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Help Musicians ShootWho or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

I didn’t have a lightbulb moment with deciding to follow a career in music. It was more the accumulation of many joyous and happy moments right from when I started to play the clarinet, and from there it seemed a natural thing to keep working and enjoying what I did. As I was growing up and playing more and more, nothing else appeared that seemed more attractive as a career, so I simply stuck with it!

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

My first clarinet teacher, Vanessa, who got me started on this crazy journey. After that, I had lessons with Joy Farrall who remains a wonderful colleague and friend to this day. Other than that, more generally: everything! I take great pleasure in listening to what other people have to say. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt – one of the greatest mistakes we can make is passing judgement before we form our own opinion. (This is especially true, I think, as we exist in an era where peoples’ attention spans and tolerances often seem shorter and lower than ever before.)

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

A continuous challenge is sitting with uncertainty, and knowing that you’re only as good as your last performance. Of course, we all make mistakes (and whoever created this obsession with perfection in our industry has a lot to answer for), but it can be hard to feel like you are always being evaluated, compared, ranked. On the other hand, to do a job which keeps me on top of my game constantly is a challenge that I relish. The thought of having a job where I can become stultified and get away with constantly being mediocre is frightening.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

Truth be told, I don’t really listen back to many recordings I do – once I’ve done something I move on pretty quickly to the next thing. Any performance or project that I walk away from knowing I learned something or gave everything to I am proud of.

Which particular works do you think you perform best?

Anything where you get a lot from the score or the collaborators. I draw a lot on what is right in front of me in the moment – the more there is to bounce off, the more involved I become.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I don’t really choose a lot of repertoire myself – this often comes down to the orchestra’s schedule. With freelance work you get booked and the repertoire is always decided in advance – you just turn up and play. With The Hermes Experiment, we always look to do new and different things, be it commissioning a certain composer, playing at a certain venue, or exploring a different theme (or all three!), and so our repertoire grows around this.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

Before Christmas I took my bass clarinet along to a pub in Stoke Newington and joined in a blues jam at the invitation of a friend. I am pretty sure I was terrible but it was by far the most fun atmosphere I’ve played in for months.

Who are your favourite musicians?

Anyone who has flair and says things in an interesting way that also make sense. I think Joni Mitchell is a genius. I am discovering Kate Bush. A friend introduced me to the wonderful music of Brad Mehldau.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Some of my most treasured memories come from my time in the National Youth Orchestra – playing at the BBC Proms with Vasily Petrenko as the culmination of months of delving so deeply into repertoire and forging wonderful friendships is something I’ll never forget.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

For me, success is asking the two questions ‘What do I want my life to be right now’ and ‘What do I actually have in my life right now’ and having as narrow a gap between the two as possible. There’ll probably always be a small gap, but it’s a good thing to aspire to. As a musician, as a person, it’s all the same thing. I’m not talking about wanting to own a nice car or winning the lottery or something. I’m talking about doing things that leave you fulfilled, that are true to your values. That is success. And being able to pay the rent. That’s also nice.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Firstly: Listen to as much music as you can. Try and get a flavour of everything, and then find what you’re passionate about and investigate it as much as you can. Be obsessed. Find what makes you happy and follow it relentlessly.

Secondly: Listen to other people. If you think they’re a moron. Listen to them. Everyone has something worth saying. Even if you walk away thinking ‘I definitely wouldn’t do it that way’, you were present and you listened and made the active decision to do things your way, rather than walking away out of close-mindedness, arrogance or laziness.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

I still ask myself on a regular basis if I want to do this, if this is something that I want to be doing. As soon as the answer is ‘no’ I am out of here! Music is something that you do because you want to, because you are passionate about it and it brings you happiness (as well as happiness to others, of course). Why do it if these things don’t happen? To do something as personal as music for a living, but be empty or cynical inside just doesn’t make sense to me. Go and become a banker or something. Or a consultant (I still have no idea what consultants do). In 10 years’ time I will be wherever I am.

