since a couple of years, since the pandemic after after the pandemic, actually. Since after the pandemic, I became very active over there. So I've amassed a very large following, almost half a 1000000 followers and, many viral videos. And, and I'm very proud of that because I do it with just with music, you know, just with classical music, with the music that I love. Well, not only classical music, of course, some other, genres, but mostly classical music.

Yeah. I mean, that's great. And it's great, to see classical music getting such, you know, activity. Right? And I think it's Yeah.

Sometimes it's hard to find that target location to to have classical music performance and appreciation because there is a demand for it, but it's like, you gotta have the right context. Right? You have the right framing, framing for it as well. Because yeah. It it's a combination of a lot of factors to make it work.

Exactly. I will, I'm gonna pause this right here as part of the conversation. I actually have to change locations momentarily. We'll start it back up for a minute, and then we'll wrap up. We're almost done, I think.

Alright. We're back, everyone. I just had to change locations, and, I guess that's that's probably for the best because, I didn't mention it during our interview, but, I'm here in Disney World right now with my family taking a break through this program. And, hey, you get to see the, the good old Cinderella's Casper in the background and, and get the Disney vibe, while while I'm here as well as we wrap things up. And I think, luckily, my headset is good enough that you're not gonna get overwhelmed by the the musical and entertainment, rockets that they put on over here.

So so yeah. I mean, it it's been it's been interesting hearing about your journey through social media. I think, I really think that's wonderful. It's probably appropriate time to just go ahead and share, like, the the the handles that that people might go to check out, you know, YouTube, Instagram, you know, whatever other places that, people might find you in your website. What what are good places for people to find you?

Well, Instagram is the the main platform I use. I I use it the most often, so I publish there almost every day. My, name over there is Constantini Music. Beware because there's lots of fake accounts, using my name. So check the one that has the blue tick.

That's the only one that is really me. And, you can find me on, on TikTok as well, but I do that content in in Spanish. It's the only platform where I do it in in Spanish because TikTok is, location based. And since I'm in Spain, it mostly reaches, people in Spain. That's why I do it in Spanish.

While on Instagram, I post everything in English. YouTube, of course, is the the the platform I'm most dedicated to this year to grow. I want to grow in YouTube much more because that's the place where you can put the long format videos so you can put a full performance of a full piece, which is ideal. My name there is also Constantini Music, just like everywhere else. On Facebook, I have a Facebook page as well, Constantini Music.

That's about it. I have my daily newsletter. You can sign up in my website, which is claudioconstantini.com, and, that's it.

That's it. Alright. Excellent. And I can Yeah.

You can look me up in Spotify as well, of course, and and Apple Music and Amazon just by my name, Claudio to listen to my releases.

Beautiful. And I guess just maybe to wrap, as a as a final topic or question, you know, what is your what is your take on the landscape of music and being a musician, being an artist these days? You know, you've you've gotten a chance to, you know, sort of live through different, eras of music. You know? You you said you got you know, when you got started, you couldn't find YouTube videos on the band Aonia, for example.

And and finally, you can. And you started finding a niche, you know, with with social media after having toured the world or things like this. You know, what if you see somebody that's, you know, in their teens or entering sort of that university age or they're starting their career and they're they're creative, they have a connection with a quirky instrument or whatever. What you know, what do you how do you recommend people go about, making a career, making a life with these kind of interests, pursuits, careers, things like that?

Well, that's a that's a very complicated question to answer because, of course, it depends very much on the individual. It depends very much on, on who it is, where where he or she is, what do they want, what do they I think a a good place to start is, trying very hard. I know it's it's difficult, especially when you're young. It's very difficult to to picture yourself, in where you're gonna be at in 5 or 10 years because it's so so such a long road all the way up till there. But, I think it's important to to think about that because, when I was studying music, when I was a young student, I wanted to become a concert pianist just like, my idols, just like Rubinstein or Horowitz or Richter or Marta Regelich or any of these great pianists.

And, their reality is that their time, the the time when they became idols, when they became iconic, music figures was absolutely different to the time that I was living at the moment, in in the 2 early 2000 when I was studying at the conservatory. And, and the the time now is different from what it was then because it's all all the time evolving. The market is evolving. The, music is evolving. The the way that people consume music is evolving.

