I didn’t really get to choose. My brother played the flute, so when I was brought to music school, I said I also wanted to play the flute. When I had already begun my studies, the head of the string department saw me in the corridor, looked at my hands and asked my parents what instrument I played. They said it was the flute, and she responded that I definitely had to switch to the cello.

I play the electric guitar and want to get better at it. I’m also interested in percussion. However, I wouldn’t want to study wind instruments, even though I absolutely love the saxophone.

My favourite band is Dream Theater. I like progressive rock and metal: Pink Floyd, Genesis, Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne, King Diamond, Joe Satriani, Andy James, ac/dc. On the one hand, such music has academic roots; on the other, it has the energy that classical music tends to lack. In modern-day academic music, it’s almost unheard of to play what you’ve written yourself (like Liszt, Chopin or Beethoven used to do) — but it leads to some sort of unique energetic synthesis of all human qualities. I don’t listen to music too often nowadays, though. I need to retain the freshness of perception. I don’t want listening to music to become a routine thing like having a cup of tea in the morning — otherwise, the thrill will be gone, and there will be no point in listening to music anymore.

Music doesn’t really leave me any free time for anything else. When I do get some time off, I almost panic. What am I supposed to do with it now? I do love taking walks, swimming, cycling — anything that lets me spend some time on my own. I have to communicate so much every day that sometimes I want to escape the surrounding world, focus on myself, and try to find answers to questions. And I love talking to my daughter, of course — it’s like discovering a whole new world!

It’s a great pleasure to me. I feel like I’m a member of a rock band transcending the limits. I’ll never forget the words Mstislav Rostropovich said after one of his master classes: “you know, much has been said about what distinguishes great people from common ones. The great can afford to go beyond the limits.” I don’t mean absurd or provocative actions, of course. In musicAeterna, everything is done very sincerely and with immense professionalism.