Back by popular demand, celebrated international pianist and composer, and Juilliard Alumni and teacher, Konstantin Soukhovetski makes his grand return to Claude’s at the Southampton Inn on Friday, December 17, in a show of classical and pop piano. Known as the “Rock Star Pianist,” Soukhovetski’s one-man cabaret show will feature his arrangements of beloved icons and entertaining stories from his international career.
Dede Gotthelf, owner of Southampton Inn, interviewed Soukhovetski for James Lane Post.
Tell us a bit about your journey from Moscow to Southampton? How and when did this happen?
I came to New York almost 23 years ago, in 1999 to start my freshman year at The Juilliard School. To me it was not just about going to a great school, it was about living out my American Dream. The summer of 2000 I first came out to The Hamptons to be one of the lucky few pianists selected to participate in the elite piano summer festival — The Pianofest In The Hamptons. I had never before heard of the Hamptons so I didn’t really understand what sort of a community it was. As that summer went on I performed, made friends, and discovered the whole microcosm of a world that makes the East End what it is. Right then I felt that I wanted my life to include that beautiful part of the world — and returned to The Pianofest for six subsequent summers as a student. Shortly after my graduation from The Juilliard with post-graduate degree, Artist Diploma Pianofest has created my current position there — Artist In Residence. As I get to mentor and make music with the next generation of our pianists, I also love to spend time at our stunning beaches, which are without equal.
How did you pivot from a Juilliard trained classical pianist to a cabaret/ballet/theatre musician?
I didn’t really pivot from anything, I just added layers to what it means today to have a career in the performing arts. Today we use a term — portfolio career — which means one does multiple things in parallel, if that coincides with one’s abilities and desires. There are so many examples currently of my colleagues doing what I am doing — I just started doing it before it became “the thing.” Back in Moscow in the 1990s I was not only seriously studying piano but I also acted in Moscow’s State Theater, was lead pop vocalist in Pop-Star incubator theater, anchored national TV to name a few extra-curricular activities. I never wanted to be pigeon-holed as a “serious classical musician” for I always felt it was limiting me to just one aspect of who I am. Perhaps having a ballerina grandma and film director grandpa has something to do with it … My whole family are visual artists, both parents, sister — so they just let me do my thing as I was the only one wanting to perform and be on stage, whether it is a recital, play, or a cabaret show.
What is your connection to Southampton? You seem to pop up on so many venues — Southampton Cultural Center, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Rising Stars, and Claude’s Restaurant at Southampton Inn? What others?
As I have become more known to multiple cultural entities in the Hamptons over the years, it felt natural to get more involved in a more formal way. I joined the board of Southampton Cultural Center around 2010 where I am Managing Director of The Rising Stars Series, which I inaugurated some years prior. International pianist Liliane Questel founded the series and is a friend, so it makes for an easy and effective team. We believe it is important to bring more young pianists to the East End during the off-season, as our concerts begin in October and run through May.
I have known you, Dede Gotthelf for years and when Claude’s got it beautiful new redux we decided to create a Vegas-style cabaret residence in the summer of 2018 where every Thursday I gave a dinner-show of my own arrangements of pop, Broadway, and of course some staples from classical repertory. I love doing that as it breaks the mold of a traditional recital and allows me to turn-up my Vegas performing self with a glass of champagne in hand. I always talk to the audience even when I’m playing a straight classical concert, so this format affords me to talk more and be freer with narratives (and jokes).
Over the years I have played a lot of the now-extinct Music Festival of The Hamptons, which had a tent in Bridgehampton during the summer time. I also treasure a memory of a concert I played at Wölffer Estate, when they still had a grand piano in the main building. I performed a number of times with Choral Society of the Hamptons with the late Mark Mangini. I did outreach with FreshAir home in my early days at Pianofest back in the early 2000s.
How did the pandemic affect your ability to perform, earn a living, isolate in a business where personal contact is so very much part of the performance?
Of course, the pandemic halted all my live performances as it has done worldwide. I love technology, so I figured out how to convert my living room into a zoom TV studio with professional lights and nice set dressing — so I can do teaching and lecturing that looks good on the screen. I joined the Juilliard adjunct faculty in the fall of 2020, and expanded my private teaching studio nationwide now — which is only possible in the remote modality.
I have also dedicated more time to composition and literary work — currently finishing the libretto for an opera commissioned by Mississippi Opera and I am composing my first work for a full symphony orchestra. In 2020 I have performed from home, on Zoom in Hong Kong, China and all over the US.
In the beginning of the pandemic the financial loss of all the performance engagements was really scary, but I have a working guy mentality, so after a brief period of panic and reflection I started pursuing whatever opportunity I could to generate income. When you told me the hotel needed a second bartender and social media person I gladly took up the opportunity to spend the pandemic summer out east, in the community I know and love, in a new capacity. So, while there were no performances possible that summer, I practiced on Claude’s white baby grand after the closing, which now makes for quite a memory. I believe that there are no wasted skills, everything we learn has application to the main path in our life. So, for me it was a special experience.
What other tidbits might you like to share with our readers?
Right now, I’m actually working on multiple projects at once, from opera, ballet, film to education and composition of my own original music. Live performances are slowly but surely starting to happen, and I’m delighted to be able to reprise my pre-Covid cabaret at Claude’s. The day after my show I’m playing with Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra at their Christmas concert, and in early 2022 I will have a SoCal tour, Spain tour, performances with orchestras in Connecticut, Brooklyn, and at Lincoln Center as well as the premiere of my first symphonic work.
The three-course dinner and show takes place from 7 to 10 PM and cost $100 per person, excluding tax and alcohol. Call 631-283-6500 or email events@southamptoninn.com for more information and reservations.