A few months back on a beautiful summer evening in Toronto, I attended a CD launch party for Twitter-friend and internationally renowned pianist Grace Nikae.  Hosted by Toronto fashion designer Rosemarie Umetsu at her Avenue Road studio, Grace gave us a sneak peak of her latest CD, Chopin | Schumann: Sonatas.

The event itself combined both professional and personal interests. I knew I would enjoy the music, but I was also curious to learn of Grace’s international and cross-cultural experiences.  Following the recital, we spoke … about music and its ability to communicate and cross cultures, her international travels and life abroad (mostly in Spain), and the many cultural experiences that have enriched her life and music.  What I discovered was an exceptional woman – committed to her art and humanitarian work – exemplifying the life of an engaged, global citizen.

“Understanding other peoples’ cultures … I think that means having empathy, understanding someone’s feelings, understand their way of thinking,” said Nikae. “It makes me better as an artist, changes the way I hear things, the way I perceive things.  The fact that I have changed in that way has also allowed me to be able to use music, to go to places.”

The children of Nepal

A passionate and true artist, Nikae specifically recalled a trip to Nepal.

“One of the biggest lessons I learned from my music outreach and humanitarian tour in Nepal was the power of art to communicate and reach people of all backgrounds, cultures, and languages. The conditions there were certainly shocking and having the opportunity to work with children and orphans by teaching them western classical music was an extraordinary and eye-opening experience. Music excited these children so much!”

The Nepal tour in particular proved to Nikae that speaking a common language wasn’t necessarily a barrier to communicate, interact and, ultimately, connect.  “Music, by its very nature, is a symbolic or representative art form, meaning that musical notes and sounds serve as a means of communicating deeper ideas regarding humanity, and of improving our understanding not only of ourselves, but also our relationship to each other and to the world around us. Because of this very reason, music is a powerful means of crossing any cultural or national boundaries – it speaks to something much more intrinsic, which is the fundamental humanity in all of us.”

“India and Nepal have their own very strong classical music tradition, and what surprised me so much was the sensitivity these children had to musical pitches. I have worked with children from all over the world and had never encountered a group of kids who so naturally and accurately picked up differences in sound. Their singing was beautiful! I realized that the natural complex intonations contained in their own language made them more acute to nuances in intervals and differences in pitch.”

The living conditions of many of these children did not go unnoticed by Nikae.  “It was a profound experience to witness children living in such abject poverty possessing such refinement in both their voices and listening sensitivity.”

The transcending nature of Art

No doubt, the life of a musician, a travelling one at that, has its hardships.

“I believe in live performance, and I strongly believe in the powerful and educational value of concerts. But the life of a touring musician is also difficult, and often times the hectic schedule can leave musicians with the questionable feeling of whether or not our art has actually had an impact or contributed something memorable to a community.”

The Nepal trip reinforced Nikae’s belief that music and art is actually something much larger than any of us, and reminded her of why she became an artist.  “Art transcends simplistic ideas such as ethnicity or nationality or religion that provide easy ways for us to categorize and divide ourselves. Instead, it allows us to see the common threads that bind all of us together, nurtures more complex ideals such as compassion and empathy, while at the same time, it illuminates the human condition so that we may perhaps better understand ourselves and our own lives.”

Working with UNICEF Spain

Towards the end of the summer, Grace took some time off to recharge her batteries amongst the beauty of the Spain countryside, and prepare for what would prove to be a very busy fall, including her work with UNICEF Spain.

Nikae’s Chopin | Schumann Sonatas recording actually marked the official start of her collaboration with UNICEF Spain, an organization whose work compliments her own commitment and dedication to humanitarian outreach, especially work that leads to the betterment of children worldwide.

This week, the international Convention on the Rights of the Child celebrates its 20th anniversary.  The Convention is an international agreement that “sets the civil, social, political, economic, and cultural rights of children,” and is the first legally binding, international convention affirming human rights for all children.

To celebrate this historic milestone and UNICEF’s Universal Children’s Day, Grace will give a special piano performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, accompanied by narrator Fernando Palacios, this coming Friday (November 20) in Madrid.

• To find out more about UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, you can visit their official website here.

• To learn more about the activities of UNICEF Spain, you can visit their website (in Spanish) by clicking here.

• To visit Grace Nikae online, you can check out her official website, her “Stretching Intervals” blog,  her YouTube channel, or you can follow her on Twitter by clicking here.