Dreaming with Izabela Kaldunska while awake

Izabela, how did you come to Leipzig?

I came here to study in 2009. I was 19 years old at the time. I knew the local professor, Roland Baldini from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig, who runs music courses in Łańcut, Poland, every year. I liked and appreciated him so much that I wanted to study with him at some point.

What does an entrance exam look like?

I had just come from the music school in Gdańsk. I remember that I had played "Chaconne" by Bach, "Capriccio" by Paganini, a concerto by Sibelius, one by Mozart and "Phantasie" by Schönberg. Five of us made it in the end.

Did you know Leipzig beforehand?

No, I didn't even know where the city was! (Laughs) I was only in Leipzig once before the entrance exam. When I arrived, it felt like spring, even though it was still winter in Gdańsk.

What was your musical life like in Leipzig?

When you're studying, you're busy with concerts. At some point, exciting offers come along. I accepted them bit by bit, and so I was able to play with the Young German Philharmonic, for example. I didn't even have time to think about whether I wanted to stay in Leipzig because new projects were waiting for me all the time. Later, I got an internship at the Staatskapelle Halle. I was able to play in a professional orchestra for the first time. It was a full-time position and I learned what it means to make music professionally. After two years, I realized that this was not my life path. I had other musical interests and wanted to choose for myself what I did and didn't want to do.

Which path did you decide on?

I realized that playing in an orchestra wasn't my life goal. A fellow student asked me if I would like to play Balkan music. This music has always appealed to me - it is authentic, comes from the heart and immediately flows into the soul. I then started playing with the Balkan band Herje Mine. The first rehearsal was very fun, informal and relaxed. We played rhythms that I had to get used to, but after a few months it was okay. After every concert we got new requests and this summer we were even supposed to play at two bigger festivals, the FOLKLORUM and the Rudolstadt Festival. Unfortunately, the latter was canceled due to corona.

You also have a solo project now. Would you like to tell us a bit more about it?

The New Solarism is the result of all the musical currents I've been involved with so far. There are a lot of classical influences in it, but also contemporary music. When I was little, I always liked to play my own music. However, the more I played in orchestras, the more this desire was forgotten. Fortunately, it came back when I studied jazz violin as a minor with Thomas Prokein. Thomas showed me the Loop Station and introduced me to the world of improvisation. He taught me that I shouldn't be afraid of it or my own compositions. Herje Mine also helped me, because we also improvised a lot there. When you have a band, it's often difficult to plan concerts because everyone has their own daily routine and it's hard to get everyone under one roof. So I thought that I needed my own project that wasn't dependent on anyone else but myself.

How did you come up with the name The New Solarism?

The title is pure coincidence - with my other projects, we were simply looking for names. The New Solarism touched me. Literally, it is a theory about the origin of the sun. I thought it might help the listener to stimulate their imagination. I don't want to explain anything - it's meant to give the listener an impulse to think about things. Just like every piece of music in my album. You're supposed to be somewhere between dreaming and being awake.</p