Maria Parra, in balance with nature
Article about Maria Parra in the Diari de Tarragona, by Silvia Fornos.
Music. The composer premieres the series of concerts in the Crypt of Cambrils on Sunday and will present the album ‘Gea’.
Protected by the name of the goddess who personifies the Earth in Greek mythology, the pianist and composer Maria Parra will present this Sunday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m., Gea (Warner Music Spain), her second album as a composer and the fourth of her discography. The concert will take place in the Crypt of l’Ermita in Cambrils, which will be the start of the cycle of spring performances. Tickets can be purchased through Codetickets (entradas.codetickets.com/entradas/maria-parra/36852/ajuntament-cambrils/online).
Regarding the album, which includes eleven new compositions of her own, the composer explains that it began to take shape during the pandemic. «During the confinement, I once again felt the need to continue creating in the same vein as what Vision had been (her first album with her own compositions, Warner Music Spain), that is, to break with so many years as a performer of great composers in history”, recalls the pianist.
Then, she continues explaining, «with the feeling of having time, I thought it was a good occasion to compose, because I felt comfortable, I knew what I wanted and I had Warner’s support. All this was a trigger, the motivation to be positively creative».
In this sense, when Maria Parra looks back, she remembers the confinement as «a period in which I was able to abstract myself from everything that was happening abroad, music oozed and I became a kind of creative machine, it was a time of great personal joy». Precisely, the fruit of all this musical creativity is what Gea awaits, and which synthesizes the pianist’s relationship with nature and its balance. «Nature seems to always be there, silent, at our disposal and that we can remove it at will and without consequences», reflects the composer.
So, looking for a feminine name that embodies the meaning and value of generating life, Maria Parra says that «I found Gea, as a goddess that symbolizes fertility and the source of all life». For this reason, she emphasizes that «the title is also a vindication of the feminine and of the woman with the creative and caring capacity of her». Thus, the result of this accumulation of reflections, the album «is a song and a tribute to creation and life».
Evoke emotions
Por esta razón, los títulos de las canciones despiertan «la sensación de emoción hacia aquellas cosas que teníamos privadas durante el confinamiento, como ver el mar, el cielo, las estrellas, salir al campo…». De hecho, el primer tema que compuso fue Luz a final del túnel: «Coincidió con el momento álgido de mayor número de fallecimientos por la Covid-19, aunque después siguió una bajada progresiva. Entonces, contacté con Warner Music Spain para pedirles que fuera el primer single porque quería transmitir un mensaje de esperanza, es decir, que de cualquier momento duro es posible extraer un aprendizaje, por lo que siempre hay luz al final del túnel».
For this reason, the titles of the songs arouse «the feeling of emotion towards those things that we had no access to during confinement, such as seeing the sea, the sky, the stars, going out into the fields…». In fact, the first song she composed was Light at the end of the tunnel: «It coincided with the peak moment of the highest number of deaths from Covid-19, although a progressive decline followed afterwards. So, I contacted Warner Music Spain to ask them to make it the first single because I wanted to convey a message of hope, that is, that from any hard moment it is possible to learn something, so there is always light at the end of the tunnel».
Tickets
Through the Codetickets platform you can buy tickets for this Sunday’s concert by Maria Parra.
Thus, thinking of Be Water, the composer invokes the need to let ourselves go, since «the pandemic has taught us that we cannot control everything, things happen, we must adapt and, with what we have, make the best of ourselves».
Meanwhile, Ascending Mountains has to do «with the effort to achieve our dreams, aware that it is the path that makes us grow».
On the other hand, from Prayer the pianist explains that «it is a prayer towards a superior being to whom you turn at times when you believe there is no way out, when in truth there is»; and for Clouds affirms that «it is a song that acts as a hinge between my facet as a solo piano composer with the project in a trio version with Miguel Rodrigañez, double bass, and Gonzalo Maestre, drums».
I try to make my music visual, that is, to build, as a soundtrack, a host of sensations that invite greater awareness to live in peace and harmony with ourselves and nature
Speaker
Another of the outstanding values of the album is the participation of her daughter, Luna, in the photographic project with the intention of symbolizing future generations. «It is a way of extrapolating that there will be later generations that need us to become aware of caring for nature today», says Maria Parra.
Following this line, and when asked what responsibility music has to act as a speaker, the composer answers that «both music and art are catalysts of emotions that are in the collective unconscious; artists must take what happens around us and transform it into an emotional message that can later be translated into music, cinema, etc. Questions that can provoke an emotion in the public, first, and then a thought».
For all this, the composer assures that «I try to make my music visual, that is, to build, as a soundtrack, a host of sensations that invite a greater awareness to live in peace and in harmony with ourselves and nature».
You can download the pdf of the article at this link.
