Edi Šiljak Exclusive Interview

Diet and Routine – Do you follow any specific diet or routine before a performance?

Not really before the performance, I think it is more what we do long term on a day to day basis that counts, plus everything is ultimately connected to our beliefs. Generally as a personal preference I tend to eat less gluten and dairy, and mostly natural foods. On concert days I often naturally tend to stay more focused/engaged, and I am practicing to be able to bring this awareness into everything I do, concert or not. This is why I incorporate mindfulness and meditation practice as well.

Violin Making – Your father is a violin maker. How involved are you in the process, and does it affect your relationship with the instrument?

Yes, it’s truly an exquisite privilege that I think in many ways shaped my artistic journey, as I had access to this fascinating world since my childhood. I’m naturally involved in the process because my father consults with me - there are many technical decisions that must be made in the process of violin making that will yield the results that a violinist seeks or desires. That is my father’s ideal, always making the instrument with the player in mind, and that means also giving great consideration to the various playability aspects of the instrument along with achieving a truly beautiful tonal result. Also, seeing how he puts all his soul and love into making violins is something really special. He crafts all his violin parts by hand – even bridges, his special chinrests and tailpieces, utilizing great selection of woods from his private collection, acquired long time ago. We always fine-tune the instruments together towards the end of the process, combining his intuition with my feedback. It is really a unique process!

Would you like to learn the entire violin-making process in the future?

The full process, though so intriguing and beautiful, involves a lot of mechanical work which can only really be learned through doing it (a lot!). I currently don’t feel it’s a direction I would aspire to go in as it’sreally a world of its own, demanding an enormous working time and dedication. Being so intricately and uniquely connected to it, and being able to contribute with my input already gives me great pleasure! Also, I am naturally very well informed about the choices a violinist must make when deciding on and purchasing a great violin, and at the same time very fortunate that I am in a position where I don’t need to make those choices.

The Internet and Classical Music – How do you view the impact of the internet and social media on classical music today? Is it an advantage or a challenge for artists?

The internet and SM definitely changed the landscape, enabled means for artists to find their audiences online and I think that’s a wonderful thing. Those possibilities enabled opportunities for connection so that we as classical musicians can do much more these days than some years ago. I am happy to say that some really great, memorable and touching experiences for me happened this way – making new connections with people in classical music, recording commissioned works for composers, giving violin lessons online to new students all over the world and getting to know them, even having some of them travel long distance to meet me and study with me in person... The challenge is that like with everything, there are many ‘trends’ but the most important thing I think is to be authentic in your way of expressing things, be it online or offline. I feel the best advice is to just be out there, share what you love with the world! Famous Woody Allen quote comes to mind – “99% of success is showing up”.