The Minimal Piano Series is a musical project divided into several volumes that we decided to launch in 2017 motivated by a strong desire of discovery.
A couple of months ago, just when I released my EP Spring, I saw this post floating around on facebook promoting what was called The Minimal Piano Series 2. I got curious and checked it out. Apparently it was a completion for being featured on the album with the same name. I sent in one of my songs, but I didn’t “win”.
Just recently the album was released and I listened to a couple of songs. I liked what I heard, and contacted Roberto Grimaldi at Blue Spiral Records (which is the record company in charge of the competition and release) and asked if I could do a quick interview about the release. So here it it! However the interview is not with Roberto. Find out below!
Who are you?
I’m Italia Buccino, actually art director and label manager of Blue Spiral Records.
What is the minimal piano series?
Each volume contains pieces selected thanks to an international contest reserved to original and unreleased compositions that includes the piano as the main instrument of the piece. The compositions are chosen by a high-level international jury. Then our label release the result on Cd and on all digital platforms.
How did you come up with the idea in the first place to host these competitions and make these releases?
The idea was born because we wanted to give the opportunity to emerge to pianists and composers with skilled talent but that did not receive the right attention from an increasingly fast and distracting world.
We basically produce piano music, especially of the minimal and modern-classical genre,
Minimal understood as essentiality in compositional elements, or taking inspiration in a way more or less faithful from historical minimalism. This genre gives rise to curiosity because it joins the classic tradition to modern matrices.
So we decided to create a project that is unique in the world.
We also received a lot of criticism from people who did not understand the spirit of our initiative, but with our stubbornness we have shown the great quality of the project.
Wow. What kind of criticism?
I prefer not to delve into the subject. Blue Spiral Records prefers to respond to criticism with the quality of its work.
How many submission did you get for the competition?
In the inaugural edition we received 95 submissions, the second year 112.
Anything you want to tell about the release?
The goal is to carry on the talent of younger generations, aware of the difficulties but also able to imagine a future where music returns to be the main pivot of present and future society.
Will you host more competitions like this is the future?
We currently think that the only possible competition for our label, according to our artistic needs, is The Minimal Piano Series. In 2019 we will organize the third and probably last edition of the contest.
Thank you for the chat Italia!
Please have a listen to the compilation below. I’m pretty sure you’ll find a couple of new favorites. I certainly did!
Please check out these links for more information about Blue Spiral Records and their releases!
Facebook (Blue Spiral Records) / Facebook (Minimal piano series / Instagram / Website
And keep a look out for the Minimal piano series part 3!