Oliver Pashley is a young London-based clarinettist and founding member of contemporary quartet The Hermes Experiment. He holds the position of Sub-Principal Clarinet with Britten Sinfonia and plays regularly with orchestras and ensembles at home and abroad, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, The Riot Ensemble, Northern Ballet Sinfonia, and the Haffner Wind Octet. Highly in demand as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, he has played guest principal with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, and English National Ballet.

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The Jubilee Quartet are:

Tereza Privratska – Violin I
Julia Loucks – Violin II
Lorena Cantó Woltèche – Viola
Toby White – Cello

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

JULIA: I was watching “Sesame Street” while growing up in Canada and saw Itzhak Perlman play-ing violin – it was the beginning of my fascination with the instrument.

TEREZA: My parents who love music but are not musicians themselves.

LORENA: The reason I decided to play the viola is that I have always been very curious and en-thusiastic about learning and have always wanted to express myself in one way or another. Since my family was very much classical music orientated and both my parents are violists (although my mum later became a baroque recorder teacher) it came to me naturally to start learning the viola under their tutoring.

TOBY: I was 3 years old and was in the car with my mum listening to the radio. ‘The Swan’ from ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ came on and I turned round and said “oh a daddy violin! I want one!”. My mum, being wonderful, obliged and I’ve been playing ever since.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

JULIA: I have had some wonderful teachers in both undergrad and postgrad, but some of my most important musical development has been learned from my friends and colleagues.

TEREZA: I studied with Rainer Schmidt in Basel and Günter Pichler in Madrid. They were highly influential years in my life.

LORENA: My teacher Boris Kucharsky is probably the first person that made me realise where I stand as a musician. It was among aspects such as seeing and hearing how he poured his soul into his playing and how he was always eager to express. Boris talked about the music with such passion and admiration; he was never satisfied and always thought and encouraged me to give more. It was this that made me realise how noble and beautiful the work of the musician is. I should, of course, briefly mention Tereza, Julia and Toby. They are three incredible musicians who I have admired since I met them, and with whom a day does not go by where I do not learn something new. They support me as a musician as much as I support them.

TOBY: There have been so many! But I suppose the most important influences have been my great teachers. I have been very lucky to have had such wonderful and inspiring teachers throughout my life.

JULIA: Learning to trust my instincts and believe in my own musical intention has always been a challenge, but the quartet has helped encourage me to come out of my shell.

TEREZA: The most difficult thing is combining what I love doing with what I need to be doing to pay the bills, which I believe is every musician’s concern. One must never give in to the work that pays better over the joy of what something else may bring.

LORENA: Redistributing priorities is something I still find hard to this day and since joining The Jubilee Quartet it has become a matter of importance.

TOBY: Finding the right work life balance is probably the hardest thing for me. I love what I do but it can be demanding time wise. It’s important for me to stay fresh and excited but that can be tough.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

JULIA: In terms of recordings our upcoming Haydn CD for Rubicon Classics is by far the project that I am most proud of.

TEREZA: The Jubilee Quartet is currently releasing a Haydn CD that I am most proud of.

LORENA: I am looking forward to the release of The Jubilee Quartet’s Haydn CD, because prob-ing deeply into three of Haydn’s quartets has made me realise how incredible and varied his music is. There was so much necessary thinking behind every decision we took when working towards an interpretation that resonated with us as a quartet.

TOBY: Our latest CD release of Haydn quartets. It has been such a privilege working on and re-cording these works with my colleagues.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

JULIA: I think our strength is definitely in early classical, particularly Haydn. We also love playing Schubert!

TEREZA: I believe it is Haydn but let’s listen to the CD first.

LORENA: I am interested in works of all styles and periods, because what I enjoy most is getting to know them and playing them as best I can. It is true though that ever since I was small I have been passionate about opera, especially Mozart’s, which has influenced my style of playing and the way I like to approach non-classical repertoire too.

TOBY: I think this is entirely subjective. I most enjoy playing Haydn with the quartet, but we also love playing works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and many others. All composers bring a different set of challenges which we relish as a group.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

JULIA: We try to make sure we have a good selection of works from different musical eras – and we also tend to programme pieces that are not frequently played or slightly unusual.

TEREZA: This decision will depend on where the Quartet is performing as sometimes we are asked to perform a certain programme. On other occasions we select what we like to play and crosscheck it with competition requirements in case we would like to apply.

