![\"Diana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5119389_15_articleinline_5.Diana_20Tishcenko_20by_20Laura_20Stevens_1_.jpg\" "\\"Diana")
Diana Tishchenko: My parents made me work very hard from the very beginning. Picture: Laura Stevens<\/p>\nThe path towards becoming a professional musician is one that requires total commitment and dedication from an early age, something violinist Diana Tishchenko knows all too well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was five when she started playing her chosen instrument and says that pursuing a career as a violinist felt \u201cpre-destined\u201d. Her innate gift was recognised immediately by her aunt, who was also a violinist.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told my parents I had an amazing ear, back then I couldn’t understand what they meant, but they saw the talent and they made me work very hard from the very beginning,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember this period of time in childhood when I was waking up, and before having breakfast, before anything, the first thing I took in my hand was the violin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tishchenko is originally from Simferopol, a city on the Crimean peninsula, recognised as part of Ukraine but controlled by Russia. She is performing at this year\u2019s West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Bantry, with Music in Time of War as one of its themes, reflected in the focus on the people of Ukraine, represented by Tishchenko and pianist Anna Fedorova.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They will play at several concerts across the festival, performing works by two Ukrainian composers, Boris Lyatoshynsky and 88-year-old Valentin Silvestrov, who, in the early years of the Russian invasion, left his home in Kyiv and moved to Berlin.<\/p>\n
Tishchenko also eventually relocated to the German capital, having spent her formative years at a specialised music school for gifted children in Kyiv. Along with her burgeoning musical career came early independence, which wasn\u2019t always easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been living without my parents since I was 11. That was a huge shift in my life.<\/p>\n
\n The first time, it was very shocking to be without parents, without home, where you had to make many decisions on your own, to make sure to not take any wrong path. <\/p>\n
“That was also a school of life, in many regards,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Tishchenko first performed with an orchestra when she was eight years old, later joining the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and becoming its youngest ever concertmaster at the age of 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was also appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, recognising her outstanding contribution to the arts. Performing holds no fear for her and is something that she relishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe performance was always the easiest part, it was the practising and preparation that was hard. Now, I have accumulated not only my violin playing, but also life experience, which I bring on stage. Performance is something that has an absolutely different meaning now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s absolutely not about violin playing, I just do it with the help of the violin. For me, a performance is a highlight because it is the most beautiful thing to go on stage and to be surrounded by people to share this emotion with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tishchenko has not been back in Ukraine since 2021, after which the conflict with Russia escalated. Berlin is her base but she tours regularly and also spends time in Italy, where her immediate family are now based.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, she says cultural life is still very alive in Ukraine despite the difficult circumstances and she is planning a project with the Odessa Philharmonic in the autumn.<\/p>\n
Diana Tishchenko: My parents made me work very hard from the very beginning. Picture: Laura Stevens<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m concentrating on Odessa because both of my grandmas are from that region. I think it’s absolutely wonderful that the cultural life is flourishing there, the people there are very strong,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
This will be Tishchenko\u2019s first visit to Ireland and she underlines how valuable events such as the West Cork Chamber Music Festival are as a platform for classical music and professional musicians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are essential because these are the places where international musicians meet; the idea of classical music world is to be connected, so of course this platform is something absolutely necessary, not just in music but in the world. We can also never forget about the financial part of such events and the people who support them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The festival is highlighting the importance of cultural resistance to tyranny, and Tishchenko is passionate about the role music can play in times of turmoil. \u201cCulture and music, it carries light, it’s something bigger than us, something unexplainable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Where there is a lack of culture, there\u2019s always a place for darkness, for tyranny, for violence. This is the antidote, this is the weapon against all of that. The more we can fill people\u2019s minds with love and light, the less space they will have for bad things.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Diana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5119392_15_articleinline_Gallardo_20-Embaixada_Alema_Concerto_CCB_by_Carlos_Porfirio_028_1_.jpg\" "\\"Diana")
Diana Tishchenko and Argentinean pianist Jos\u00e9 Gallardo team up for a performance. Picture: Carlos Porfirio<\/p>\n