Concert pianist Chelsea de Souza performed “The Silk Road” in the Norman Hackerman Building fifth floor atrium on Friday as part of the “Musical Memories” concert series. The series takes place on select Fridays, providing a free mid-day classical musical break to the UT community.
Dr. Amy Lee, professor of neuroscience, said the series started in 2021 with a satellite location at the Dell Seton Medical Center to create an opportunity for researchers, patients, their families and visitors to experience music during the day.
“There’s a strong correlation between music and stimulating creative thought, relaxation, stress relief (and) just emotional well-being,” Lee said. “We thought that that was something that would really be enriching for the environment here.”
Lee said the series brings together occupants of the Norman Hackerman Building, from molecular biosciences to chemistry, around a focal point outside of science.
“I think (de Souza’s recital) was a big success because it combined a lecture about the origins of the music she was playing with the actual performance,” Lee said.
De Souza grew up in Mumbai, India, and moved to the United States almost 15 years ago for college, but her family originates from Goa, a small state on the west coast of India that was under Portuguese colonial rule for over four centuries. De Souza said a lot of Goan culture takes influence from the presence of the Portuguese, contributing to her Roman Catholic faith and the Portuguese origins of her last name.
“It was my identity, so I never thought too much about it, until I moved to the U.S when I was 17,” de Souza said. “It kind of forced me to start thinking about (and) to confront how I come across to people, and how I can share parts of my identity through what I do.”
While pursuing her doctorate, de Souza decided to create a recital that embodied the cultural exchange between East and West along the Silk Road, an ancient trading route that connected Europe and Asia.
“We hear music, and we don’t think about how it originated or where it came from, and that’s always been something that really interested me,” de Souza said.
The recital features works from international composers, including Claude Debussy and Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji.
As a singer and former violinist versed in Eastern and Western traditions, biology freshman Lasya Praturi said she went to the concert to further understand the connections between the traditions.
“I’m used to listening to music as a whole as all the instruments and everything come together to create one sound,” Praturi said. “But I think while I was listening to these pieces, I started focusing more on the individual parts that made up the whole music.”
Before her appearance at the “Musical Memories” concert, de Souza performed the pieces for American audiences and toured five different cities in India.
“The first time I performed it … I was kind of amazed to see how interested people were in the concept,” de Souza said. “It confirmed what I already thought, that we are used to not looking beneath the surface, to look at where music comes from, and all of the influences that come together to make music what it is.”