LORENA: Our choice of repertoire usually depends on our common interests. We tend to like to add a new piece to our repertoire, while we polish older ones.

TOBY: We like to pick interesting and varied programmes so we will sometimes base a pro-gramme around a particular work and build from there. Other times we will be asked to perform a specific repertoire or we will be working on competition works.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

JULIA: Wigmore Hall is a wonderful space and has a spiritual feel to it – even attending a concert there feels like my life will change a little bit that night. Conway Hall is another fantastic space in London with a warm, generous, acoustic and personal feel.

TEREZA: My favourite concert venue is of course the Wigmore Hall. There is no alternative to such a perfect space for chamber music.

LORENA: I do not really have a favourite venue, but it has always been a pleasure to perform in concert halls with an enthusiastic audience.

TOBY: I don’t think anywhere can quite match the Wigmore Hall in London. That being said we have performed in some lovely halls, most recently in León, Spain in December last year which was a beautiful hall.

Who are your favourite musicians?

JULIA: I have always enjoyed listening to the Hagen Quartet and Isabelle Faust. The Amadeus Quartet have some fantastic Beethoven recordings, with a sound that you rarely hear these days.

TEREZA: My quartet colleagues.

LORENA: I love listening to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, especially Frans Brüg-gen’s recordings and I used to be very passionate about Ana Netrebko’s singing.

TOBY: There are too many to mention and it would be unfair to miss anyone out. But of course I should mention my quartet colleagues who I admire very much.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

JULIA: My most memorable concert experience has to be the first time I performed in a full or-chestra, playing Brahms 1. I’d never heard anything like it before, I felt like I was flying! That defi-nitely helped my decision to study music at University.

TEREZA: In my first performance of Mozart K.589 I played from the full score and arranged my pages in what I thought was a “clever” way, until the repeats came in… and my music was re-moved on the floor at that point…

LORENA: My most memorable concert experience is performing Elgar’s ‘Piano Quintet’ with Boris Kucharsky and Bart Lafollette in the Marryat Chamber Music Festival when I was still a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School. The intense work we did in such a small space of time with such amazing musicians who all cared about the piece to the last little detail is what made the perfor-mance for me so rewarding and special. The experience officially made me realise that I wanted to be a chamber musician.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

JULIA: Success to me is feeling like you are always learning, and always improving. It’s amazing how achieving “goals” can leave you feeling quite empty – for me it’s all about the process!

TEREZA: To be able to perform, record, perform, record and… perform… the music we love.

LORENA: Success to me is a deeply personal state in which a passionate musician feels respected by the people around him/her not only as a musician but also as a person for the hard work put into communicating something with his/her music making.

TOBY: Success for me is being able to perform the music I love and travel the world’s concert halls.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

JULIA: I think developing an open, curious attitude is incredibly important. We can all strive for technical perfection but the most magical musical moments happen when we can create on the spot.

TEREZA: Always look for something new to discover in the pieces you are playing, even if it is a core repertoire of your group and you have played the pieces hundred times. Only that way the music will stay fresh and you will feel satisfaction in rehearsals.

LORENA: I believe aspiring musicians need to understand that chamber music is no different than playing solo or orchestra, and requires the same amount of individual work from each player.

TOBY: Never stop asking questions and searching for answers. Always be creative and try everything even if it seems a bit crazy. It will rarely be your final version but it may just steer you in the right direction.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

JULIA: Playing Quartets somewhere, hopefully near a fireplace and with a nice big dog sitting in the room.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

LORENA: Happiness is perfect when one learns to appreciate and enjoy the work that goes behind fulfilling our basic needs as individuals with all that may happen on the way there. All needs, such as loving and supporting oneself while caring for the people around us, learning a new skill or pursuing big dreams, have difficult challenges that present themselves and require personal com-mitment and involvement. Happiness is a box that needs to be constantly refilled, therefore, the goal should not be to fill it all, but to make the most of putting things in it. Working in The Jubilee Quartet brings me perfect happiness, because I feel fulfilled with all the effort that goes into every rehearsal to learn and improve and it is incredibly rewarding to share our music making with an audience every now and then, knowing that nothing stops there.

