First of all, we wanted to know how one becomes a professional violinist and if Kamilė always knew that it was the right path for her. She kindly shared her story about the early beginnings of such an unusual career, especially in these tech times. 

"I started studying for it when I was seven years old - that's when my parents brought me to the National M.K. Čiurlionis school of art." For those not acquainted with it - it's a Lithuanian national school for very gifted kids wanting to learn classical music, ballet, and fine arts. But let's go back to Kamilė's story - "My mother played the piano when she was young, so logically, that was my first instrument as well, (hmmm....talk about fulfilling your parents' dreams :D) but after one year, some teachers convinced my parents that someone with perfect pitch and rather small hands should switch to a string instrument - that's how the violin entered my life."

Now, when we know what circumstances influenced our violinist's choice, we wanted to know how she coped with it at the beginning. "First years were horrifying for me, for my parents and the neighbors - violin is truly a very mean instrument to start musical education with. It takes years to produce something called sound finally." Let it be noted that the last comment was supplemented by a sad-ironic smirk. "And when you pair it up with an extremely impatient kid, as I was, and rather strict teachers, there will be some instruments left broken on the way to becoming a violinist (when something didn't work on the second try, I used to throw my bow across the room - one can imagine how it ended :D)."

Thankfully, her trials and tribulations ended at some point, and in her case, the choice for a professional career as a violinist was made quite early. "I started to fully comprehend that this is the way I want to spend the rest of my life at around 12 years old. Around the same time, I stopped breaking instruments, started to practice not only while simultaneously reading books (it took a lot to hide it from my mother - still proud of it :D), and finally got to the stage of knowing the violin enough to start discovering the freedom of expression this instrument has to offer. At 16, I was already a full "music addict," and there were no questions left about what my career choices would be." So there you have it - rocky roads most often lead to something great. So if you're struggling with something right now, just remember that it will definitely end with a conclusion!

Now, since we have some sort of a tradition to take a peek into a professional's day, we just couldn't skip it with such an unconventional profession as a violinist! So when asked about her day, Kamilė's first reaction was - "OMG, that's actually a tough question - every one of us, I think, lives very individual lives with minimal routine in it. But I will try to describe a couple of the most common routines at least from my life."

Scenario number one - A Day With Orchestra Projects. 

"Wake up at seven from 15 alarms, with big plans to warm up at least 1 hour before leaving for a rehearsal, forget about big plans while drinking coffee, warm-up 15 min and rush to the bus to arrive early enough to still chat about daily nonsense with your colleagues. Rehearse from 9:30 till 12:30, come back home, fight with the idea of going for a nap or watching tons of bullsh*t on Netflix/YouTube or any other platform designed to destroy your life, eat, watch a bit of nonsense, and have your conscience slowly eating you from within about it, practice from 15 till 18 with several breaks (practicing actually requires tons of concentration, so I usually stop for a break every 45 min to an hour), have another coffee and rush to another rehearsal from 19:00 till 22:00, obviously go to sleep much too late and repeat the day from the "wake up at seven from 15 alarms" several times till the day of the concert."

Scenario number two - An Official Day Off, The First Of, Let's Say, Five Days Designated For Preparation For A Concert/Audition/Rehearsal Before You Paid Professional People To Fix Your Mental State.

"Wake up too late. It doesn't really matter when on the clock; the important part is that it is already too late. Have an aspirin; there was definitely one wine glass too much yesterday, as there definitely was a concert, otherwise why the hell would you be having a day (or days) off. Have a coffee, get motivated, make a practicing plan, procrastinate at the computer/phone/book, get annoyed about yourself procrastinating, find any other reason for NOT practicing: like sort all your single socks or try to tidy up a mess called your apartment, promise yourself to start practicing at 15h, 15:07 break that promise and make a new one start at 16h. Continue breaking them till 19, at least. You have two options left then: start the f... practicing and do it till 1 at night (yup, I do live in an apartment from the 15th century with a very low and depressing ceiling but with verrrry thick walls), or don't and feel crap about it."

