Q&A: Jonathan Biss

Before his recital Friday as a part of the Jacobs School of Music’s Summer Music Festival, Bloomington-born pianist Jonathan Biss spoke with the Indiana Daily Student about his hometown and what inspires him as a musician.

Biss will perform at 8 p.m. Friday in Recital Hall. Tickets are $10 for students and $20 for regular admission. The concert benefits a scholarship for the school’s Summer Piano Academy.

IDS: What are you most looking forward to about returning to Bloomington?

Biss: It was my home for the first 17 years of my life. My parents moved away from Bloomington a couple of years ago, so it’s great to have a reason to come back. There are a lot of people I want to see and a lot of things in Bloomington that make me feel nostalgic. It’s a trip down memory lane.

IDS: What’s running through your head when you’re on stage performing?

Biss: In the best performances, the answer is nothing. There aren’t specific thoughts. I let things go and allow the music to take over me. When things are going really well, I’m not aware of what’s happening or of certain feelings.

IDS: What’s the best part about performing for a living?

Biss: Music is the greatest passion in my life. It’s such an unbelievable mode of expression and self-expression. It can really take you places, and I’m getting to experience that and getting paid to do it. I’d perform even if I wasn’t getting paid, but I still can’t quite believe that I get paid.

IDS: What inspires you as a musician?

Biss: The music. For me, with the music that I play, all of it is unfathomably great. I always feel like in the pieces of music I play, there’s an infinite amount to work on and infinite amount to discover. I just get inspired from the texts themselves.

IDS: Are there certain pieces that especially speak to you?

Biss: Yes, there are. In one way, every piece I play is a piece that speaks to me. That’s the most important selection criteria. I only play pieces that I think are forever inspiring. I will say that in this particular concert, I’m going to play a piece by Schumann (Kreisleriana, Op. 16) which is a piece I learned in my Bloomington years. Pieces take on certain associations based on time of life when you learned them, where you were, what you were doing. This piece connects me to Bloomington.