He is the most renowned Slovak cello player who has recently completed a concert tour in the USA, from where he has just returned. He has worked on a number of interesting projects – he has collaborated with gifted Roma musicians and has started doing the groundwork for the 10th international festival Konvergencie. In his packed schedule, he finds time to be with his family, which has recently grown when his third son had been born.


What makes up your life now?
I have just returned from the US tour, where I did several solo concerts, mostly in independent art clubs (Seattle), or churches (Austin, San Antonio). I have come back to two new interesting projects. Firstly, it is a multi-genre venture in the framework of the Photography Month in Bratislava and Vienna, where I teamed up with pianist Nora Škutová, and clarinet player Martin Mosorjak, to present three new pieces by Slovak composers, namely Martin Burlas, Peter Zagar, and Boško Milakovič, which were inspired and composed in line with the photographies and the exhibition of three Austrian photographers. The other project aired during the Week of New Slovak Music. It was the Slovak premiere of Jevgenij Irshai’s piece titled Uangamizi (Swahili for Disappearance) for violin, cello, and orchestra
(world premiere took place in Saint Petersburg in 2006), performed by the violinist Milan Paľo, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Slovak Radio, and myself that was conducted by Mário Košík. It is an exquisite piece written by Jevgenij Irshai – a composer of Russian origin living, teaching, and working in Slovakia for over 15 years. In addition, I have still somehow been digesting the reverberations of the 9th festival Konvergencie (having toured Slovakia in June, and taken place in Bratislava in September 2008). Our family has grown with our third child, son Leo Gilli, being born. On the one hand, we are excited, on the other hand, we are trying to ease into the transition, and find new patterns fitting our rather demanding work schedules.

Have been being currently working on anything new?
I have been preparing the ground for the 10th festival Konvergencie over time. Currently, my work desk and my head alike are filled with a large amount of projects lined up in the creative process of continual work and eventual completion. With respect to our current family disposition, they are taking a bit longer to finish, and also, Konvergencie festival has assumed a bigger proportion in comparison to my initial estimate. I feel really strongly about these projects; I take delight in them; I enjoy working on them, which is probably the reason why I impose stricter criteria on myself regarding their completion, and I allow extra time for them to come full circle. Just to mention a few, there is a CD project working with personal improvisations and compositions with a working title “Free in One”, a project of cello concertos custom-written for me by Slovak composers (Jevgenij Irshai, Martin Burlas, Ľubica Salamon – Čekovská, Peter Zagar, etc.), which I intend to present both on stage and on a CD. I have also been pushing to complete my PhD thesis tracing work of Slovak composers writing for cello after 1989. I have been working on several recordings of the Bartók quintet, which we introduced to the Slovak music scene for the first time; as well as on the Chassidic Songs project undertaken in collaboration with Rabbi Baruch Myers; and lastly, on a Roma project called After Phurikane.

When and how did the idea of the Slovak-African-Roma concoction AfterPhurikane come about?
I must say it is not really my project, as I have been invited to join in. In essence, it is not entirely new – rather, it is a project in process – it has been underway for over a year now. Main initiative came from the ethnomusicologist Janka Belišová who is the soul of the project and the originator of Phurikane Giľa ( Ancient Roma Songs), a precursor of After Phurikane. She compiled several hundred old Roma songs by traveling around mostly Eastern Slovak Roma settlements for a few years and recording songs, which many Roma no longer remember. For this reason, she has decided to document them and preserve them for future generations. She later issued them on CD and in book form. Béla Bartók worked in a similar fashion as he recorded folk songs from Slovak, Hungarian, or Romanian regions. Later, when the project proved viable and meaningful, we started discussing the possibility of bringing professional musicians and Roma singers together in an attempt to create something new in the environment of joint inspiration of professional and Roma musicians alike by Roma, Slovak, even African music. The whole project has been named After Phurikane, because it is a natural continuation of Phurikane Giľa. Project’s African dimension had developed when the percussionist Thierry Ebama, who has lived in Slovakia, joined in. We have been working for over a year – we have done several workshops, concerts (Konvergencie, Pohoda festival, other summer festivals) and meetings, which, we hope, would have prepared the project for the CD recording. We are also going to make an appearance at a festival in Luxembourg. In my perception, this project is not merely a fascinating art experiment – it is also an undoubtedly significant venture with a social aspect, and an ongoing public and ethnic effect.

What are the reactions the project gets from general public and professional circles?
Reactions of audiences have been great – this project does without a specific genre framework, which is the reason why it can accommodate so much. I think people find it very appealing to witness the fusion of Roma who come from a poor background, and who put their entire being into singing, and professionals, who run the project, and are most inspired by these wonderful people and their music. After Phurikane is a dynamic and interactive stage project, which has been tested and proven at multiple concerts and festivals. Professional circles react mostly positively. I think they comprehend the extent of the venture and its significance. Some restraint from different groups can be felt, especially in regard to the style of music, but I can understand that completely.

Does collaboration with Roma on this project have any specifications?
To play with Roma considering their background always requires a certain amount of improvisation regardless of all common hard work and long-term preparation. Roma are highly spontaneous - nature of their performance is often conditioned by how they feel in the moment, how they perceive the scene, people in the audience and their response, and our reactions on stage. At the same time, they sometimes do not remember exact musical arrangements, so improvisation sets in, but our program has been gradually crystallizing and they are becoming better continuously. Once, one or two of them did not even show up at the concert, even though they knew about it well… This type of communication can be pretty complicated sometimes. Naturally, there are more experienced ones among them, such as siblings Ďuďa who have been performing on their own and have recorded a CD. Every performance is a new experience in its own right and in a certain extent, it opens up into an unknown space. To us, musicians, who play and collaborate with them - for the accordion player Boris Lenko, the percussionist Thierry Ebama, composer Juraj Dobrajov, and myself, it certainly is a wonderfully enriching and inspirational experience. Largely, it is also a training ground for familiarizing oneself with cultures and people who live among us yet remain unknown to us and who are pushed aside to the fringe of society. Often enough, the Roma separate themselves by social behavior they choose. It can be complicated to work with them, but their music and musical expression should find its place in our midst. Roma music inspired Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Béla Bartók, or other great European composers, which speaks for itself.

