Vijay Venkatesh talks the importance of channeling life experience into his playing on The Playful Musician podcast

Vijay Venkatesh (‘17), an alumnus of the USC Thornton Keyboard Studies Department, was recently a guest on The Playful Musician podcast. During his conversation with host Steve Davidson, he spoke about the importance of channeling life experiences into his performances.

“Channeling life experiences into a piece of music is also paramount to releasing its character. So, I always seek to remember the moments that I felt so inspired,” said Venkatesh. “Working hard is very important but in addition, I think it’s relishing the moments of life that touched my heart and the ability to compound them into art that changes others’ lives just as much as it has changed mine.”

Venkatesh is an internationally recognized pianist with profound musicianship. He has been named a Davidson Fellow Laureate at the Library of Congress and was a grand prize winner of the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Awards.