Taya König-Tarasevich | International Student Blog

Taya König-Tarasevich, a first-year Historical Performance student, 告诉我们在不同文化中学习的差异, her secret life as a slalom snowboarder, 和更多的.

How did you develop your passion for music?

Growing up in a post-Soviet society, 我们没有多少钱, 但一盒莫扎特的音乐录音带对我来说就是一切. My experience of listening to it awakened me to delight and beauty that I didn’t know existed in the world. This was the moment in my life when I realized that this beauty is something I want to be part of. Throughout my childhood, 我的家充满了音乐:我的祖母和她的姐妹们和我的父亲一起唱民歌, 谁 taught himself guitar, would sing Russian bard songs at the campfire. The sincerity and pure way they expressed their emotions without a formal musical education was very touching to me.

How did you get interested in playing the flute?

这是一个5岁的小女孩在一个大音乐厅里吹长笛. 我被激怒了! 她只有5岁，在我家乡的爱乐乐团演出, but I was already 8 and was only in the audience. I told my mom: “I have to play the flute!“然而，我妈妈在音乐学校有过一段痛苦的童年经历. In Soviet times it was common pedagogy to close the piano lid while the student was playing—if you hit a wrong note the teacher would shut the lid on your fingers. 我妈妈拒绝了我的愿望，因为她担心我有一个类似的老师, one 谁 would ruin my fascination and love for music. 两年后, 当我10岁的时候, I felt like I was getting old; I was determined to go to the music school and I pulled my mom along. 试镜结束后，考官问我是不是父母强迫我来的，这让我很震惊. The opposite was true: it was I 谁 forced my mom. I was accepted to the first music school in Siberia, which was in my hometown, 克拉斯诺雅茨克, and guess what—I never got a piano lid banged on my fingers! 事实上, 我非常感激我的启蒙老师伊琳娜·彼得罗夫娜·奥夫钦尼科娃, 谁 became my second mom. Not only was she supportive and loving, 但也 she put a seed in my soul and taught me how to grow that enchanted garden that I am still caring for to this day.

Tell us about your journey from Siberia to the west.

I love this Saul Steinberg drawing!

When I was 15, I decided to study in St. Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia. 后来我才知道，去圣路易斯市上大学也是我妈妈的梦想. 但在苏联时期，他们没有选择的自由. So she supported me and moved with me to this beautiful and historical place with the oldest conservatory in Russia. There I took lessons on modern flute with an accomplished professor 谁 was a soloist of Mariinsky theater. 不过, personal complications and a strong desire for further musical development forced me to quit the program prematurely. I decided to leave the country and a good friend gave me the hint to approach Renate Greiss- Armin at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe, 德国. At that point in time my language skills were poor, but my longing to improve was so strong that I wrote her an email in very bad English and a miracle happened—she replied and invited me for a lesson! Following her advice, I terminated my time in St. Petersburg and came to 德国. 我一边给雷纳特的助理上私人课程，一边做互惠生, 马赛厄斯大蒜素原, in preparation for the audition. 虽然一开始我不会说德语，但音乐是我们的通用语言. Mathias not only helped me to achieve my biggest dream—to study with Renate Greiss-Armin—但也 became my mentor in music and life. I feel fortunate to have studied with Renate before she retired and am humbly grateful that she made me 谁 I am today. Renate仍然是我在音乐和个人方面最大的灵感来源. 她教会了我对音乐史上每一个时代的美的深刻鉴赏, starting from the depth of Bach’s passions, through the tragedy of Schubert’s Lieder, to the fascinating complexity of Boulez’s Sonatina.

你是如何对早期音乐和巴洛克长笛产生兴趣的?

因为雷纳特自己曾师从早期音乐先驱巴托尔德·库吉肯学习巴洛克长笛, she found it essential for her students to discover historical instruments in order to develop their musicianship. The moment I fell in love with the baroque flute was when my teacher Heike Nicodemus asked me to play Russian folk songs. 这段经历立刻让我在这台乐器上有了家的感觉. 一次, I heard Bach’s B-Minor sonata performed by Karl Kaiser; it left such a deep impression that I knew that it was the truth I was looking for. Unforgettable concerts by the Freiburger Barockorchester, which Karl co-founded, 让我确信，这种音乐方式就是我想为之奉献一生的事业. Their mentality—selflessly serving the music and seeking something greater—became my 哲学 as well. Karl became not only my teacher in Freiburg, 但也, 可以这么说, the missing cherry on the top of my black forest gateau. 在我有幸与这么多优秀的老师共事之后. 他为我所做的一切，我怎么称赞他都不为过, 他的鼓励和热情帮助我绽放.

你在俄罗斯、德国、密歇根学习过，现在在纽约. 告诉我们每所学校和你所接受的教育之间最大的不同.

