French pianist Colette Maze, born in June 1914, poses at a piano during a photo session in Paris on March 24, 2023. (Photo by St茅phane DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Paris, France 鈥斅燙olette Maze has been playing piano for more than a century, and is still drawing thousands of fans on social media.
Born in June 1914, before the outbreak of World War I and when one of her favourite composers, Claude Debussy, was still alive, the French pianist practices four hours a day and is about to release her seventh album, 鈥�108 Years of Piano鈥�.
From her apartment overlooking the Seine river in Paris, Maze moves cautiously between the three pianos in her living room, but retains a youthful enthusiasm.
鈥淢e? I鈥檓 young,鈥� she says with a smile.
鈥淎ge is not something I鈥檓 interested in. There are people who are forever young, amazed by everything, and then there are people who don鈥檛 care about anything and never loved anything, even their man 鈥� can you imagine?鈥� she adds.
鈥楶iano is my life鈥�
Maze was a piano teacher for much of her life, and it was only after turning 100 that she started building a significant fanbase 鈥� through her Facebook page.
Many are inspired by her continuing good health and refusal to give up the traditional French pleasures of wine, cheese and chocolate.
鈥淪he gives people strength 鈥� that鈥檚 why she has such crazy success,鈥� said her son, journalist Fabrice Maze, adding with pride that she is one of the few people over 100 releasing albums.
She still remembers the sound of 鈥淏ig Bertha鈥�, the huge cannon used by the German army during World War I, but most of her memories revolve around her instrument.
鈥淲hen I was little, I suffered from asthma and my mother would play violin with my piano teacher 鈥� it would calm me,鈥� she says.
鈥淧iano is my life, my friend. I need to feel it and hear it,鈥� she adds, before offering a rendition of Debussy鈥檚 鈥淩eflections in the Water鈥�.
Maze began playing at five, and despite reluctance from her parents, she won a place at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with teachers including the renowned Alfred Cortot.
Cortot was known for a method of relaxing all the muscles of the body 鈥� which Maze credits with sparing her from arthritis.
The other secret to her youth? 鈥淚 did a lot of dancing,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 need to feel my muscles, my abdominals, my thighs, my arms. All that must be alive.鈥