Violinist Iskandar Widjaja Reveals All from His New Album 'Mercy'

Berlin-born musician Iskandar Widjaja began playing violin at the age of three and was the youngest student accepted into the College of Music in Berlin, and after graduating, he went on to study at the University of the Arts in Berlin.

He has performed with internationally renowned ensembles such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Konzerthaus Orchestra in Berlin, the Munich, Warsaw and Shanghai Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, RSO Vienna and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Also an award winning performer, Iskander has most notably won a gold award at the first International Hindemith Violin Competition.

Iskandar’s most recent album ‘Mercy’ combines an exciting balance of transcendence with minimalism.

The album begins with an improvisation on the composition "River Flows In You" by the South Korean pianist Yiruma. The British composer Max Richter, who is prominent in the electronic, ambient and film score scene, contributes the title track ‘Mercy'. A quiet, almost meditative work for piano and violin, it is framed within the album by works from Arvo Pärt and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Ahead of his new album Iskandar talks with Manners Mcdade about his creative process and influences for ‘Mercy’.

For your most recent project ‘Mercy’, why did you choose to arrange these pieces in particular?

Bach is my greatest hero, and he would have to be on the top of my list for any project I approach. I was trying to find compositions compatible in style and expression to Bachs music, which I find to be transcending and minimalist. No superfluous notes, but a clear form. I've also dared to give these pieces my own individual touch so as to imprint my style or to let the colour of my soul shine through Bach's prism.

How did you approach this creative process?

I am a very instinctive person and try to approach projects that 'feel right' . Creativity comes along with the work, but also especially blossoms in silence and stillness. A clear state of mind is the essence for every beginning. For the voice of 'Eneril' , I had a clear imagination of how the sound should be-archaic, raw and extremely natural. I've found the perfect companion in URNA, singing this piece with a voice that conjures up the vastness of the Mongolian steppe. 

The sound synthesis by my longtime friend Giordano Franchetti also realises my clear vision of floating in space when playing the pieces by Arvo Pärt in the most subtle way. I like to create something relevant and modern, and seek contemporary influences in Pop culture or science to create the 'never heard before’.

Is there any artist you would like to collaborate with next?

I'm very interested in the hiphop style (I don't like to call it genre, as I am a big advocator of the osmosis of different styles, and an enemy of separation), and am seeking to collaborate with specialists from that direction.

Who or what are your greatest influences?

Bach, my Mentor, religion, rebellion against religion, that fiddle.

What advice would you give to aspiring young musicians?

Be yourself, but be the best version of yourself! 

More information about Iskandar’s latest release here