What is your most treasured possession?

TOBY: My cello. It never leaves me; I feel nervous when I’m out without it.

What is your present state of mind?

JULIA: I’m feeling inspired and ambitious!

TEREZA: I’m feeling happy with The Jubilee Quartet and in love with my husband to be.

 

The award-winning Jubilee Quartet will release its debut album of Haydn Quartets by Rubicon Classics on 10 March 2019

First prize winners of the Val Tidone International Chamber Music Competition 2010 and the St Martin’s Chamber Music Competition 2013, Second prize winners of the Karol Szymanowski International String Quartet Competition 2014, and third prize winners of the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition 2013, the Jubilee Quartet was formed in 2006 at the Royal Academy of Music, London. They held a Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Academy during 2012-13, and the Richard Carne Junior Fellowship at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance during 2013-14. 

The quartet are award winners of the Tillett Trust ‘Young Artists’ Platform’; the Park Lane Group ‘Young Artists’; the Hattori Foundation; the Worshipful Company of Musicians ‘Concordia Foundation Artists Fund’; and are recipients of the Philharmonia MMSF ‘Charles Henderson Ensemble Award’ and the Eaton Square ‘St. Peter’s Prize’ 2014. In 2012 the quartet were finalists in the Joseph Joachim International Chamber Music Competition, Weimar, and in 2013 and 2015, in the Royal Over-Seas League. 



Their studies have been overseen by professors such as Günter Pichler, Hatto Beyerle, Thomas Brandis, Jon Thorne, Garfield Jackson, and Martin Outram, and they have participated in masterclasses by the Skampa, Wihan and Chilingirian Quartets, Miguel da Silva and Sylvia Rosenberg. The group studied with Rainer Schmidt at the Musikhochschule Basel from October 2014 to March 2016, with members of the Belcea String Quartet in 2016-17, with John Myerscough through the ChamberStudio at King’s Place in 2018. They have been named Associate String Quartet at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire while studying with Oliver Wille for 2018-19.



The quartet has performed widely throughout the UK in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Conway Hall and the Purcell Room, and their continental tours have included a performance in the presence of the former Czech president Vaclav Havel. They have enjoyed a variety of outreach work as part of the Live Music Now! scheme, and have participated in the Lake District Summer Music and St Magnus Festivals. In 2014 the group was selected to attend the McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal, Canada and in 2016 was invited to perform with the Doric Quartet at Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Notable recent performances include an appearance at the international chamber music series in Basel, Switzerland (March, 2017), performing at the 2018 Luberon Festival through ProQuartet, and a performance in Léon for the International Festival de Música de Cámara in December 2018.

Early 2019 will feature the upcoming CD release of Haydn quartets for Rubcion Classics. 

The Jubilee Quartet would like to thank the Stradivari Trust, the Mears/Speers and Eyers families and Mike Down for their generous support.

jubileequartet.co.uk

 

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Who or what inspired you to take up piano, and pursue a career in music?

It all happened rather by accident. I’m from, what I like to call, an atonal family and I owe it to the music school in Gdańsk – my home city. They were looking for talented children in kindergartens and so my parents received a letter one day. A little bit like Hogwarts! I remember discussing the options with my dad before the audition. He only asked that I don’t choose the piano as it’s a big, heavy instrument that takes a lot of space. Soon enough we had to find the space…!

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

From a professional point of view my teachers and fellow music colleagues. I’m infinitely grateful to all the professors I came across in my life. I’m getting to know that process from the other side now and I realise every day how tricky being a teacher can be.

From the psychological or mental side, I couldn’t have done it without my parents. I guess most musicians would say the same thing.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Freelancing! It still is. Also the post-graduation blues. I wish we’d speak about it more – how difficult it is to finish studying and to be in the world on our own, without the support of the institution behind us.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

First, my recent release with Naxos called ‘A Century of Polish Piano Miniatures’. I think I managed to put together a programme of the real 20th century jewels of Polish piano literature, allowing the listener to explore all that happened after Chopin. I’m proud of that one. The biggest challenge would be Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, a recording I did last year. Because of the technical difficulties my session lasted for 1.5 hours instead of 3. That’s not enough time to play it through even twice. No space for mistakes!

