--- title: "Dreaming with Izabela Kaldunska while awake" url: "https://www.leipzig.travel/en/blog/dreaming-with-izabela-kaldunska-while-awake" language: "en" type: "Article, BlogPosting" image: "https://dam.destination.one/1136483/b4fdda2df098180589c1c6db5930fcf0fb0c0ed5f9fa43b53aa76e1e93ecd991/izabela-ka-du-ska-violinist-culture-music-liamera-photography-leipzig-travel-jpg.jpg" breadcrumb: "Root > Leipzig Travel > Special > Destination.Data Details > Blog" --- Share Dreaming with Izabela Kaldunska while awake =========================================== - Top highlight Izabela-Kałduńska-Violinist-Culture-Music-Liamera-Photography-Leipzig-Travel.jpg In our **\#MyLeipzig** section, we introduce you to locals who have been living in Leipzig for a while and have found their adopted home in this city. We start by asking them five standard questions about **\#MyLeipzig**, then we talk about the exciting things they do here. Today it's the turn of **Izabela Kałduńska** - a violinist from Gdańsk who, despite her young age, has already composed a symphony and recorded her first album. How is Izabela's **\#MyLeipzig**? Have fun reading! Five questions for Izabela Kaldunska ***Your Leipzig and good coffee?*** I like it best at home. My favorite is classic coffee from an Italian espresso pot with soy milk and honey ***Your Leipzig and bikes?*** Biking is a big topic for me - I love getting around Leipzig by bike. Recently, I finally bought myself a proper **road bike**. Part of my work is also private tuition. I can ride my bike directly to the students' homes. I'm on the road for at least two hours a day. I like cycling to work, but I also like to cycle aimlessly in the evening - or to **Lake Cospuden**. That's my classic Leipzig bike ride. ***Your Leipzig and culture?*** I love all the **small places on Eisenbahnstraße** in the east of Leipzig. They mean a lot to me, because that's where we played gigs with my project **The New Solarism** and with my band **Herje Mine**. The more underground the better. And certainly **Horn's Heirs**. I played there, for example, with the Polish pianist **Hania Rani**, with **Emily's Giant** and many others. ***Your Leipzig and architecture?*** One building that has always been in my immediate vicinity because the university is just around the corner is the **Federal Administrative Court**. It's very impressive and so perfect in its classical appearance that I'm always happy to see it or walk past it. I even played there once in the golden hall - and the room really is golden! My second "favorite category" is old, dilapidated buildings - either old apartment buildings, which unfortunately are becoming increasingly rare in Leipzig, or old factories, such as the **Krausefabrik** in Anger-Crottendorf. ***And what are you listening to right now?*** Lately, I've been listening a lot to the Polish jazz band **Immortal Onion**. I can also recommend **Deru**. I like electronic music - somehow my taste in music has evolved from classical to electro. <p - Izabela Kałduńska stands with her violin in the forest, City of Music Leipzig, Culture Izabela's path to becoming a violinist ***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 . 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?*** 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. 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. 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 - Izabela-Kałduńska covers her violin with both arms and has her eyes closed, City of Music Leipzig, Culture Leipzig Travel Conclusion Izabela has just finished recording The New Solarism - Studies Of Myself** . Soon you will be able to listen to how the young violinist from Gdańsk musically dreams while awake. But before that, we invite you to listen online on **17.12.2020** to Izabela's symphony, which she composed on behalf of the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Beethoven Year. You can listen to the livestream **The New Solarism Orchestrated // Deconstruction \| Reconstruction** from Leipzig's **Kupfersaal** directly on the. Nearby ------ View on map - Event - Christmas market - Show - Show - Tours 5.56 km - Themed hiking trail 29.99 km - Pilgrimage route 79.30 km - Cycling