There are boundaries that are only an illusion of the gaze. Like the one between science and music. Between the precision of a theorem and the emotion of a note. Ingrid Carbone lives and creates in that territory of light where opposites speak to each other and complement each other. They generate a new language. She is a pianist from Cosenza with an international career. She is a researcher in Mathematical Analysis at the University of Calabria.

Two souls? No, a single consciousness that explores the world with the dual tools of logic and intuition. From university classrooms to theaters in the Middle East to break down the prejudice that classical music – and mathematics – are for the few. And he does it with his “concert conversations”, where, between narrative and musical, the explanation does not precede the performance, but penetrates it, guiding the audience in conscious listening, rich in history, images and poetry.
We asked Ingrid Carbone to reveal the background to this alchemy. With the same clarity with which he explains a function to students and the same passion with which he evokes the waves of the Strait of Messina on the piano. Because his is always a single, splendid lesson: the one on the need to go beyond the surface. To fish, without being satisfied with the catch.

“Conversation-concert” method: what is the founding principle of this innovative format and how does it structure the balance between word and music to guide the audience towards conscious listening?

«The objective is to break the cliché of classical music being reserved for a few, a prejudice that persists in Italy, in parallel with that on mathematics. I show the beauty of music by connecting it to the context that generates it. My idea is to provide images, suggestions, to show the public what I see and feel when I study a piece. I do this by playing the piano, exemplifying the steps, bringing people into my world. It is a conscious listening that comes from a rigorous, almost scientific study, which requires research: knowing the historical context, the biography, the poetry that inspired the song. It is a 360-degree dissemination of music and culture.”