Which particular works do you think you play best?

I think that would be everything from Impressionism to contemporary music. Ravel has never let me down, same for most of the 20th-century repertoire. However, I must say there’s nothing more satisfying than some good Bach.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I aim for a selection of styles and variety of soundworlds. Something that will be good for competitions and recitals with different audiences. I usually make a list of pieces I want to continue playing and try to add works that would go well with it to create interesting programmes.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

My room. Everything always works! And if I really want I can make it a performance venue. Concert is a state of mind after all!

Who are your favourite musicians?

The passionate ones. No time for accurate boredom.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

There is so many memorable experiences…It’s extremely hard to choose the one! Maybe I will go for the finals of Tallinn International Piano Competition when I performed my beloved Ravel for the first time. I felt so powerful, like nothing could stop me. There are also a lot of earlier experiences which are connected with becoming professional and finding my own identity as a concert pianist. I think that’s material for a book…

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

A balanced combination of high-quality artistic experiences and self-preservation.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

We do it primarily for the others. We have to always remember that. We serve the audience, whoever they are. We serve the music, the composers, the beauty… It’s our duty to share the love and passion for arts – that’s the best way to make this world a better place.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

Close to the people I love most, doing what I love to do most.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

The above, and loving your work (then you don’t have to work).

What is your most treasured possession?

My mind, nobody can read it.

What is your present state of mind?

Relaxed post-tax return!

Anna Szalucka’s latest CD, A Century of Polish Piano Miniatures, is available now

Anna Szałucka is a Polish pianist and started her musical education at the age of seven. She completed the Bachelor Degree at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk studying with Waldemar Wojtal. In years 2013 – 2014 she continued her studies at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien in piano class of Stefan Vladar. Currently she is studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London under the supervision of Ian Fountain. In November 2016 Anna won the 1st Prize together with The Eller, Recital, Orchestra and Estonian Museum Awards at the 3rd International Tallinn Piano Competition. She’s a prize winner of many other competitions including the 1st Prize in Young Pianists Forum in Rybnik and the 2nd Prize and The Special Prize of Jerzy Waldorff on IX Iternational Competition for Young Pianists “Arthur Rubinstein in Memoriam” in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Anna is also a laureate of the 46th Festival of Polish Pianism in Słupsk (Poland). She’s been awarded The Jacob Barnes Piano Scholarship, Musicians’ Company – Harriet Cohen Bach Prize, Kenneth Loveland Gift Prize as well as the 3rd Prize in the International Sussex Piano Competition. Her recent successes include multiple prizes: Janet Duff Greet, Walter MacFarran and Alexander Kelly Memorial Prizes, The Regency Award as well as 2nd Prize and the Audience Prize at the Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Piano Competition. She was selected by the prestigious Musicians’ Company to give her Wigmore Hall debut recital in 2016.

Anna Szałucka has given many concerts across Poland and abroad cooperating with such institutions as The National Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Wiener Beethoven Gesellschaft, The Arthur Rubinstein International Music Foundation, The Worshipful Company of Musicians as well as BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and Radio Gdańsk. The orchestra appearances include concerts with the Polish Radio Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Worthing Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Baltica, Pomeranian Philharmonics, Górecki Chamber Orchestra and others. Anna has developed her passion for music by taking part in many piano masterclasses, among others with Aleksiej Orłowiecki, Alon Goldstein, Andrzej Jasiński, Kathryn Stott, Imogen Cooper, Dina Yoffe, Lee Kum-Sing, Paul Roberts, Joanna MacGregor, Yevgeny Sudbin and Alberto Nosè.

As the Royal Academy of Music scholar Anna is generously supported by the Thompson Family Charitable Trust. In Poland, she received a scholarship from the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the President of Gdańsk City and the Principal of the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. She was also awarded the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Prize as well as Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Prize.

www.annaszalucka.com

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Who or what inspired you to take up the recorder, and pursue a career in music?

As a child, I wanted to play the piano, but when my best friend started to play the recorder, I decided to join her. Best decision ever!

