At 21 years old, you are still very young but already a Rising Star. That must feel special!
Absolutely! I feel so lucky to be one of the Rising Stars for ECHO this year together with some fantastic young musicians. I think what ECHO is doing for young players is really amazing, giving us so many opportunities to show ourselves and our musicianship in so many great halls and venues across Europe.
Can you describe yourself in three words?
Optimistic, stubborn, foodie…
Tell us about your programme for Bozar.
We will be playing a programme consisting of some fantastic pieces of music, starting off with Leoš Janáček’s dramatic and beautiful sonata for violin and piano. This piece was written at the start of the First World War, and Janáček himself has said the following about the time: “In the 1914 Sonata for Violin and Piano I could just about hear sound of the steel clashing in my troubled head”. The heart of the piece is definitely the second movement, Ballade, which sounds like a lullaby and is among the more romantic pieces Janáček has ever written.
After this we will be playing a beautiful short piece called “Sospiri”, written by the legendary British composer Edward Elgar. Following this is a newly commissioned piece by Swedish composer Tebogo Monnakgotla. The work is called ”Companion”, and in it we follow a musician through life in 5 stages (small movements): Retrospection, Youth, Prime, Battle and Retrospection.
We will finish the concert with Prokofiev’s Second Sonata for Violin and Piano. Originally written for flute and piano, Prokofiev decided to arrange it for violin and piano after his good friend, legendary violinist David Oistrakh, asked him to. The sonata contains a bit of everything. In the beginning it sounds very classical, almost like “Mozart with a twist” but after a while comes the teasing and fun scherzo followed by a stunningly beautiful third movement and a fantastic and optimistic ending – a true masterpiece!
Tebogo Monnakgotla wrote a piece especially for you. That’s an honour, isn’t it?
It’s a great honour to have a piece written for you. I think Tebogo Monnakgotla is a fantastic composer, and I can’t wait to share this piece with audiences!
What is your guilty pleasure?
Probably watching Netflix. Although most of the time I don’t feel too guilty about it.
What is your biggest dream?
I have many dreams! A big one would probably be to record all Beethoven and Brahms sonatas sometime in the future.
