At the age of 11 you left your country to continue your violin studies in Italy, to establish yourself and your career under the guidance of Maestro Salvatore Accardo. I suppose it was difficult to leave your homeland when you were still a child and start a new life elsewhere. What memories do you have from your childhood in Ukraine? How have you kept the link with your roots? It is never easy to leave your country, traditions, friendships and habits. Everything changes and the path to integrate is always uphill. But Italy was a dream for us, my parents wanted me to study in the land of art, music and culture. Thanks to them we were able to move, we faced all the difficulties and sacrifices with determination and optimism. I have many memories of my childhood. Violin lessons with my first teacher Marta Kalynchuk, competitions, trips to the countryside, singing and piano lessons, folklore and folk dance. I also have very vivid fragments of memories that will stay in my mind forever, like the sound of crunchy snow under my boots and the deep green of the leaves on the trees. I moved to Italy at the age of 11, but I have always maintained the relationship with my family and friends in Ukraine. I love to return there to play, often at charity events. I was supposed to play in Kiev in May for a charity event in support of orphaned children, organized by the Tulsun Foundation, and in June in Lviv with the National Philharmonic orchestra. In light of the current situation, do you find yourself thinking about what your life would be now had you taken a different path? Can it be said that music, in a way, has saved you? My mind doesn’t think in that way. I think a lot before making a decision but once I make it, I don’t second guess myself. There is already a lot to think about to build the future, and work to ensure every decision made becomes the right one. So, I never regretted moving, and in the same way, I never thought “luckily” I did it. It was a natural path. Music has always been my home and the violin has always been a part of me. Did it save me? I don’t know, but it certainly gave me a strong reason to live. What were the relations between Russians and Ukrainians before the war? Personally, I have never seen tension or negativity between the two peoples. I can say more, my brother Taras married a Russian girl and they have a gorgeous little girl. There are many families like this that are divided between the two countries. I think that neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian people want war. Recently, Russian maestro Valery Gergiev, a close friend of Putin, was fired from his orchestra and the La Scala theatre for refusing to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. What is your opinion? I don’t want to comment on the news without knowing the detailed story. I think the role of musicians is to protect art, not politics. I think it’s very dangerous to use music and culture as a political weapon. Music goes beyond everything, it is a universal language that should bring us together, not separate, it makes us reflect, and connect with something greater than us. I don’t like the growing hatred that also flows in the culture, which, in my opinion, should remain on another level. Music, like all forms of art, must be protected, out of politics or human chaos. It is wrong to forbid studying Dostoevsky or playing Shostakovich. Access to culture is important and must always be universal. 16 OI magazine
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