When did you start to get interested in music?

When I was four, I told my mum I’d like to play an instrument. She played records for me so I could listen and choose. The shock of the grave, deep sound of the cello is my very first memory! That was “love at first listen”, and I have been a cellist ever since. Music is part of me; I have never given a second thought to my vocation. It is just obvious to me.

If you were an advertisement, which would your slogan be?

Never give up

Which is the part you enjoy the most about music?

After a performance I am happy if I feel I’ve had a very special connection with the public and that somehow we momentarily left earth together through the music.

Most artists say that through their art they learn more about themselves, heal injuries… In which aspects has music helped you?

When you play, you have to forget about yourself. The great performances happen when the artists get out of themselves. This is also the only way to deal with the stress: just thinking about giving to the audience and not about what people think or how perfect you want to play. We are just a conduit of the music between the composer and the audience, nothing more.
Great things happens with generosity and great music too. So it’s a school of life.

What does music mean to you?

Making people happy!
I strongly believe that music has the power to enlarge the heart, to make you feel everything with more intensity. Music gives hope for the beauty and the greatness of the human soul.
When you speak to people’s souls though music, for me that’s the real definition of success as a musician.

Who are your idols?

Jacqueline du Pré and Rostropovich are my two cello idols. I am always fascinated to hear how intense and moving their sound is. They give absolutely everything when they play as if they would die for each note.
From the living musicians two of my favorite are Janine Jansen and Fazil Say. They both completely live the pieces they are playing on stage, as if they are actually creating the music at the exact moment it is being played.

I am also very inspired and moved by old French – or Belgian – singers like Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, Barbara…

If you didn’t like music, what would you like to do?

Have a cheese and wine shop in Paris!

Do you consider that nowadays there are more or less opportunities for new artists? Why?

Because of the gigantic internet platform, you can reach the all world thought online performance. This makes a big change and chance for our generation of musicians to reach new public!

What would your idyllic life as an artist be like?

I am grateful to have the chance to live this – sometimes difficult but oh-so beautiful – musician’s life. Each day I am more in love with the music, and always striving to improve in order to give the deepest and most affecting experience to the audience.