European External Action Service

07/17/2025 | News release | Archived content

Music does not need translation

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Music does not need translation

17.07.2025 Press and information team of the Delegation to Mauritius and Seychelles

The Austrian-born pianist and conductor, Ms Dorothy Khadem-Missagh visited Mauritius in July 2025 to give a unique recital at the Caudan Arts Centre.

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When you meet Austrian-born Ms Dorothy Khadem-Missagh for the first time, her calm and smiling attitude could let you think that playing the piano is really simple !

Nothing could be further from the truth: playing the piano requires a lot of work, patience and discipline. Beyond the technique, which has to be perfectly mastered, the pianist must also carefully consider the interpretation of the works of composers. This requires hours and hours of practice and hard work. For Dorothy who started to learn the piano at the age of three in her hometown in Vienna, this means several thousand hours of practice!

Dorothy Khadem-Missagh visited Mauritius in July 2025 and gave a unique piano recital in the theatre of the Caudan Arts Centre on 9 July. She offered an energetic and graceful performance charming her audience with masterpieces from five famous European classical composers. Her shoulders and arms were perfectly relaxed and her hands seemed to float on the piano while the 200-year old music filled the theatre. She spoke with great respect and fondness about great music composers like Franz Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt who were born or lived in Vienna.

"It is not about me, it is about being here to connect with the audience through music" is the motto that guides her before going on stage.

With generosity, she shared the Vienna classical music tradition with a compelling technique and genuine love for her art with the audience. At the end of her acclaimed performance, she met with the music enthusiasts, taking pictures and signing autographs.

During her visit to Mauritius, Ms Dorothy Khadem-Missagh, who is both a pianist and cheffe d'orchestre, also had the opportunity to meet with musicians. She gave two master classes, one for pianists and one for conductors of orchestras and choirs, at the Conservatoire National de Musique Francois Mitterand.

The visit of the Austrian virtuoso to Mauritius, which is 12,000 kilometres away from the city of classical music, taught us an important lesson that the artist herself has rightly put into words : "Music does not need translation."

The artist : Dorothy Khadem-Missagh, characterized as a "breath of fresh air" by the distinguished Gramophone Magazine is an Austrian-born pianist and conductor. Praised for performing "with a clarity that lets sunlight into even the busiest textures" she is a leading figure of a new generation of strong yet sensitive artists and has been awarded multiple prizes at renowned international competitions like the Beethoven Competition Bonn.

Born in Austria into a family of musicians, Dorothy continues the musical tradition in the fourth generation. She received her first piano lessons at the age of three and was admitted to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna at the age of six, where she later studied with Noel Flores and Jan Jiracek amongst others, as well as with Pavel Giliov in Salzburg. She received important musical guidance and impulses from Martha Argerich, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Sir András Schiff, Menahem Pressler, Rudolf Buchbinder, among others and was invited to participate at the Verbier Festival Academy as well as the Aspen Music Festival and Academy. She is a prize winner of numerous competitions such as the International Beethoven Competition Bonn, the Int. Bela Bartók Competition, the New York International Piano Competition, the International Piano Competition "Ricard Viñes" and the International Piano Competition in Ettlingen, Germany. As a native of Vienna, her cultivation of the "Viennese sound" earned her admission to the prestigious circle of "Bösendorfer Artists".

The visit of Ms Dorothy Khadem-Missagh to Mauritius is an initiative of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius, the Austria Cultural Forum and the Embassy of Austria in South Africa. The piano recital and master classes have been successfully organised by IMMEDIA Mauritius with support of the Caudan Arts Centre, Beachcomber Resorts and Hotels, the Conservatoire national de musique François Mitterrand as well as media partners.

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