Getting to know… Mishka Rushdie Momen

Ahead of our concerts in Saffron Walden, Norwich, Leeds and Basingstoke with soloists Matilda Lloyd (trumpet) and Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano) later this month, we thought we’d find out a bit more about them.

Mishka Rushdie-Momen | Piano

Mishka Rushdie Momen was The Times Arts critics’ chosen nominee in the field of classical music for their 2021 Breakthrough Award, given by Sky Arts and The South Bank Show. She has studied with Sir Andras Schiff and Dame Imogen Cooper, and has recently given a series of acclaimed recitals with Steven Isserlis at London’s Wigmore Hall.

What excites you about this project?

Shostakovich’s First Concerto and Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives are unlikely cousins. The concerto seems, especially in its outer movements, as bold and extrovert as the Visions Fugitives are delicate and introspective, but they share a wry humour and a sort of askew re-invention of their own forms – the “virtuoso” concerto and the romantic miniature. They are also both powerfully visual pieces – Shostakovich’s dramatic and fluid, constantly transforming characters reflecting his experience as a stage and film composer, while I love to remember this line from a poem by Prokofiev’s friend Konstantin Belmont, which inspired the title of this work:

In every fleeting vision I see worlds, Filled with the fickle play of rainbows

Have you performed with Britten Sinfonia before?

This will be the first time. As we are performing without a conductor, it will be like wonderful large-scale chamber music.

What’s your favourite space that you’ve performed in?

Wigmore Hall is one of the world’s most special and cherished venues for solo recitals and chamber music.

Was the piano your first instrument?

Yes – I was gripped by it instantly. The violin came shortly afterwards, which I also played for ten years.

What your favourite instrument (other than your own)?

At the moment, I’m in the middle of a wild obsession with the lute. But often it’s the organ.

Who’s your favourite composer?

Schubert.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Reading novels and short stories, going for walks with my beloved dog Aria, and these days, watching Killing Eve.

You can find out more about these concerts and book tickets here.

Read about Matilda Lloyd here.

Visit Mishka’s website to find out more about her other upcoming performances.

Listen to music performed by Mishka on Spotify: