Bach in a circle tour began in a theatre in Geneva, where Joanna gratefully thanked her sponsors: the Fondation Tempo for (the) young talents; the Fondation Engelberts for the arts and culture (sponsorship), the RTS Swiss Radio Television – Espace 2 (co-production) and the Piano-Services Führer (partnership).

She performed many live concerts and released her first clip Man Che Danam, a mystic song from Iran arranged for piano by Joanna herself before confinement.

A few days ago, the label Paraty Productions released Bach in a circle’s second video clip starring Joanna Goodale playing the prelude in E minor (BWV855) at the Piano Museum of Limoux in France: a perpetual movement of intense expression, compiled in 1722 in the first set of The Well-Tempered Clavier of Jean-Sebastien Bach. Of Turkish and English origin, Joanna Goodale’s musical journey questions the mysteries of the soul and reflects the movements of the Universe. At home, she still plays on the same piano that she bought around 18 years ago at Emmaüs in Geneva.

How do you think the way people approach music in the digital era has impacted artists?

That’s a great subject. As a musician, the digital era has offered incredible accessibility and visibility to both artists and the public. But it has also led to the collapse of the CD industry, impacting the artists’ revenues. The other downside is the fact that people are now used to consuming free music via platforms such as YouTube and don’t necessarily buy a CD or a concert ticket, for example.
I personally think that this issue could be solved if the sharing of online revenues were fair, which is not the case. There is a lot of work to be done to bring justice to musicians when someone streams their music. 

Are you hopeful that this can happen?

Musicians like me currently live from the sales of their concert tickets. And now that we are all in quarantine, we continue to share our music online, but we have no revenue from it. However, I see that many artists are gathering together such as the artist Noa Nini who shared on her Instagram account the call by musical artists for basic fairness in the digital marketplace. As a musical artist, you can sign the online petition, addressed to Susan Wojciki, Youtube CEO; Sundar Pichai, Google CEO; and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO.

 (And as we speak, Spotify just launched COVID-19 Music Relief…)

Since the release of your first album Bach in a Circle in Geneva in 2019, you lived quite a Big adventure, haven’t you?

Life has been very very intense since the coming out of that album. Confinement has allowed me to take a bit of distance I must admit… I don’t even know how many albums I’ve sold but I think I have performed over 200 concerts over the last four years.

During this period of confinement, many of your concerts were postponed, and some canceled. If you find the words, could you help us understand what happens on stage when you play in front of total strangers?

What we, as musicians, share with the public is very strong. The public comes to my concerts because I believe they have an interest in my repertoire and as I only play music that makes sense to me, we already share a common passion. I guess I am attracting people who feel the same way as I do: to sense life through music. This is a very strong connection. And then what happens during the live (performance) is so intense that it is very difficult to describe. I think the magic happens when we’re all transported through the same sound, the same wave. We are all kind of extracted for the mental noise and when you’re able to concentrate enough on the music, you can forget yourself but also reconnect with your inner self.

What do you listen to at the moment in order to have hope and stay positive?

The music I am listening to, to get energy and dance, to feel that joy inside of me, is Maloya’s music: reunion’s musical soul. Satie & Debussy obviously because that is the program I am working on. Their music helps me escape and project myself into an imaginary landscape where I feel safe and at peace. 

On the day of your birthday (April 21^st), you started a series of “Confinement concerts” upon donation. Is this your way, as an artist, to fight Covid19?

Yes, definitely. During the first month, I was still in shock, then I saw my passion spinning under my fingers and my job disappearing… But a few days ago, I found the energy and the courage to take action. And thanks to the internet, I could do that. I have received not only moral support but also financial support from my public for this first concert, and for that, I am very grateful. Knowing that we’re all in confinement but we can still connect through music, is really heart-warming.

215 families, friends, and fans have attended Joanna Goodale’s first online concert on her YouTube channel
Next online concerts scheduled on:
Tuesday, April 28^st 6pm: Bach & Gurdjieff
Tuesday, May 5^th 6pm: Debussy & Impros (piano-gongs)

You may donate directly to Joanna Goodale’s Paypal account in Swiss francs or under Concert En ligne in euros.