Get to Know Pianists (and Twins!) Christina and Michelle Naughton

This weekend, the Houston Symphony welcomes acclaimed pianists (and twin sisters) Christina and Michelle Naughton to Jones Hall for performances of Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos. Recently, I got to ask Michelle a few questions about what it’s like to play this masterpiece and share her career with her twin sister, Christina.

Calvin Dotsey: So, what do each of you like to do when not playing piano? Do you pursue your hobbies together or individually? 

Michelle Naughton: Aside from Christina’s interest in reading (and at one time writing) poetry and my quirky habit of enjoying medical literature :), we, for the most part, share the same taste for (and on occasion visit together) jazz clubs, museums, ballets, operas, exhibits, art galleries, and Central Park on beautiful days. 

CD: What was it like learning to play the piano with your twin? Did you both learn the same pieces at the same time or different ones? 

MN: I think that the opportunity we had to grow “musically” together during every step of our development has made what is typically one of the “loneliest” musical professions (aka being a pianist) into a very interactive, social, and joyful endeavor for us :).  During our training, we not only had the luxury of attending each and every one of each others’ lessons, but we also enjoyed countless family car rides to and from lessons and performances, festivals, concerts, and after-concert receptions and celebrations together! Early on, we actually made the decision to never learn the same pieces. Instead, we often learned different pieces by the same composer at the same time.  That way, we were able to dedicate periods of time to engrossing ourselves in the music and style of a particular composer, and we felt as though we were learning “double” the repertoire.  🙂

CD: Could you describe how you prepare to perform a piece together? Do you have different tastes when it comes to interpreting a piece of music or do you tend to agree? 

MN: The process of learning and interpreting every piece we play is its own exploration and always goes through a unique “evolution.”  Shouting matches aside (just kidding—though interestingly and perhaps unsurprisingly enough, 95% of our disagreements in life occur at the piano), most of our preparation is what we would best describe as a “nonverbal dialogue.” 🙂 Though in some ways how this works is still a mystery to us, it entails a great deal of playing our own and each other’s parts for one another.  Most of the time we are constantly adjusting and replaying for one another based on our involuntary, laser-sharp ability to know exactly what the other one of us is thinking and feeling about the musical ideas we just presented.  Perhaps the greatest thing about this “nonverbal dialogue” is the way it lends itself to ever-changing interpretations of works we perform constantly.  For instance, with this Mozart concerto, every time we perform it, it is like visiting an old friend.  As we have these “nonverbal dialogues” in our practice sessions, we begin to uncover different aspects of the “personality” of this old friend every time we “visit” him/her.  As the two of us continue to help each other discover various nooks and crannies throughout the score, we increasingly feel we are able to create a fresh and spontaneous experience on stage.

CD: Do you feel that your connection to each other as sisters affects the way you play music together? 

MN: Absolutely, our connection to each other as sisters (and twins) creates a feeling of unity within us. Perhaps more importantly, we desire this unity.  Since day one of our lives, we have become used to sharing everything—clothes, the last cookie in the cookie jar (actually maybe that we didn’t enjoy :)), you name it—so sharing everything with each other is comforting rather than a constraint.

We understand each other’s style of musical and verbal communication perfectly, so we have no need to go through all the steps we would go through with other musicians when preparing a piece.  Because people oftentimes can’t tell us apart, we ironically have developed a very strong sense of security in our individuality. This security helps in that neither of us has a strong need to “prove” our individuality (which would be extremely distracting in a duo), and we learned how to use our individuality towards the good of our team effort since we’ve had to work as a team our whole lives. The power of togetherness is something that we think can be very moving to people because there is so much in this world that divides people. There is such a strong need for things that bring people closer together.

Don’t miss Christina and Michelle with the Houston Symphony!

Mozart and Shostakovich
January 17 & 18, 2015
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Christina and Michelle Naughton, piano

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