CAN YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST PERFORMANCE?
It must have been around 2001, when I was still playing the recorder (all brass players start with it since other instruments are too heavy for a child). However, I don’t think I gave much thought to going up on stage as a kid. Only in the 6th or 7th grade did I realize people were looking at me while I was performing; that’s when I started feeling the responsibility. Of course, I now feel way more confident about it, but I still get the feeling of creative anxiety. You can’t really go and perform without that feeling.
HOW DO YOU GET READY FOR A PERFORMANCE?
The day before, I try to imitate the day of the performance. This helps me understand how my body is going to react. I do some practice in the morning, take a nap after lunch, perform in the evening — and then I repeat it all on the next day. Just like a sportsman warms up and gives his muscles some rest, I prepare my body for the concert. I also used to do emotional preparation in the past: I tried to focus my mind on playing to the best of my ability. However, you get wiser with age: you stop caring about impressing someone and simply do what you love doing.
CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING ANYTHING ELSE BUT A MUSICIAN?
I could see myself being a sportsman. I adore soccer — both playing and watching it. In fact, music and sports have much in common: both require discipline, daily practice, a strive towards success, an on-the-road lifestyle, and teamwork of course.
WHAT MAKES MUSICAETERNA SPECIAL TO WORK WITH?
It’s more than just another orchestra. We even play standing up, as if each of us were a soloist. And it’s true, in fact. Most of the orchestra members are also successful soloists. At musicAeterna, they are all united by a common ideal.
WHO HAS HAD AN IMPACT ON YOU AS A MUSICIAN?
I was very lucky with the teachers I met. They all were not just instructors, but true mentors. I'll always remember the phrase of my teacher from the academy: "You will work for your name now, and later your name will work for you." This wisdom still guides me: we must work hard, never stay idle, and all our efforts will be rewarded.
WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?
For me, work is my favourite hobby. I enjoy working. I like the process itself and the fact that there is a starting point and a visible result. And I don't like long weekends. I always have a lot of plans, but I never get to implement all the ideas.
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE COMPOSER?
For me, Mahler stands in the first place as a composer. I love his symphonies for the large scale and power of the brass sound. Even now, his findings in the field of brass instruments sound very fresh. I would really love to play the first trumpet in Mahler's Symphony No. 5. We performed this piece with the orchestra, but I was not ready for this part at the time. Now I feel that I have matured. I will be glad to perform it when the Symphony No. 5 returns to the orchestra's repertoire.