Living in different countries and cultures and working with people from all over the world formed my personality. I gained a cosmopolitan understanding for the world around me and learned that only through respect for each other’s stories can we acknowledge and subsequently help one another. 此外，我很幸运地按照适合我的顺序在这些国家学习. 严格的苏联教学传统——毫无乐趣可言!-让我坚强. 在德国, despite my having to deal with many rules, 我的老师帮助我欣赏音乐，让我深刻理解了什么是好的品味. 最后来到美国对我来说是最大的文化冲击. People are incredibly friendly and are always happy to help. 在音乐上, there is so much more freedom here, and the education that I was blessed to receive beforehand is now helping me to make musical decisions myself. Experiencing contradictions between viewpoints forces me to develop my own style and shape my own opinion and thus to be a true artist.

Taya by the numbers: you speak four languages and this is the sixth institution you've studied in. 你是如何学习这些语言的?是什么促使你继续深造?

学习语言对我来说是一种乐趣，因为它也是学习文化, the special ways people think and interact with each other. 我通过去一个国家，深入了解他们的生活方式来学习一门新的语言. 我观察到我是如何在说不同的语言时适应我的个性的. 它帮助我更好地了解自己，融入社会. The rich international Juilliard community allows me to keep my language skills awake by speaking to my friends from all over the world in their native tongues.

我继续学习的动力是让这个世界变得更美好. I am always looking for the purpose and greater powers through which music can heal wounded souls and inspire people around me.这就是为什么, in addition to performing and teaching, 我写诗, I engage in wildlife conservation, I am a compassionate women’s rights activist, and I regularly practice yoga and meditation.

What is a big misconception about Russia in general and Siberia in particular that you’ve experienced?

I always get asked about vodka-drinking and balalaika-playing bears walking down the roads in Siberia. 当然，这是胡说八道，事实是，西伯利亚没有公路!

How has the Historical Performance department here at Juilliard supported your dream of connecting music to the world and bringing us all together?

我的梦想是通过我的长笛给我周围的世界带来希望. 作为一名艺术家和我们社会的一部分，传播团结与和平是我的责任, 爱与支持, 通过我的音乐跨越语言的界限来治愈和希望, 比赛, 宗教, and political geography. 我喜欢演奏来自不同社会和历史时期的音乐, connecting art forms, and integrating diverse styles of playing. esball世博的历史演出每天都在帮助我实现我的目标. 例如, as a baroque musician, collaborating with modern dancers, 为历史乐器调试当代作品, and working with people from all over the world brings us—musicians and audiences—all together on a deeper level.

通常，历史表演实践致力于早期音乐. 你认为它在不同的时代也值得更多的关注吗?

感谢杰出的钢琴家和普遍的思想家让-皮埃尔·科洛, 我现在正在翻译玛丽亚·尤迪纳的回忆录和信件, 谁, under Stalin’s regime, did not have the freedom I enjoy. As an global artist she had a holistic way of thinking: she felt like she was “a link in the chain of arts” and considered music, 宗教, 哲学, and life all intertwined. Yudina said that music, as one of the art forms, is only a part of something greater then us, 而我们的音乐家的任务是向听众介绍精神方向. 从这个意义上说，与音乐的接触是一种对现实的新理解的冲动. Yudina’s 哲学 reminds me of the purpose of music making—she believed that in every music epoch lack of content is a sin that can not be hidden by sentimentality. Her never ending urge to push the boundaries of music and politics while risking her life needs to be respected and inspires me until this day. The connection between early music and new music is stronger then we would expect: it is the seeking what music wants me to do. Composers engage in one continuum throughout eternity, 所以我认为没有理由将历史业绩与其他实践区分开来.

Do you have any hidden talent you’d like to share?

在我的平行生活中，我的长笛老师不知道，我是一个障碍滑雪运动员. My trainer was the trainer of the Russian Olympic team! 我非常喜欢吹笛子和滑雪，所以我在这两项运动上投入了同样多的时间. 当然，我梦想着有一天能在奥运会上获胜，但长笛取代了我的梦想!

When you first arrived in the U.S.特别是esball世博，你的文化适应情况如何? 你能分享一些你经历过的文化冲击的例子吗?

My first stop in the US was Michigan, 在那里我遇到了艾米·波特和乔·加斯乔，并被他们的爱和支持所感动. 正是善良和慷慨使这里的生活更加快乐. 我记得我问自己:“为什么这些人对我这么好??”

My second cultural shock was when I came to Juilliard; after six months of travel restrictions and uncertain waiting for my visa, I had to miss the beginning of the semester. You can imagine how happy I was when I finally got here. But the real surprise was that everyone at Juilliard seemed even happier then me: they gave me hugs and celebrated my arrival as if it was theirs! 看到人们对彼此的同情和同情是非常感人的. 例如, Sandy Miller is an excellent example of a kind, generous, and deeply caring professor. 她散发着温暖和尊重，让我的人生道路远比音乐更安全、更快乐.

esball世博是一个每个人都被尊重为人类和艺术家的地方. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be part of this great community of exceptionally talented artists and inspiring personalities.