Tell us about your published autobiography, Blood, Sweat, and Tours: Notes from the Diary of a Concert Pianist.
Everything about me is in that book. Writing the book was something I thought of for many years, and it seemed like a very intimidating task. Then, I just got started. It took me about two years, and I finally finished it. English is not my first language; however, I had the book published first in English and then Hebrew. My autobiography is my second book. My first book — The Art of Piano Fingerings — was also very successful. It was published in five languages: English, German, Russian, Chinese, and Hebrew. When everyone was staying home due to Covid 19, all of my trips and activities were cancelled. This gave me a chance to write.
I tell the story of my life along with world history and the history of the state of Israel. I include events that happened even before I was born. My parents immigrated to Israel before WWII. Their families got stuck in Europe and perished in the Holocaust. I was born in the same year that the war ended, and it feels like I stemmed from the Holocaust. I have lovely memories from my happy childhood in the early days of Tel-Aviv. My parents didn’t talk about the Holocaust, and everyone tried to protect us, the children, and hide from us the horrors and atrocities in the Holocaust. We didn’t learn about it in school either. It felt like it was ancient history, but in fact, it occurred only a few years before I was born. After I graduated from the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, I travelled to the United States to further my studies. Then, I started touring as a concert pianist all over the world. I’ve repeatedly travelled to South America, North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Far East, and the Middle East for the past sixty years. Of course, concert touring took much preparation both as the performer and the organiser. I had a lot of cooperation from the Foreign Ministry of Israel, I also had concert managers in various countries, but I mostly did everything myself.
Website: rami.ybarniv.com
