Neoreality Tour: a first at Carnegie Hall for Steve Barakatt

BET À DAY

Composer Steve Barakatt will perform on Saturday evening at the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York. This will be the first stage presence on American soil for the musician from Quebec. 

The pianist will play, solo, in the Zankel Hall concert hall of this mythical temple of music inaugurated in 1891.

“It's an emblematic moment and I feel that I'm doing it at the right time in my career as a composer, as a pianist and as a person. I was there last week and I felt good,” he said in an interview.

The 49-year-old pianist and composer has dreamed, since his beginnings, of an international career. Japan, China and South Korea are territories that have been conquered over the years.

“Carnegie Hall is a great symbol. It is a historic and mythical room. I always said to myself that if I presented a concert in the United States one day, that I would like to do it there. This is the first place that came to my mind,” he remarked.

This first concert in the United States could be followed by others. Steve Barakatt feels a resonance there that is beginning to settle.

“Things are lining up well and I intend to return soon. I have reached this stage,” he confided.

The wind in the sails

Steve Barakatt remembers being invited , in 2019, at Carnegie Hall's 125th anniversary party.

“I had told my friends that the next time I would come back to this hall, it would be to play there. It will be,” he said.

The musician of Lebanese origins was back home for a few days this week before flying to New York. He lives, since July 2021, in Montenegro, in Southern Europe. This pied-à-terre in the Balkans allows him to be closer to Asia, Western Europe and the Middle East where he presents concerts.

“I haven't been back since. I missed my mother and my friends in Quebec. I had fun finding my home, walking in Old Quebec, breathing the fresh air of the river, good restaurants and talking about Quebec. It's my home and it always will be too,” he said.

After the Neoreality tour concert in New York, he will perform in Spain, China, Portugal, Morocco, South Korea and Japan.

“My Neoreality album really has the wind in its sails. I'm going to have a big, great year in 2023,” he said.

Country Tour

Steve Barakatt intends to bring his Neoreality tour to Canada. He would like to present concerts in Quebec and Montreal, in a few cities in the province and also in Toronto, Vancouver and other Canadian cities.

The composer has started working on his next album which will be in the lineage of Neoreality: a refined opus in the neo-classical and modern classic style.

 “I’ve done a lot of orchestral albums in the past. I like this notion of a refined piano. I like it there. This musical style is a bit what I've been doing since the beginning of my career. I like what it looks like on stage. There is also a synchronicity with what we have experienced socially since the pandemic. What is important versus what is less,” he dropped.

On November 22, the pianist-composer released the clip Motherland. A tribute to his country of origin and to his grandfather Bacchus who left Lebanon for another life in Canada. 

It has been viewed a million times on YouTube. < /p>

A wine, Motherland, was even launched by Domaine des Tourelles, the oldest vineyard in Lebanon, to mark the 100th anniversary of this European country.

 « This clip is my biggest career achievement in terms of production. It's a film. It's cinematic like the big video productions of the 80s. I'm super proud of it. I did that with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the best musicians in Lebanon. Badry Moujais, the director, who is Canadian of Lebanese origin, is one of the best directors in the Middle East,” he said.