Scenario number two, annex B - An Official Day Off AFTER You Went To Intelligent People And Paid Them To Fix Your Brain

"Wake up later than usual, enjoy it. Do some sports for your poor, poor back, go for breakfast outside, meet people to talk about work again, or about music, or about personal issues, be happy about it and afterward procrastinate at home with watching nonsense, or go to a concert/museum or do any other stuff the internet tells you to do on a normal day of (feeling bad about not practicing is lingering there all the time, but you learned to ignore it politely- blessed are the ignorant, someone said once upon a time)."

Scenario number three - Last Days Before An Important Deadline

"Wake up, eat, practice, eat, nap, practice, and then practice some more. Don't think, work."

See, it's kind of a constant with our interviews - good stuff comes only with hard work, dedication, and passion. Something that we can hope to have in our chosen career paths.

Naturally, we were very curious about Kamilė's favorite pieces and composers. To which she answered, "I like the ones where I feel like I am going to do a good job. Pieces that move me or are an interesting challenge. As for genres, I could say that I love opera and chamber music the most, but it doesn't mean that I don't find playing solo or symphonic works any less exciting."

"Hypothetically, if I would be asked which composer I fear the most - it's definitely Shubert, and if I needed to save only two scores in a sort of "let's burn everything" apocalyptic scenario, it would be Beethoven string quartets and anything by Schönberg. (and I already hear all the pieces by other composers I adore screaming in my head)." For us, it's headphones time, tuning into some Beethoven. If you're about to do it too, be advised that it's kind of NSFW - you're about to be immersed into the glorious sounds of strings, forgetting about your duties completely for the next hour or so.

Surely, we just couldn't skip a question that just might result in some hilarity, so we asked Kamilė to tell us about her most notable concert. "Side reading in Vienna Volksoper as a substitute, when receiving the score 30 min before the performance was definitely memorable every single time :D Otherwise, it is a question I cannot answer- playing concerts is my life and my job - it would be the same as asking a worker in a bank which day he enjoyed the most - I guess first and the last one. And of course, the ones where something funny/unexpected happens."

"As a listener though, I had twice an experience of losing any ability to speak after the concert - the music was so great, that any attempts to describe it would be simply pitiful: once in Lithuania, after a concert of my friend Agata Daraškaitė, who gave a recital in the City Hall and once in Vienna Konzerthaus after the recital of Ivo Pogorelich, a phenomenal Croatian pianist." And that, dear readers, is how we completely lost track of time, so we searched for the works of the artists that Kamilė mentioned with care, especially if you are supposed to be seriously working now.

Now, we all have this picture in our minds thinking that classical music performers are incredibly serious. That's exactly why we have asked our violinist to clear things up for us. "Well, good artists are very, very intelligent. The majority of them also have a great sense of humor, as that is a part of being intelligent, as we all know. At the same time, a lot of us are introverts - just try spending a lot of hours without talking and only with your instrument or the score, and you will become one easily. So sometimes, some artists I know are not the easiest to approach or connect with. But usually in the orchestra, one would meet all sorts of personalities - from very serious and silent ones to that one guy/girl who cracks jokes every 5 minutes."

Lastly, we wanted to know what Kamilė does for fun, that is, if she ever finds the time for it. "Good coffee. I am searching for it wherever I go. I love painting and photography, I just have no time for both, but someday I hope to manage to spend more time with them. Adore sleeping late.

I am a total addict to audiobooks - anything by Stephen King, and I am in heaven. I love traveling, especially exploring new cities - I think my love for nature is still to come. Absolutely hate cooking but really like good quality food, whatever the kitchen. I love trying new instruments and bows - I hope at some point in my life to start collecting. I could spend hours trying new strings or making a fresh setup for my violin. Love Movies and Museums. Or museums and movies. Or movies in Museums :D."

And that is it, folks - hopefully, you've learned something new about being a professional violinist. And for that, we bow to Kamilė Kubiliūtė, who has so kindly shared her experience with you, our readers, and us. Also, if you're ever in Salzburg, check if she has a concert scheduled at the Philharmonie Salzburg's official page.