Meet Sandrine Erdely-Sayo. Sandrine is a renowned concert pianist and festival organizer.
Would you mind telling us about you and what you do in Sedona?
A: I’m a concert pianist and the Artistic Director of Piano on the Rocks International Festival. And I’ve been in Arizona for many, many years concertizing Phoenix and Flagstaff. One day, I came to Sedona and fell in love with it. They didn’t have a piano festival, and I thought this was a perfect place to create a festival bringing international artists and an international prize winner from the competition. Elizabeth Peña, the co-director of the Festival and I created a piano festival with a fusion with literature – we bring artists, pianists, opera singers and actors to the city of Sedona.”
Q: Do you live in Sedona?
A: Half of the time. We bought a house in Sedona eight years ago. My mother is here a little bit more, but now since COVID, I’m here most of the time also. Sedona is my home.
Q: Why is Sedona your home?
A: Sedona has all three things that an artist needs: Energy, beauty, and inspiration. It’s like living in a magical city. Sedona reminds me of Paris because Paris is a city of light and Sedona is a city of light. Even though there are other beautiful cities in the world, I think Paris and Sedona are the most beautiful.
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
A: We have been coming to Sedona for 12 years. We were staying at the Hyatt Hotel. I live in Philadelphia and my dream is to retire in Sedona. One day I found a house. Elizabeth Peña said that it would be perfect because we could put the piano downstairs. I bought the house and renovated it. I brought one baby grand piano from Philadelphia, and I also have a Yamaha and Schimmel.”
Q: Aside from playing the piano in Sedona, what do you do for fun here?
A: I like to hike. I do a lot of work in the house, and I cook a lot. And even during the Festival, I cook for all the artists. I usually cook every night for 30 people. I wanted to create an image of the Pablo Casals Festival in France. I studied with the goddaughter of Pablo Casals. I want to recreate a familial atmosphere in Sedona with artists and friends of the festivals. We have the concert, and then we eat and drink a nice bottle of wine.
Q: Tell us about the Festival.
A: The Festival is in the spring. It’s a three-day festival. The artists come a week before because we need to rehearse and practice a lot. We have artists coming from all over the world, and then we play an extraordinary moment of music. Friday night is a Shabbat dinner – that’s the tradition, with all the blessings. Saturday and Sunday, we play. We held it at different places, different churches, and different buildings. The next Festival will be at the Methodist Church in the Village of Oak Creek and the Creative Life Center.”
Q: Please tell us about you. When did you start to play the piano? What was your inspiration?
A: My mother was playing piano in the house, and I love music. I always wanted to play. My mother brought me to an excellent piano teacher in the south of France. This piano teacher was the goddaughter of Pablo Casals, Michele Puig. I was fortunate to study with her and be among all those well-known artists. I began piano studies at the age of four or five. I start competing and winning competitions. Then, I moved to Paris where I studied with the professor of my first teacher, Denyse Rivière, who was at the top of the top. I went to the Conservatory where I studied and later won an international competition in Paris, which brought me to Philadelphia, but I couldn’t speak English. I said it was far away, and I didn’t want to come to the United States. I was scared. But in Philadelphia, I met one American pianist, Susan Star, who invited me to study with her. That’s how I arrived in the United States.
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met in your lifetime?
A: “I would say, my teacher, Denyse Rivière. She inspired me the most. She’s the one who shaped my life and my career.
Q: If you had an opportunity to meet someone that no longer walks on the earth that’s passed away. Who would that be?
A: “Franz Liszt, he was a Hungarian composer. I have a lot of questions to ask him. I play a lot of his music, and I cannot say I have a favorite composer, but since I was a kid, he was always in my heart, and I understood his music.”
Q: Aside from hiking in Sedona, do you go out for dinner?
A: “I like to go out for dinner to explore restaurants and different foods. I like to paint. I do acrylic, oil, and watercolor but stopped painting when I was in Paris.”
Q: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A: “My greatest accomplishment is when I play a concert, and I’m happy with myself. It brings a lot of joy to me because it’s so much work. There is so much energy that you put into a concert. When the concert goes well, then that’s an achievement.
Q: What else do you like to play on the piano?
A: I like to play a little bit of everything. I’m a classical pianist, so I play classical, but I also play anything for friends like Christmas music, Jewish music.
Q: Is there anything you’d like someone to know about you that I haven’t asked?
A: “I want to help the younger generation love beautiful things, classical music, literature, and poetry.
Also, I wrote the Hymn to Sedona.