What comes to your mind when you think of Košice as European Capital of Culture in 2013?
I, personally, find it exciting and keep my fingers crossed for Košice. I think the project Košice presented in the candidacy phase was done wonderfully. Its prospects are good. I also believe the result will depend on specific people – on how they carry the project out and develop it. It would be fantastic if 2013 marked a beginning, not the completion of the project, and if it touched future generations with such intensity that they would seek to make culture an every-day part of their lives. I have been personally collaborating on music projects in Košice for many years. I have been a soloist for the State Philharmonic in Košice since 1993. Since 2004, Košice has been a regular venue in the Konvergencie festival tour around Slovakia. I support Košice and I hope its rich culture and hopeful present bring about change in the future in regard to the quality of presented culture, but especially with listeners and viewers who will hopefully come to and become interested in common day affairs home and abroad.

In one of your interviews, you stated that an artist finds it harder to establish oneself in his/her home country. Is this claim still valid?
I am afraid the old saying claiming “a prophet is without honor in his home town" is still valid in our country. Even though, many things have been changing. What is lacking in our society for now is moral support of the artist, but also financial investment into one’s work, so he/she can go about what one does, because it does not have duly expected and immediate effect. It is a long-lasting, slow work, which brings, in the first place, mental and spiritual enrichment. Only lastly, it can bring financial gain. Abroad, this piece of knowledge has established itself firmly; in our country, we have completely gone blind toward it in the recent years. Those who work with financial resources from the state, such as state musical institutions, are doing the worst job in this respect, because they view a productive artist who has made it through his/her abilities not only as a competitor, but also as a source of fear. They do not have a comprehensive picture of the situation in our country, or abroad, which is why they cannot discern a progressive artist who introduces new and interesting work from an average player with ambition to make it big. Putting trust in the artist who is willing to stick his/her head over the parapet is still a scarce phenomenon. Audience-wise, reception abroad is broader and more warmhearted, but of course, that is not a general rule, even though it is mostly so. To be fair to Slovak audiences though, I must say that I am pleased to see them undergoing a transformation in recent years – they have become more spontaneous, more regular concertgoers, with whom a certain thirst for notable music can be perceived. Especially at Kovergencie festival, we have been seeing a large audience of young people, which I am delighted to see. In the end, who would not thirst after a pleasant and appealing change when all available communication channels present is a third-class rehash, which instead of enriching, impoverishes one’s inner being.

Where do you feel at home now? Which country is the most gracious to the kind of music you do?
For a long time, I felt at home in London, where I studied and found the cultural scene overflowing will many appealing and inspirational concerts, ideas, and projects. However, I live in Slovakia, where my family and ultimately my home are. Very interesting things have been going on, and we have been living in a time that has been changing our space in many ways. Possibilities are here - and even though they open up the ground, which many have not tread before - one can do creative work. There are prospects, which in many instances materialize and become fulfilled dreams. I have been m lucky to be a part of many of them, which fills me with joy and hope. I also believe that communication extending between these spaces – islands of positive deviation, which cut out a space for art and for people, could bear more intensity for one reason in the least – to encourage each other, and develop a veritable alternative stream in Slovakia. It has been happening slowly, and a number of us perceive that it is becoming a real force. I wish for the broadest cultural audience possible in our country – I do not mean massive audience – that would be mere wishful thinking. Pundits, middle class, teachers, students, families – the whole spectrum of society. We need them as our audience, and they need what we do, even though many of them do not know it yet.

You have three children. Will you steer them toward music?
Our children cannot sidestep music really, as it sounds in our house almost incessantly. My wife is an architect, and she paints, too, which is why I am glad our children can grow up in the environment filled with music and perception of our living space. I consider both these art genres, music and architecture, to be extremely significant in the Slovak context. We like to sing, do music, and dance with our children. We also browse pictures, books, and we listen to a lot of music. We would be happy if each of them took up at least one musical instrument, but they will choose their path for themselves. To earn one’s living doing music or art is more a life’s calling than a job, which is why we cannot force them into it. Our eldest son, Jonatán, already plays the piano and really wants to take up drums.

How do you make time for everything? Does your family get to enjoy you and your cello?
It can get really time crunching – currently I try to take on only those projects abroad, which really interest me, and I cut traveling to a bare minimum. I enjoy traveling and performing at new venues, but presently, I realize I need to be with my family most. I mostly practice on the cello at home, so my children know it well. Anytime possible, I take my family on the road with me, but the birth of our third child has made things even more complicated for some time to come.

Zuzana Lehotská wishes to express her thanks for the interview
Photo: J.L. - Archive

Jozef Lupták (1969) - studied cello at the Bratislava Conservatory – class of K.Filipovič, and at the VŠMU – class of doc. J. Podhoranský. In 1996-97, he studied at Royal Academy of Music in London, in Robert Cohen’s class. During his studies, he took master courses with renowned cello players such as Daniil Shafran, Aldo Parisot, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Ivan Monighetti, Angelica May, and others. He is a laureate and the winner of a number of national and international competitions in Austria, Spain, Slovakia, and Great Britain.