Tania Przywara – Through My Music, I Share the Endless Beauty and Wonder I Find in Nature, Life, and Love (American Pianist & Composer)

 

“Through my music, I hope to share the endless beauty and wonder I find in nature, life, and love.” 

Q. Having started piano at age four and studied at institutions like the Manhattan School of Music, how have your early experiences shaped your current artistic endeavors?



Well, I’ve always been drawn to music since I was very young, and as I continued my studies, I became interested in understanding how it is that a composer creates music. As a child, I began improvising my own ideas at the piano more and more, and though traditional piano studies were still my primary focus, I knew that composing excited me most. I went on to take classical piano and composition in my high school years, as well as orchestration and arranging classes later in college.

Today, I am happy that I have the freedom to take on and learn any musical genre and write, arrange, and perform any music that I feel resonates best with me. So far, I've composed various solo piano works which are inspired by my own life experiences and are very intimate and personal. 

In 2019, I fell in love with an indie rock band called The Cactus Blossoms after finding them in the newspaper and seeing one of their live shows. This band has inspired several of my original compositions since then, and I've also created solo piano covers recently of some of their most beautiful ballads. 

Currently, besides finishing my third cover, my goal is to continue composing much more new music as well as professionally record my debut studio album of original piano compositions.

Q. Your original piano compositions are described as Neo-Romantic and cinematic. How do you blend these styles to create your unique musical voice?

Yes, my compositional style is very much influenced by 19th century Romantic era music and highlights passionate emotion, lyricism, and drama. It also features atmospheric, poetic moods and textures that, like a film score, often convey intimacy and deep introspection.

All of these elements combine through intuitive improvisation at the piano to create my own musical sound. Through this musical language, I am able to freely express the stories of my life experiences in a cathartic and uplifting way.

Q. Your poem Together beautifully complements your piano piece of the same name. How do you approach the process of integrating poetry and music in your compositions?

Thank you! Writing the piano piece, Together, was unique in that the composition came before the poem. In November 2019, inspired by an upcoming meeting's theme of family harmony and togetherness, I returned to the initial sketch from 2017 and decided to finish making it into a complete composition. 

Once I finished the piece, a poem spontaneously came into my mind, which I then paired with the piece to enhance the storytelling and experience of the music. More often however, I will write a poem first and then go to my composing to express the story and emotions of the poem through original music.

Q. Nature seems to be a recurring theme in your work, as seen in your photography and compositions. How does the natural world inspire your creative process?

Well, I spent much of my childhood living in the countryside of Southern Oregon, which is a gorgeous natural environment filled with rivers, meadows, forests, and mountains. I always loved being outside in nature, and I became passionate about photography as a child. 

There is just such beauty, peace, and inspiration to be found in the natural world that it's hard to express in words how much I love it. Even in a single flower blooming there is such a story of beauty and resilience. Whenever I go out into nature I feel most at peace, with a renewed sense of childlike wonder. Through my art above all, I hope to share with others the endless beauty and wonder that I find in nature, life, and love.

Q. You've performed original compositions like Eternal for NPR’s Tiny Desk series. Can you share the inspiration behind this piece and what it represents for you?

Yes, Eternal is one of my most personal works that I recorded for NPR. This piece is one that came from a most painful experience in 2011--that of having to say goodbye to my Dad. My Dad, Kenny, had always been so devoted as a father and I loved him very deeply. 

When I suddenly learned that he would not be living much longer due to illness from lifelong damaging tobacco use, it was incredibly heartbreaking and devastating to me. In the few months that he had left, I felt a sense of urgency to express to him how I felt. 

I then poured myself into composing "Eternal" as a gift of appreciation and farewell to him, which he loved upon hearing. "Eternal", one of my most spiritual works, represents the transcendence of love, and how those who are loved by others never truly die.

Q. If you were to compose a piece inspired by an element of nature—like wind, rain, or starlight—what story would it tell, and how would you want listeners to experience that journey through your music?

Well, with an element of nature as the theme for a piece, I would want to express how the element feels to experience in its various transformations. If it were about rain, for example, it might start quietly in a dark minor key, like raindrops emerging from the clouds, and then build in intensity as the storm grows. 

Later, after the most dramatic chords and passages depicting thunder and lightning dissipate, a quiet calm would emerge in a major key, like sunlight breaking through the clouds. Above all, I would want the piece to tell an inspiring story and take listeners on a transformative journey of beauty and wonder.

Q. Are there any pianists or composers—past or present—who have deeply influenced your playing or composing style? What have you drawn from their work that resonates in your own music?

Yes, definitely! Some pianists who have influenced me a lot are Van Cliburn and Alfred Cortot. Their lyrical, poetic piano playing has inspired me very much when it comes to interpreting music or even performing my own works. 

Considering composers, I would say that Frédéric Chopin has been one of the biggest influences in my composing style, as well as Claude Debussy. I particularly love their emotional and evocative music which is often both atmospheric in its melodies, textures, and harmonies as well as dramatic in its storytelling.

Besides classical composers, people from other genres also inspire me in my music. Some film composers like Hans Zimmer, Michael Nyman, and Rachel Portman are definite inspirations to me. Also, the rock beat influences in my original pieces "That Night" and "Once Again" I would have to credit to Jack Torrey, my muse and lead singer of the indie band, The Cactus Blossoms. 

I just love getting to experience such amazing music being made today and discovering new music of any genre or time period that I've never heard. Above all, I aspire to grow as a musician by creating more original music, collaborating more, and learning as much as possible from these and other inspiring musicians today!

Bio

Tania Przywara is an American pianist and composer based in New York City. Her original piano music is often inspired by her own poetry on love and nature which she publishes frequently with Wingless Dreamer Publisher. 

In 2024, Przywara was honored to collaborate with Leesta Vall Sound Recordings in Brooklyn, New York to record select original piano works live as exclusive direct-to-vinyl singles. Currently, in addition to her explorations into cross-genre song arranging, she is working towards recording and releasing a debut studio album of her original classical-cinematic solo piano compositions. 

Whether through music, poetry, or original photography, Przywara aims to express the beauty of life and love through her works and inspire others to live ever more deeply and authentically. 

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Interviewed By Irene Elina Eldhose