The first thing that struck me when I came to work here is how friendly everyone was to each other. Another important thing is, of course, the highest grade of each member’s professionalism. Even at rehearsals, nobody is just “going through the motions”: it is a truly creative process for everyone involved.

Music itself does, I guess. I’m fond of old music. That’s where our roots are at. Old music feels perfect to me, and it inspires me more than modern pieces. If I were to choose, I’d prefer to live in the 17th and 18th century, in the Baroque age or maybe a little later. That’s when truly beautiful music was created and performed.

It’s my life. Even when things aren’t going my way, I never lose the desire to work on music — on the contrary, it becomes even stronger. To me, music is the sanctuary where I can get away from any life problems. Music is also my hobby. I think I’m truly lucky that my job revolves around doing my favourite thing in life.

Poetry does. I love poetry of the Silver Age. I also enjoy doing yoga: it helps me to get my thoughts in order and to view the world form a different angle. And I love dancing — when I was a child, my dream was to be a ballerina.

I would remove all killings from the world, and I would turn everyone vegetarian. There’s too much cruelty in the world that surrounds us. Killing an animal is no less cruel than killing a human. Every living being deserves the right to live.