“I started playing the violin when I was four years old. I would go with my older sister to her violin classes. After a few months, I knew all the songs. So I would sing them and the teacher would notice. She asked if I wanted to play the violin, and of course I said yes. There is this beautiful Japanese phrase that says you can learn music as if it were your mother tongue. It’s with a lot of immersion in music and lots of love. Very young kids can start with it, and that’s how I started.”
“The transition from hobby to career was very natural for me. I started playing at the Antwerp Conservatory when I was eleven. I became completely immersed in the music world. All my friends were musicians. I didn’t have to think about doing music. This is my world. I never get bored of playing music. Even pieces that are difficult to connect with just offer a challenge. When I was still studying, there was a lot of pressure to practice and become the best. Some days I would practice ten hours a day. It would become mindless, and then you get tired. But now I can’t get enough of playing. It’s a great feeling. Every piece feels like the most important piece I’ll play.“
“However, it is really difficult to live off music. It demands a lot. That is the part that is tiring to me: getting enough concerts and getting my image out there. You can't really take a month off, because then you're out. There's this constant flow and you have to be in there. That part is tiring, but it has nothing to do with the music itself. Having my passion as my job is not without struggles. I actually said to myself: if I lose the pleasure I get out of playing because I have to earn money, then I prefer earning money with something else and keep playing for my pleasure. It's just too precious.”
“Traveling is an inherent part of being a musician. As a musician, you need an audience and colleagues to play. People want variety and different artists, so traveling is part of the life. I have been traveling since I was young. It’s always a bit of the same, wherever you go: same routine, same audience.“
“After ten years of this, my partner, also a violin player, and I decided to do something different. We took a year off and went on a world tour. We played everywhere that was not a concert hall, in places where people had never seen a violin. We played in the slums in Mumbai, for street kids in Bangkok, and for kids in Japan. We left to test ourselves as musicians, artists, and as human beings. It was incredible how it changed us. You have to confront yourself as an artist and think ‘How can I use this vehicle between me and my audience to really make some connection?’. They say music is a universal language. Although we can feel basic things, such as happy or sad music, the music itself is a language that’s very tied to cultures and individuals, even ceremonies and traditions. My niche of classical music is strange to people in Africa or Latin America. Then you have to look for a channel of connection to convey emotion.”
“However, traveling for your job remains difficult. My partner and I have a child, and we’re expecting another one. There are many kids of musicians who don’t like music, because it ‘takes their parents away’. When they grow up, they are proud of their parents, and many kids follow the same path. It is really tricky for friendships, too. I feel lucky because I have friends all over the world. Sometimes I don’t see people for ten years. But then when I see them, it doesn’t feel like all that time has passed. Of course I miss certain people, but it’s so stimulating all the time. I feel so incredible, full of all the people I'm surrounded with.”