Spotlight interview: With glory to God and a fierce commitment to music, Talon Smith’s ‘Debut’ album helps steer him toward a promising career
By Olivia Pavao
A Fresno-raised musician who has taken his work out of our backyards and onto international stages recently released his first album.
I interviewed 23-year-old pianist and composer Talon Smith, whose album features two original works: 24 Preludes, Op. 1 and Sonata in C minor, Op. 2, following the album’s release and premiere performances. Coming down from a melodious high after these exciting events, he had lots to say.
Olivia: You recently released your debut album, “Talon Smith: Debut,” and that’s a huge milestone. What would you say have been your greatest achievements and successes in your career so far?
Talon: I think that for me, I feel the most successful, not necessarily about where I play or what I do, but how I play. I think that Bach said it best. He said that the chief aim of a musician, he believed, should be to glorify God and to basically refresh the souls of the listeners. And that’s what I think really true success is. But of course, I would say in terms of more tangible successes, yes, the album. Getting an album recorded, released, and I feel like just having such an incredible team, that was an achievement, and I’m grateful for that. Grateful to everyone who came together on that project.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to play in Carnegie Hall. I felt like that was really exciting there, and I felt like the concert went quite well, and really just appreciated that opportunity as well.
Olivia: Who are your biggest influences, whether that’s in music or just in your life, people that have made a true impact on you?
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Talon: Well, I think my mom for sure has been a great source of inspiration. She has always been my biggest fan, my biggest support. She’s helped me a lot in my career as well, and just been a wonderful team member, honestly, and a friend to me.
My first piano teacher, Brian Hammons, I credit him a lot with the fact that I’m still in music, because I started working with him when I was 5. And when you’re at that age, and you’re a little boy, sitting at a piano might not seem so exciting to a lot of us and somehow he always made it an enjoyable experience. He made music fun and the piano fun. I feel like he really did a good job fostering my love for music and giving me an opportunity and environment in which it would thrive. I’ve gotten to work with a lot of really wonderful teachers, all of whom have contributed immensely to I feel like who I am as a musician today.
I also really admire a lot of the older musicians, some of the ones who passed away. Actually, there was a performance style that musicians in general would use back, like in the golden age of piano, essentially. People like Josef Hofmann, Vladimir Horowitz, there was just this approach to the music where it was a living thing.
I feel like often it can be so easy to have a really well rehearsed concert and then go on stage and perform it, and it’s good and it’s beautiful, but at the same time– it’s rehearsed. It doesn’t feel organic. There are still musicians today who do this, but I feel like it was more common back in the past, where they’re out there making music in the moment, you know? Obviously they’re practiced, obviously they’re prepared. But that’s not what you hear when you hear the concert. You hear spontaneous, living, breathing music, and that’s a style that I have really tried to emulate, because when you’re performing, you have to be really mindful, not only of what you’re playing and the instrument you’re playing and all that, but you have to kind of be able to read a room. You have to hear the acoustics of the room, but you also need to have a sense of where your audience is going and be connected with your audience through that music.
We have these scores, we have the music, we have the written notes and all this. But the written page is just a representation. The music is the sound. It’s the living thing. It’s the thing that moves through time. That is never exactly the same two times in a row, it’s always a little different. I go for a performance style that sort of acknowledges that nature of music and tries to bring out the spontaneity, the freshness, the life of it.
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Olivia: You clearly have a strong passion for music. What is your favorite part about what you do? Whether that’s within composing, performing, or what checks that box for you?
Talon: For me, I think it’s a few things. When I play a concert, and I know I’ve played my best concert that I could play in that moment, that’s satisfying. When I write a piece of music, and I know it’s the best piece that I could write at that time, that’s satisfying. I think I just really enjoy creating excellence in art, whether it’s through performance or composition.
I believe that God created music, and so when I write a piece, or when I perform a piece, obviously I’m happy when I get a good result. But I’m also thinking this is a really great gift that we have, this music that we get to enjoy that God’s given us, and just being able to kind of tap into the excellence of that gift, it’s just so rich. In music, there’s so much emotionally, mentally, it’s an all encompassing art form. Just being able to experience that to its fullest and at its best form. I think that’s really what I enjoy about whether it’s performing or composing, just being a musician in general.
