Music & Gender

I will be honest, I was so hesitant with writing this. But I hate the whole "music and gender" stereotypes. There are people who follow what society and music programs and people who don't. Everyone has their own style for music. And being a music student *cough* possibly planning to write my own music *cough*, I have my own opinions. But, that's not what this blog is about. 

Obviously...ANYWAYS ON TO MY ENTRY!

I love many musicians. Whether it's an artist close to my age and I can easily relate to or is it a pianist that can inspire many others, including me. That being said...I really love Billie Eilish. I've been a fan of her and her brother since 2019. She has come a long way and I'm really proud of her. One thing I enjoy seeing is her being happier than a few years ago. 

Billie looking gorgeous at the Met Gala in 2021

I was honestly having a rough time before I started my journey into college with a heart for music and art. And after coming across her and her music, I started to feel comfort and inspired to keep going with my endeavors and my future. Since 2019, she has won many Grammy awards and has even started a program for climate change. She was also featured on Saturday Night Live, being a guest in some skits. 

In my opinion, I say women can be inspiring, especially those who are in the same generation as you, seeing yourself in their eyes. It makes me incredibly happy to see women being part of the change in not only music but expectations for making it and going forward. Not only that, but raising awareness to issues that are happening in real life, even while I type this blog. I say Billie Eilish is a rising icon to our generation and her music definitely proves it. 

An example of some of her music

I also am adding what I mean when I say she brings awareness to problems that are happening on our planet. 

Being a woman and knowing how to play piano was one of the scariest things I could choose in my life. It was already a scary feeling to enter college life being a pianist and knowing several other instruments. That's why I feel comfort in listening to the performances of Valentina Lisitsa, AKA The Queen of Rachmaninoff. She's a Ukrainian-American pianist who has made a name for herself on YouTube since 2007 with a recording of Etude op. 39 by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Since then, she has turned her online career to a concert performance career around the globe. 

She's one of the best pianists out there (In my opinion) but I suggest you give her a listen! 

Valentina's interpretation of "La Campanella" by Franz Liszt

Yes I have an obsession with Liszt (I don't care if his work is challenging. That's the best thing about it)

Not to mention, she's also one of the only pianists that can play El Contrabandista (If you think La Campanella was bad. You need to listen to her play this one :D)