Meet Dava Giustizia | Composer, Pianist, and Keyboardist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dava Giustizia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dava, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
My journey in Berklee had helped me to be more mature, both as a musician and as a human being in general. I’d like to think that my work-life balance had evolved for the better ever since I’ve been faced to situations that demanded me to manage and acknowledge my priorities throughout the journey. The talks with my mentors and family members that have faced these struggles before had also definitely helped me, and still are.

What has helped me so far is having a “target” in life, be it long-term or short-term, and build our balance according to it. It will always be a constant juggle of trying to balance it, but such is life. I’m also still figuring it out, haha. Now that I am done with my studies, it is up to me to figure out what works best and how for myself.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Looking back at my past works, technically speaking, I’d like to think that what sets my arts/compositions apart from the others is the jazz-fusion element and influences from the Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) genre, influences from my interpretation of the traditional music from my home country Indonesia, my horn and line writings, the episodic story telling technique, and a touch of what I call my characteristic “bittersweetly energetic” element. It is all a melting pot of my influences and my interest up to the time of writing, but I craft it based on my own interpretations of them.

As a performer, I aim to be a versatile pianist and keyboardist that is able to tackle the color of music assigned for me to play. I have had experiences playing in Western-influenced genres, but I aim to study more Southern and Eastern music too, especially my own culture of Javanese Karawitan and how I can incorporate it to my own playing.

It is only the beginning of my journey as a professional musician/artist, but from the little experience I had throughout my journey up until this point in my life, I can already see that the path had not and will never be a smooth road, especially as someone who pursues a career in the creative field in this day and age. However, I am excited for what the future holds for me. I am grateful for the opportunities that I have had, and I will try to be ready for more opportunities in the future. (I’m releasing my debut album soon, so be on the lookout! Hehe *shameless promotion*)

My brand as an artist, or perhaps more like what I want to say through my compositions and creations, is to love and get to know ourselves better, in order to be able to love and respect others. We all have a dream that we’re pursuing. We all will face the same things that others had or will face, sooner or later. We don’t know exactly what everyone have dealt with in their life. So, quoting from the tune “Nature Boy” by eden ahbez: “The greatest joy you’ll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.” Appreciating one’s self and what we do, thus able to appreciate another, I feel is a great reminder for all of us, myself included.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have just moved to the Allston area, west of Boston, and I’m loving it here. Great foods, great place to live and hang, I’d recommend my friend to visit here as a nice change of pace from the crowds of Downtown Boston, as beautiful as it is.

I have also mentioned the Charles River Esplanade before, and I will mention it again, because I simply love the place with the great view and everything, but also because that place holds great memories of the times with my friends and the alone times there, personally. Another place that rings similar for me is the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. You all should check those places. Those are fun ones.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate the shoutout to my family, my friends, my mentors that have helped me along the way. Some names among them are Kristian Witanto, Quincy Mayferta, Vadim Neselovskyi, Bob Pilkington, Ayn Inserto, the Berklee Indonesian Community, and Jazzversity.

Website: linktr.ee/davagiustizia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davagiustizia/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/davagiustizia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/davagiustizia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dava.giustizia.9/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavaGiustizia

Other: https://soundcloud.com/dava-giustizia

Image Credits
Elizabeth Friar, Krishna Dinata, Anonymous