Above all, music is a vehicle with which to convey feelings. It plays on the emotions and senses, meaning different things to different people as it provokes personal memories. Therefore, a song that may seem upbeat and happy can actually cause sadness in someone who associates it with a bad experience. Those who have synesthsia even say that they directly associate music with colours or tastes, however for most people, music is linked to feelings and memories. One of a musician’s best qualities, when playing for a live audience, is to know how to perceive the common feeling flowing from the crowd and give them just what they need to get the desired reaction. For example, on a happy occasion when people want to dance, it is important to play a piece with the right rhythm and tempo. However, the public can’t always be kept on a high. You have to know how to play in harmony with them, so that there are moments when they vibrate with rising excitement, and others where they can relax and just enjoy listening.

Music Communicates

An important part of training as a musician is learning to improvise. Only those who have already learned to stick to the score and to play confidently can perform improvisations successfully. While it seems to be a contradiction, you have to actually learn to improvise and practice frequently so that you don’t get carried away in the moment but instead form a connection with the audience. However, you also need to be aware of something else, something that cannot be studied – a sensitivity to the mood of the audience and how to play with those moods. In her concerts, Anastasia uses music as a way to communicate with her audience. But communication works both ways – while she conveys feelings through the music, they, in turn, communicate their own needs: whether to raise or relax the tempo. This is what turns a concert into something special – what some people have defined as an empathy with the audience – made up of experience and sensitivity in equal measure.