“Flawless intonation ... an intimacy of expression” – Susanne Szambelan, the Polish cellist from Berlin

Interview with Susanne Szambelan
 

The first thing that stands out in your CV is your place of birth – New York. Do you have American roots?

- No, it was pure coincidence that I was born in New York. My parents had emigrated there with my brothers in order to work in the US. They went back to Poland three years later. It was while they were in the US that I was born. That’s why I also have US citizenship. I grew up in Poznań, however, where I lived until I was 19. Then I moved to Kraków for university.

How old were you when classical music first entered your life?

- Thanks to my mother, I began learning piano when I was five. It was then that I met the wonderful teacher Professor Mirosława Preuschoff-Kaźmierczakowa, who discovered and fostered my passion for music. What she taught me then is still deeply engrained in my heart today. She was the person who encouraged me to take up a string instrument after learning piano for a year, saying that this would give me more opportunities.

What opportunities does the cello have to offer that the piano doesn’t?

- Cellists can play in orchestras and string quartets, for example. I began playing the cello out of curiosity, and I knew straight away that this was it. Even though I was only six years old, I sensed that I had a special connection with this instrument. For two years, I learned both instruments in parallel, and devoted myself equally to both before deciding to focus on the cello. I remember hearing a piece for cello in the car that moved me very deeply. That was about a year after I had started playing cello. I think that was the moment when I consciously thought for the first time that this was my instrument. I don’t remember which piece it was. But I can still recall the feelings today that came up when I heard it.

You yourself are a professional cellist, and your mother plays piano. Is the rest of your family also musical?

- My father is an architect. I know that my grandfather on my mother’s side, whom I sadly never got to meet, was musically talented. My grandfather on my father’s side also played guitar. Music was therefore certainly present in my life. I have my mother to thank for the fact that I was able to turn it into a profession. Even so, I think that both my parents equally influenced me in my development. My father often took me to museums and made sure that I had access to artistic inspiration from all possible sides. I travelled regularly between Poznań and Łódź for lessons with the wonderful Professor Stanisław Firlej. My parents offered the best possible environment for me to enable me to dedicate myself to music. That definitely bore fruit.

You moved to Kraków in order to study there, but ultimately, you ended up living in Berlin. Did Kraków fail to meet your expectations?

- In many ways, I had a wonderful time studying in Kraków. However, after a while, I noticed that I was unable to develop my full potential there. Then I heard about the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. I was told that it was difficult to get a place to study there, but I decided to try anyway. I regarded it as a challenge; I had nothing to lose. This decision turned my entire life upside down. In 2014, I moved to Berlin almost overnight and have since settled here.

My feeling is that the cello is an extremely feminine instrument.Would you agree?

- Good question. I think that slowly, it’s becoming more balanced. It used to be the case that the most highly regarded musicians were mainly men. But that was true for every other area of life, too. It wasn’t just in music that men dominated. Now, the cello is becoming more female-dominated to a certain degree. A similar pattern can be seen in other professions, too, though. Even so, I think that in today’s musical world, no-one cares whether an instrument is played by a man or a woman. And that’s a good thing.

Is it hard being a professional musician as a woman?

- I think it’s getting easier and easier. I can still remember stories from a few years ago. Female friends of mine applied for jobs with an orchestra and were asked during the final, decisive interview whether they were planning to have children. And even if this question isn’t explicitly asked during a job interview, it hangs in the air, it’s palpably present. Sometimes, it unfortunately happens that in an orchestra, women turn on other women. Then you’re on very thin ice. You need to actively tone down your attractive physical features so that they don’t mask your musical abilities and become the thing that people notice most about you. On the other hand, musicians are also supposed to have a certain amount of charisma on stage. Currently, classical music focuses very strongly on social media, and there, how you look plays a huge role. Posts which don’t show the face of the person playing don’t attract any clicks. Users often don’t even read the image captions. The focus is entirely on visual aspects. How you look is therefore of key importance, and a lot of musicians build up their image on this basis. For me personally, it’s most important to be in harmony with yourself and to stand up for certain values.

You have been in the world of music for nearly 20 years now. Do you sometimes doubt yourself? Do you occasionally think that you’d much rather do something entirely separate from music? Or have you sometimes had thoughts like these in your life?

- No, this isn’t something I need. Of course, like all musicians, I go through all kinds of phases. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes worse; we fall down and pick ourselves up, like a wave. You need to tell yourself that it’s all part of a process. That you simply need to get through the more difficult times, because better days will follow, and you’ll feel more comfortable again in your own skin and with your own music. But of course, I also have other interests outside music.

What do you do in your free time?

- I love going to the cinema and watching good films. Berlin is the perfect place to be in that respect. Recently, I threw myself into a new adventure: ultramarathons! I’ve already run two. It was a massive challenge. But the human body is incredible, since it learns very quickly. With ultramarathons, your mental attitude plays a huge role, because you have to overcome your own weakness. It’s also an excellent test of stamina. You find out just how much you’re able to achieve and how you overcome crises. Not only that, running these marathons is a wonderful adventure, especially because of the fabulous views in the mountains.