Trained in Hamburg under Prof. Bernhard Gmelin and in Paris under Michel Strauss (2008-2011). At present he is pursuing advanced studies at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar under Prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt; in addition he is studying conducting. In 2013 he won the Antonín Dvořák prize at the Leoš Janácek Competition in Brno. In 2014 he won the International Pacem in Terris Music Competition in Bayreuth (Germany) and was also awarded two special prizes. He made the semi-finals in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and took a special prize at the Emanuel Feuermann Competition in Berlin. He has given a large number of concerts with various orchestras and also concentrates on chamber music.
Which people would you invite as guests to your dream dinner party?
Sophocles, Johannes Brahms, Charlie Chaplin, Loriot, Thomas Müller, Roger Federer and Ana Ivanović. This could lead to quite a strange conversation, though...
What is your favorite meal?
Risotto with some vegetables, shrimps and Parmesan.
Do you have a favorite motto or proverb that you live your life by?
Laughter is the best medicine. Incidentally, this is the only phrase I know in Russian.
Which person or people inspire you the most?
The music itself.
If you were 80 years old, what advice would you give to young people today?
If I were 80 years old, my children would probably be old enough not to need any advice from me…
What would you like people to say about you?
The very fact that people are talking about me would mean that I’ve had something to say to them. That’s already a great deal.
How do you overcome the stage fright? / What is your ritual before going on stage?
The only way for me to overcome it is to go on stage and play. Within a very short period of time the initial nervousness will change into positive energy and make room for joy and all the other, much stronger emotions that you need to feel the music.
When you perform... who are you playing for?
Not for a single person, but for the veritability of the music.
What job would you least like to do?
I wouldn’t like to be a 100 meter sprinter: Training, training, training all the year and then you’ve got about 10 seconds that count, uff… I guess what we do isn’t fundamentally different... but at least our performances last a little longer!
Is there a joke about musicians that you would like to share with us?
Musicians go from bar to bar…
What's the "most played" non-classical track on your phone?
I always have my phone on silent mode and I don’t listen to music on it.
You are on a desert island and can bring only 3 items, what do you bring?
Homer’s epics, some marzipan and, and if it begins to get boring, a box of signal rockets.
What is your favorite noise/sound? What is the most annoying noise for you?
Favorite: The meowing of my cat. Most annoying: The INCESSANT meowing of my cat during a several-hour car journey.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Somewhere not too far from Italy.
What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word Tchaikovsky?
To be honest: At the moment it is “Competition." But hopefully this will change again soon!
What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word competition?
Vacation afterwards…
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