Artificial intelligence is coming. So there's plenty of things that might change the landscape of, of what, professional musicians might be used to at the moment. So what I, would suggest to anybody, be it young musician or or, of the musician of any age is to be very open and, and keep the prejudices aside of any sort of new technologies, practices, and and stuff because, things change really, really quickly. And, at the end, there's 2 ways of, being a musician, being an amateur musician or being a professional musician. And the main difference that, that I see, of course, there's many, but and this might sound cold, but the main difference that I see is, in one of them, you do it because just because you like it and in the other one, you actually make a living out of it.

It doesn't mean that you don't like it. You you should like it, but you're making a living out of it. And and and in the end, if you want to make a living out of it, you have to think what is it that you can do or that you're gonna do that will allow you to make a living out of it. So, planning ahead. You know?

Do you like teaching? That's a good, way to go. Study some pedagogics. You don't like teaching or you're you don't think you're good in teaching or whatever, then focus on, building a career as a performer as I did. How can you do that, Will?

That's very personal. It depends where you are, who you know, what are you able to do, what are your personal unique personal skills, what makes you unique, harvest that, but also learn a lot about the people who who are more advanced than you or the people who have actually achieved things. So, this is also something that, I wish somebody would have told me before. When you get advice, from people, it's it's good to analyze, the results that that person has had. And so sometimes you get, very, how do you say, very strict advice from somebody who maybe has no results from what he's he or she is preaching.

You know? And, it's it's important to to know that as well, you know, to to have some kind of vision. I'm saying so many things, and they're so general and broad. So as I said as I said, it it really depends on the person. So but, basically, keeping an eye open, keeping an open mind, and, and questioning things all the time and then and trying to improve and be very honest if you love what you do.

Because if you don't, if you feel that this is not the right thing for you and, you have to really question yourself and and find the truth on on that.

Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate you giving giving a good shot at that. I mean, it's to be honest, it's a it's a complicated world to to be be an artist in. But I think some takeaways that I have there, which are very valuable, you know, one being open minded and and knowing that things are changing and that, you know, you should have an eye for that.

That's that's one thing I'm taking away. Another is is really identifying within yourself. You know, do you wanna be a professional or not? You know? And if you are, you know, you have to take it seriously in terms of where does the money come from.

And, and I think that advice piece is very useful. I think I made the same realizations. You know? I took business advice from my friends, and I thought, well, you know what? Wanna take business advice from people who are successful business people.

Exactly.

Yeah. Because, you know, there you get so much so much advice from from, musicians who, you know, cannot earn a living from, from what they do. And and and it's good it's good to focus and to really, delve yours, into the music and into learning as much as you can into the music. But, if you're locked in a in a room studying piano for 12 hours a day for 4 years, when you get out of the conservatory, you don't know how to do much anything else, much less how to run a business out of your music because at the end, if you want to live out of it, you you have to run a business in a way. Even if some people don't feel comfortable with that word because they have kind of negative connotations.

Some people think that when you think of money or when you think of business and art and any sort of art, you cheapen the art. But I don't think it has anything to do. I mean, it's just a matter of of of offering great value to people. You should always offer great value in the best possible and getting, economical compensation for that so that you can live. It's it's as basic and as simple as that.

Not not anything else.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I heard somebody else put it in terms of advice. You know?

It it seeing what kind of results they have, that's a a piece of it. But I think the other perspective that I got today, because you just well, is just think about where they're coming from. That's all. You know? I mean, may have good advice and not be getting results or, you know, be bad advice and be getting results, whatever.

But where are they coming from? What's their context? And then and then you can do with it what you like. You know, it's your decision how to how to proceed and and analyze things. I think that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah. Well, I appreciate you taking a stab at that complicated question to end it with. Yeah. But, but, yeah, thank you very much, Claudio. It's really been a pleasure.

I hope we get to speak again soon, and I'll I wanna subscribe to your newsletter. I I'm I'm excited to see, you know, kinda what what you're up to and what you're keeping up with every day. And and, I commend you for for kind of pursuing this unique path and and sort of bringing life to this instrument that not a lot of people get exposure to. It's really wonderful. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Ethan. This has been a great pleasure talking to you.

Appreciate it.

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