connecting with... Diana Tishchenko!

You played a concert in Luxembourg and you played as a «Rising Star». What does that mean to you, to have received this nomination?

I got a notice from Emmanuel Hondré, the director of the Paris Philharmonie concerts and performances department, that he would like to nominate me, together with Casa da Música Porto and that was of course a great surprise for me. I didn't really know the scheme, I didn't really know what is the idea behind that. With time, I got acquainted with this scheme of ECHO. Obviously, you know that there are some requirements, you have to include a female composer in your program, in my case I chose works by Sofia Gubaidulina and Dobrinka Tabakova. And then Vasco Mendonça, the Portuguese composer, wrote a piece for me, the commission piece by ECHO. I already knew many halls, so I've been playing in these halls, also in Luxembourg Philharmonie, by the way, like 10 years ago, I've been playing at the Luxembourg Philharmonie with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, when I was concert master of Mahler Orchestra, we were also performing there.

Oh I didn't know that, wow!

So for me it's a comeback to many European halls, but as a soloist now, so this is of course an honor.

You mentioned the work by Vasco Mendonça. You played a commission by Vasco Mendonça, and he wrote this commission especially for you. Can you tell us a little bit about the process?

Of course, you can imagine with Corona, everything got totally upside down, all our plans collapsed, we were supposed to meet in the spring and talk about ideas, when traveling was just like that, easy, and so now we had to switch everything to online conversations, discussions. In fact, I see from many people, that they are actually happy to reduce the traveling, and maybe sometimes unnecessary meetings. That was not our case, but obviously we can avoid movements and make things work.

And what did you talk about during the composition process of the piece?

Well, I gave freedom and decisions to Vasco, and basically, on my side, I was just deciding, just telling him what is playable, what is unplayable. But I didn't influence his musical language, that I really left to him.

The piece is called «A Box Of Darkness With A Bird In Its Heart» and it's based on a poem by the American poet Terence Hayes. It refers to the current unrest, the social and political unrest, especially in the United States. Was it special for you to perform this piece exactly one week after the elections in the United States?

Yes absolutely! I think it's always fantastic to connect music, to mirror music to the world situation. So it was a really great choice of Vasco. He has told me that «A Box Of Darkness With A Bird In Its Heart» is the description of a violin because he sees these words as the best description of a violin:  this is a box, if you look inside it's dark, and when it starts to sing, it's a bird. So, of course, especially the second movement, it's a pure, ultra high bird song.

That's beautiful! It has so many levels like the violin, the society, from the very close thing to us, like what could be closer than the violin, to the very abstract thing of society.

Yes, it is!

You have been part of an orchestra - as Konzertmeister of the Mahler Orchestra -, you are regularly performing with orchestras as a soloist, and then you are performing like you did in Luxembourg as soloist all on your own or with a pianist. Which of these constellations do you personally prefer?

Well, obviously you have to choose the path: either you go with the orchestra - like a concert master or tutti musician-, or you take the soloist path, together with chamber music. I tried both during my studying years and I also had the position in Munich Chamber Orchestra as a concert master. For me personally, I prefer to have more freedom in terms of performing on stage and also what concerns my schedule, and the solo career and chamber music, it gives me more freedom. That's why I chose that path. But of course certainly I learned a lot from orchestra experience and especially as a concert master and generally, I mean, it gives you absolutely unforgettable, first of all, chamber music feeling, and colors, and volume. This is incomparable. I always connect these things and my appearance on stage as a chamber music musician, because even if you play with a pianist, it's chamber music, but also if you play with an orchestra, it's also chamber music, it's always a communication. Of course, the other thing is, if you play with orchestra as a soloist, you also have a conductor, so the most direct communication is with the conductor, so I use my eyes to see the conductor's idea and I use also my ears to hear the orchestra and to react.

We already talked about the current situation and the coronavirus situation. Can you tell us a little bit about the challenges that this means for a young solo performer like you and how you encountered these challenges?

In the beginning of this situation, with Corona, with the lock down… first of all, you think that this is not going to last long, then there was the next stage, there was some acceptance that this is the world situation and you have to deal with it, and you have to change your views about many things. But obviously the world will be different afterwards. I really hope that serious musicians that really have something to say will be more appreciated and that they will have space. And I think people do start to appreciate more authentic things, more real things, true things, not only in art, in everything, the values have changed.

On a very practical level, I imagine that – I mean you had loads of concerts planned, I'm sure, and they get cancelled or maybe last minute, like in Luxembourg, they change but they still happen. Is it very tiring for you, all this last minute adjustment, or are you rather happy to be able to be on stage at all?

I feel thankful and blessed to be able to play for people because this is our mission as artists, to bring sense and joy with music for people, to heal their souls, to inspire their souls.

And do you have any advice maybe for fellow young musicians on how to get through this period?

My advice actually would be to take these times as an opportunity to discover other things in life because the more versatile you are, the better, right? And also, for the future in music, it will be beneficial for musicians. So, I would say, we were so stressed and so much into this rhythm of always: concert, travel, concert, travel, and maybe we could forget about many other things. So for me personally, I also take this time as a space, a sudden space to discover and to find time for other things. Because we, musicians, we are not only players of an instrument, we have to be wise people, we have to be versatile people, and to bring this in music.

That's a beautiful thought, thank you so much for that and thank you so much for having taken the time.

My pleasure.