by Stephanie Richard
The past year hasn't been an easy one for the music industry. Artists and arts workers worldwide have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Montreal-based keyboard company NUmotion, in collaboration with Alessia Priolo, President of Sincop8ed Noize Foundation, led the initiative to bring together NUmotion artist endorsees worldwide for a remote performance of “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, and the title selection couldn’t have been more fitting for the idea and message behind the project.
NUmotion, the creator of the REVO curveboard, the only mobile keyboard of its kind, endorses a handful of high calibre keyboardists worldwide including: Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Ric’key Pageot (Madonna), Coen Janssen (Epica), Dan Bigras, Cris Rodriguez, Alessio Lucatti (Vision Divine), Kevin Codfert, Nicolas Rodriguez (Elida Reyna Y Avante) and more.
The artists who volunteered their time and participation in the remote and international cover collaboration are: Coen Janssen, Cris Rodriguez, Alessio Lucatti, Nicolas Rodriguez and Alessia Priolo, the most recent addition to the prestigious NUmotion Artists roster. The video was edited by Dani Rod (Above The Sky Studios), who mixed, mastered, arranged and recorded drums on the track. The keyboardists, playing their unique curved keyboard deliver an impressive and stylistically diverse performance which ranges from classical music to metal and spotlights each musician’s unique style and musical interpretation of the iconic song.
The Co-Founder of NUmotion Mario Brun, says “we are very proud of the original approach to this video cover. It portrays very well the passion and courage of the whole NUmotion team. We want to express our immense gratitude to Alessia for directing this project, and extend our gratitude as well to our endorsees from around the globe for their performances, despite the difficulties of this global pandemic and the struggles of working remotely. As a musician myself, I understand entirely the frustration brought forth by this pandemic. From the bottom of our hearts, we wish a prompt return to normality for all artists and arts workers out there.”
This project is a great example of how the power of music can help overcome any obstacle, and sends a message of encouragement and hope to all musicians and cultural workers out there who are struggling: we will get through this, we will survive.
The video collaboration will premiere on YouTube on Friday April 30th at 12 PM (Eastern Time), on the Sincop8ed Noize Foundation’s YouTube channel and social media platforms.