The path towards becoming a professional musician is one that requires total commitment and dedication from an early age, something violinist Diana Tishchenko knows all too well.
She was five when she started playing her chosen instrument and says that pursuing a career as a violinist felt “pre-destined”. Her innate gift was recognised immediately by her aunt, who was also a violinist.
“She told my parents I had an amazing ear, back then I couldn't understand what they meant, but they saw the talent and they made me work very hard from the very beginning,” she says.
“I remember this period of time in childhood when I was waking up, and before having breakfast, before anything, the first thing I took in my hand was the violin.”
Tishchenko is originally from Simferopol, a city on the Crimean peninsula, recognised as part of Ukraine but controlled by Russia. She is performing at this year’s West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Bantry, with Music in Time of War as one of its themes, reflected in the focus on the people of Ukraine, represented by Tishchenko and pianist Anna Fedorova.
They will play at several concerts across the festival, performing works by two Ukrainian composers, Boris Lyatoshynsky and 88-year-old Valentin Silvestrov, who, in the early years of the Russian invasion, left his home in Kyiv and moved to Berlin.
Tishchenko also eventually relocated to the German capital, having spent her formative years at a specialised music school for gifted children in Kyiv. Along with her burgeoning musical career came early independence, which wasn’t always easy.
“I've been living without my parents since I was 11. That was a huge shift in my life.
The first time, it was very shocking to be without parents, without home, where you had to make many decisions on your own, to make sure to not take any wrong path.
"That was also a school of life, in many regards,” she says.
Tishchenko first performed with an orchestra when she was eight years old, later joining the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and becoming its youngest ever concertmaster at the age of 20.
She was also appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, recognising her outstanding contribution to the arts. Performing holds no fear for her and is something that she relishes.
“The performance was always the easiest part, it was the practising and preparation that was hard. Now, I have accumulated not only my violin playing, but also life experience, which I bring on stage. Performance is something that has an absolutely different meaning now.
"It's absolutely not about violin playing, I just do it with the help of the violin. For me, a performance is a highlight because it is the most beautiful thing to go on stage and to be surrounded by people to share this emotion with.”
Tishchenko has not been back in Ukraine since 2021, after which the conflict with Russia escalated. Berlin is her base but she tours regularly and also spends time in Italy, where her immediate family are now based.
However, she says cultural life is still very alive in Ukraine despite the difficult circumstances and she is planning a project with the Odessa Philharmonic in the autumn.
“I'm concentrating on Odessa because both of my grandmas are from that region. I think it's absolutely wonderful that the cultural life is flourishing there, the people there are very strong,” she says.
This will be Tishchenko’s first visit to Ireland and she underlines how valuable events such as the West Cork Chamber Music Festival are as a platform for classical music and professional musicians.
“They are essential because these are the places where international musicians meet; the idea of classical music world is to be connected, so of course this platform is something absolutely necessary, not just in music but in the world. We can also never forget about the financial part of such events and the people who support them.”
The festival is highlighting the importance of cultural resistance to tyranny, and Tishchenko is passionate about the role music can play in times of turmoil. “Culture and music, it carries light, it's something bigger than us, something unexplainable.
"Where there is a lack of culture, there’s always a place for darkness, for tyranny, for violence. This is the antidote, this is the weapon against all of that. The more we can fill people’s minds with love and light, the less space they will have for bad things.”
Other highlights of West Cork Chamber Music Festival
Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire; evening concert, Bantry House, 7.30pm, Saturday, June 27: The Danish string quartet NOVO perform Mozart’s D minor quartet, the second of six quartets he dedicated to Haydn and String Quartet No.1 'Métamorphoses nocturnes’ by the Hungarian avant-garde composer György Ligeti. The second half features New York-based Calidore Quartet performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No.14 in C sharp minor, Op 131, which he completed almost exactly 200 years ago, in May 1826.
A Walk Through Deep Dark Woods, children’s concert, ages 3-8, Marino Church, 12.30pm. Sunday, June 28: Early repertoire ensemble The Gregory Walkers are joined by Kate Hearne in a spellbinding blend of storytelling and live music, using period instruments to bring old music to life for younger audiences.
Children’s stories; evening concert, St Brendan’s Church, 7.30pm, Mon, June 29: Diana Tishchenko and Argentinean pianist José Gallardo team up for this performance of Violin Sonata No. 2 ‘Mount Ida’ by Turkish composer Fazil Say, followed by Impressions of Childhood by the Romanian composer George Enescu. The concert will also feature the Damask Vocal Quartet performing the Pulitzer Prize-winning Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang.
Family music-making in the Schubert household, Bantry House, 4pm, Tue, Jun 30: Part of the Crespo series of shorter hour-long concerts, Cork violinist Mairéad Hickey and French pianist Jérémie Moreau play the composer’s Violin Sonatas in D major D.384, in A minor D.385, and in G minor D.408.
Candlelit Late Night, St Brendan’s Church 10pm, Tues, Jun 30: This atmospheric concert features a reprise of the Piano Quartet commissioned by the festival 25 years ago from celebrated Latvian composer, Peteris Vasks. Diana Tishchenko will perform, with Dana Zemtsov, Andreas Brantelid and José Gallardo. It is hoped that Vasks, who celebrates his 80th birthday this year, will be in attendance.
Here I am, listen to me, St Brendan’s Church, 4pm, Fri, Jul 3: The Delta Trio will perform a Piano Trio by pioneering composer and violist Rebecca Clarke, one of the first female professional orchestral players in London. Followed by Brahms’ Piano Trio No.1 in B major Op.8.
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