Creative Junction Magazine June 16th 2017 | Page 22

MUSIC
PHILIPPA ROSS/ REPORTER
The Art of
Musical
Storytelling
‘To be yourself in a world
that’s constantly trying
to make you something
else is the greatest
accomplishment.’
Ralph Waldo Emerson
M
usic is an exquisite form of
storytelling. It conveys what
the soul, heart, mind and body
cannot express in words.
Classical composers were
adept at creating musical stories to move
the listener through different moods of a
tale.
If I’m honest, I’ve always thought classical music
was rather pretentious and a tad boring, but after
going to my first piano concert performed by Flavio
Villani last month, I have to confess, I couldn’t
have been more wrong if I’d tried! In fact, it was
real and raw. Watching, listening and speaking
to Flavio evoked a range of emotions that left me
feeling radiant and incredibly humble.
Flavio uses music to create a space where he
can be still to connect to the essence of his true
self. A place he often took refuge in as a child
to lose himself in what he describes as ‘a mist of
unconditional love,’ where he learned to embrace
his homosexuality and passion to become an
accomplished pianist despite the opposing
staunch, ex military stance he faced from his father.