“I want to be as authentic as possible”

Before giving herself the luxury of listening to the world and herself again to create something new, Alexandra Stréliski presents three more concerts at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Our journalist met our guest director in Paris last fall to talk about the role of the artist and the necessary nuance in a world dominated by unceremoniously “tamed” opinions.

It’s raining in Paris, which gives the Place de la République an air as melancholy as a nursery rhyme composed by Alexandra Stréliski. The Quebec pianist arranged to meet me not far away, in a café located two or three blocks from the Alhambra, the venue where she performed last November.

Not letting ourselves be intimidated by the gloomy weather, we sat on the terrace. Which is covered, but not waterproof. Persistent drops of water pierce it and fall on my phone, which records the interview, and especially in my coffee. Not in his. “At least it’s not bird droppings,” laughs the singer, who is much funnier and more cheerful than her music suggests.

Alexandra Stréliski has been in Paris for a few days. The previous weekend, she played the piano in the show of her friends from Cirque Le Roux, presented that evening in the department store Le Bon Marché. She was the one who composed the music. The musician has been living in the French capital for a long time: she spent part of her childhood here – her father is French.

“The playground at my primary school was practically the Champ-de-Mars,” she says. From her French youth, she especially remembers visits to the bakery, crepes and chouquettes, light pastries made from choux pastry decorated with sugar pearls. “And the rabbit on the subway who says watch your fingers,” she said, smiling.

Growing up between two cultures made the pianist feel like she had two personalities. “My accent has done that six times,” she assures, miming a yo-yo effect with her hand. This separation caught up with her when she began to perform in France. “I asked myself again who I was and especially who I was in France,” says the musician.

“I’m not Madam Zen”

Off stage, Alexandra Stréliski is the opposite of her music: funny, lively, smiling, feverish. “I do everything quickly, quickly, quickly. I’m not a Zen lady,” she says. We feel it inhabited by a thousand and one things. The composer is interested in art and entrepreneurship, doesn’t really like social networks, but says she is very curious about people. She has ideas on many subjects and asks herself lots of questions, even if she has chosen not to put words to her music. The only thing she really doesn’t like is “opinions everywhere.” “Life is made up of nuances,” she believes. There’s nothing clear-cut, except maybe things like: don’t kill anyone. »

His truth, we understand, is no more “true” than that of another in his eyes. She believes that there are artists made to shake people up, others to make them laugh (and sometimes think at the same time), but she is very conscious of being one of the artists whose role is to connect people to their emotions.

His music does not need explanations or subtitles to go straight to the heart. Of the fifteen spectators approached during his concert presented at the Alhambra in Paris in November, none remained frozen in front of his inhabited and delicate piano playing. “Things happen inside me when I listen to it, I wouldn’t know what,” said Adélie, who came at the invitation of her friend Anne-Lise.

Nicole, invited by a Quebec friend living in Paris, came out with wet eyes, barely able to whisper that the concert had been “fantastic”. Charlotte, who came without knowing anything about Alexandra Stréliski or her music (her friend Florian had inherited the tickets bought by a colleague of his), said she was positively “disturbed”. “It was super meditative,” she suggests. I redid all my psychiatry sessions. In two hours, all the topics were covered! »

The pianist is aware of stirring up the emotions of her audiences, which sometimes places her in delicate situations. She believes, however, that her music is merely the vehicle through which a listener finds a path to their own emotions. Which still moves him, 15 years after his first record.

Measuring success

“Success, for me, is having a community of people who follow you and come to see your shows,” says the pianist. She thinks of Klô Pelgag, who is arousing interest in Asia. We’re talking about Simple Plan, which has been playing all over the world for 20 years. She also cites Fredz, a young Quebec rapper who broke through in France thanks to his songs and skillful use of social networks, according to her.

Alexandra Stréliski is not to be outdone: during her current tour, she will have filled the Wilfrid-Pelletier Hall six times, the Grand Théâtre de Québec seven times, the Maison symphonique twice and played as a headliner on the plains of Abraham. In November, she filled the Alhambra in Paris, a room with around 600 seats. Elsewhere, in Europe, she regularly performs in venues with 200 to 300 seats. In Rotterdam, where she lives part-time with her lover, she attracts even more people.

Not bad for a composer who started making records not to tour the world, but in the hope of being noticed by directors and making film scores!

Alexandra Stréliski admits to having struggled with imposter syndrome for a long time. “I had it in the carpet in Germany in front of the whole classical music community,” she explains, referring to the Opus Klassik gala where she performed last October, in Berlin, after winning the prize. best neoclassical album. “It gets active at times, but in front of my audience, that feeling fades,” she says. We end up having confidence in our means. »

After having performed solo for a long time, the musician savored the pleasure of being accompanied for the tour which is ending. “There is a part of all this that I have to face alone,” she explains, but she appreciated the fact of being able to share the joys of the road and the stage with two musicians, the sisters Julia and Natalia Kotarba , respectively on cello and violin.

“I am a collective person,” she assures. I want to perform with as many people as possible! » Her wish is granted these days at Place des Arts, where she puts the final note on her tour Neo-Romance surrounded by 16 musicians. She also dreams of writing for large ensembles.

Before getting started, she will take a break. Alexandra Stréliski is not one of those artists who can create in the incessant movement of touring. She has to stop. “I want to give myself the luxury of seeing what happens. »

Visit the artist’s website