When I had to start playing the piano later in preparation for musical studies (in Germany, playing the piano is mandatory if you want to study music), I realised how limited the piano is and how much I was missing sound-wise.

I was regarded a great talent from early age on, so it felt natural to pursue a career as a freelance musician. Freedom and self-management are very important parts of my being a musician – I love to explore, create, experiment, and also to say “no!”, if needed.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

Mostly non-musical people first, like my grandmother, who told me to listen to my heart rather than to other people; later fellow musicians, teachers, etc..

I was puzzled when I looked around and mostly found men in charge and visible everywhere in the music business. At that point, my focus on fostering the multi-disciplinary artistic work of woman developed, and I started looking for like-minded people, like, for example, composer and fellow activist Dr. Dorone Paris. Together, we founded the organisation ArtEquality, and are on our way to turn the world into a better place through #ArtAsActivism.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

To end the belittlement regarding my instrument and the difficulties of being a woman in the music business. Since I am active in the acoustic as well as the electronic sector, there is always a bunch of guys supporting their fellow guys to deal with. It is such a pity that so much creative energy by women has to be wasted on fighting repression and harassment…

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

My solo recording “Windserie” with my own works from basically the last 20 years, and my solo recitals from the series “the sadly unknown”, also the inter-disciplinary work with artist Carola Czempik, …

Which particular works do you think you play best?

The “fun fact” about the recorder is everybody thinks they know the instrument, but when they start to compose for it, it turns out to be a quite interesting and difficult challenge.

The works I play best are the works written for me, by composers who do the necessary research on the instrument, interact with and involve me, etc., like Nicoleta Chatzopoulou, Marc Yeats, Jeanne Strieder, Catherine Robson, Mathias Spahlinger, to name a few beacons in the luckily steady growing group of risk-taking composers.

With Jeanne Strieder, I also perform in an industrial-doom-electronic project called Catenation (as well as in two death metal bands, Coma Cluster Void and Infinite Nomad).

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I am in the very lucky position of having a pool of incredible and diverse works, and also being presented with stunning new works regularly. Since I also travel a lot, many aspects have to be taken into account while creating a new programme: Where is the concert, festival, concert series? How many instruments do I need? (bear in mind that I need a different instrument for every single piece of music on the programme – recorders are very sensitive, and can only be played a certain amount of time on a daily basis, due to air pressure and condensation). Is it possible to use electronics and / or visuals / projection? Is there any composer I know and / or who has written for me residing at the place, or a person I would like to collaborate with? Which part of the world is the concert going to happen, what’s the temperature / air pressure / humidity, plane or train or car, and so on. So my programmes are always exclusively built and adapted for every occasion, place, and audience.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

No, not really – I like many places for different reasons, like acoustics or atmosphere.

Who are your favourite musicians?

The ones I work with on a regular basis: violin player Alexa Renger (for over 20 years now), the Reanimation Orchestra, oboe player Freddi Börnchen, tenor saxophone player Dr. Dorone Paris, and partner-in-crime Jeanne Strieder.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Performing in Mexico in a contrasting concert programme of Bach fugues and contemporary music. The (mostly young) people greeted the performance with such a heartfelt enthusiasm, like a rock concert – an incredible experience!

The audience in general seems to be very mixed in age; you have the whole range from newborns to seniors. Unlike in germany, people want to express their feelings and gratitude, and love to talk to artists about their experiences: in the concert hall, in the parking garage, at the rest room… Everybody is so open and highly interested, it is just lovely to be and perform there.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

To be creative, to be content with my artistic output, to be able to bring my music and my artistic creations to the global public, to be able to interact with other arts and disciplines, to be fostering a network and work towards equality.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Find your own way, and take your time! Don’t simply repeat, create!

What is your most treasured possession?

My collection of recorders from sopranino to sub-doublebass in different woods, models, and tunings.

What is your present state of mind?

Forward-looking, but impatient regarding the uprise of the right-winged. nevertheless, without art, there is no hope nor solace.

 

Praised for her equally fierce and bold dramatic performance style, Sylvia Hinz is one of the leading recorder players worldwide, specialised in contemporary music and improvisation.

sylviahinz.com