Cellist Anastasia Kobekina

Anastasia Kobekina’s warmth is contagious. She plays Antonín Dvořák's spirited Cello Concerto in the opening concert of Beethovenfest 2023.

To live and to survive - these are two aspects to which I and so many others could relate, especially in the past years of the pandemic. I’m sure that we all learnt something from this challenging period about the power of the present moment, about the value of human and social contact and what I felt even sharper is the necessity to share, to share music that live only in the present moment when there is musician and listener. And nowadays, when the political and humanitarian situations are so fragile, I don’t stop to remind myself to be grateful for what I have, for those simple things that ultimately make life beautiful.

I was surrounded by music from an early age, and as I had lots of energy and endless curiosity, I wanted to play all instruments. My mum is a piano teacher, and one day when she had no babysitter, she took me to the music school, where I spent my afternoon opening doors of classes with “Cucu” words trying to draw attention and also get in the action by playing an instrument. The cello teacher was the one that invited the Cucu visitor to try an instrument, which I liked very much and had lots of fun singing and playing along pizzicato as an accompaniment to my favourite songs. It took quite a long time for my parents and teacher to convince me to use a bow. At 5 years old, I played my first concert and since then…well, I must say I barely stopped doing it and, more importantly, enjoying it!

The Dvorak concerto …how much I love this piece! I could sing it all as a kid, but it was just a few years ago that I began playing it on stage. I wanted to wait for that perfect moment to get the first touch of it, to find my voice in this undoubtedly mostly played cello concerto. And I feel this is a never-ending relationship with this piece, I live and grow with it, and each time these timeless melodies reflect something different in my life.

Social media is a great tool for communicating and getting to know my audience better. I wouldn’t say I’m trying to be different or create a particular image on social media platforms. Being honest and natural to me is as important in music as in life. I try to find balance in sharing both professional and daily life things that inspired me and maybe would lift up someone else too. Music unites such different people, and I have absolute proof of that by communicating and reading stories from people who connected with me on Instagram and then came to the concert hall. 

Sustainability is about taking actions that create a positive impact both today and in the future. Climate change is the defining issue of our time. And, of course, as, in a certain way, a public person, I think of my role in it as an artist and as an individual. Small but continuous steps have the power of change - this is the method I have applied to the development of my musical skills for 25 years, and I believe this is true for me for the way of sustainable living as an individual who doesn’t have the power of stopping global companies, wrong political decisions and wars. But if you and I would do those small continuous steps - this can make an impact on a bigger scale.