1. You are known as a leading Slovak pianist, laureate of many national and international competitions. What does sport mean to you?

Sport is a lifestyle, you can join the world of sport as a professional, as an amateur, as a fan, as a teacher with the same result – being active, motivated, and happy.

2. Taking it from a wider perspective, what is your opinion on sport? Is there a link between culture and sport?

Definitely. From a wider perspective culture and sport are key elements of diplomacy connecting people sharing a very special experience both physically and emotionally. From a closer perspective, there are striking parallels e. g. musicians start playing their instruments very early on, in order to succeed they have to practise regularly, they need to stay focused and disciplined (a quality I learned as a teenager 😊), they have a special regime (not always close to the outer world…).

3. You are Board Member of the Slovak Olympic Academy, more precisely Coordinator of the Working Party on Culture and Sport within this institution. It is a surprising position for a professional musician. How did you enter the world of sport?

My pianist-turned mother started as a basketball player and 800m runner (being called the local Wilma Rudolph). As a child a have wonderful recollections of following enthusiastically Olympic games, watching ice-skating competition or basketball matches. My mother even planned a sport career for me (being inspired by her Bulgarian roots) – a career of a rhythmic gymnast. Unfortunately, I was told I am too tall…and pursued a career in music later on 😊. I have been involved more actively in the world of sport since working with Ms Elena Malíková, the Chair of the Slovak Olympic Academy, participating in several excellent initiatives, including Erasmus+ transnational projects called “Coubertin Academy – Social Inclusion through Sport Values” or “Run – Swim – Learn! In the spirit of Coubertin”. We have met as students at the 1^st Language School in Bratislava studying English and immediately hit it off. Although coming from seemingly different worlds we have realised there are so many astonishing similarities.

4. Have you been involved in sport sector for a long time? How do you like a world of sports?

Being curious and studious, I enjoy the variety of world of sport, many inspiring stories behind many races and matches respectively, sport´s beneficial effect on health, as well as the socialising aspect. Moreover, André Agassi´s memoir OPEN is one of my most favourite books.  

5. If you have to name THREE valuable qualities that sport has taught you - what are they? Why?

Last year I had the rare privilege to represent the Slovak Olympic Academy at the 15th International Session for National Olympic Academies and National Olympic Committees’ Delegates in Olympia in Greece. A glimpse at the stairs leading to the Pierre de Coubertin monument in Olympia sums up several valuable qualities: joy of effort, solidarity, peace, fair play, respect, friendship, excellence. We can apply them not only in the world of sport but also in the world of culture and most importantly in everyday life.

6. You are associate professor at the Department of Keyboard Instruments of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. What values do you teach the students you work with and are there any similarities with a field of sport how to acquire them?

In my opinion, years spent at the academy are one of the most formative years. I work with students, fragile musicians´ souls from the age of 18. To follow their transition between their 1^st and last study year can be a really beautiful journey both artistically and personally. Not everyone will necessarily become an internationally acclaimed virtuoso, but everyone can become an enthusiastic, sensitive, cultivated, well-educated and well-behaved human being. I would quote famous pianist Ferruccio Busoni: “Being a great artist primarily includes intelligence, culture, comprehensive education in music and literature and in the matter of human existence,” stressing the matter of human existence. And how to acquire these values? Just take a look at the Olympic values 😊.  

7. There is a significant importance of foreign languages in a development of diplomacy as such. Could you tell us how many languages do you speak and what is your view on this topic?

I love learning new languages as well as speaking them and meeting people from all over the world. It is one of the best means to broaden one´s mind, make new friends, stimulate one´s brain and become an open-minded human being 😊. Personally, I try to encourage my students to attend a language school as I think it is much more difficult to find a proper time later in life and the younger you start, the easier it gets to learn new words. I must confess, I have met many students from my field who do not have a good knowledge of foreign languages compared e. g. to their non-field age peers. As for your second question, I speak English, German, French, a little bit Spanish, Russian and Bulgarian (and of course being born and raised in former Czechoslovakia, I can speak Czech too 😊).

8. Is it common also for the other people from a cultural environment to speak so many foreign languages?

On the one hand, they say that music is a universal language. On the other hand, travelling as a musician, working often with colleagues from abroad inspires one to learn foreign languages. I´d say, nowadays English is the most spoken language among members of my community, but musicians need also German (as many fantastic books on music are written in German), Italian (especially singers and collaborative pianists; French or Russian, at least basics, can be also very helpful for them when working on opera arias and so-called lieder repertoire by an wide array of world composers). 

9. Do you have any sports challenges nowadays?

Walking.

10. Finally, in order to conclude our interview, what is your opinion on the recent European Union sport agenda? What more does the European Union need to do to encourage more young people to embrace sport as a way of life?

European Union should encourage young people to reduce the time spent on social media, at the computer, mobile phones and promote healthy lifestyle indoor and outdoor based on positive effects of socialising (especially after the bleak time of social distancing due to corona). The upcoming era of intense digitalisation could be very tricky, luring people spending more and more time in virtual reality, lacking physical activities, losing their jobs, and becoming more and more depressed, staying isolated, not interacting with other people… The European officials need to step in and motivate people to stay positive and grounded through sport activities.

11. Is there something you would like to tell us on sport diplomacy and we did not ask you?

Sport diplomacy can bring together individuals from all over the world sharing their specific culture and habits. Some of these encounters can blossom into wonderful friendships worth cultivating and lasting a life-time… Some sport diplomacy-orientated projects can bring about even amusing situations. While in Bulgaria, homeland of my grandparents, I was spontaneously invited to well-known Varna-based Radio Darik.  The main topic ought to be our very dear project “EU Sport Values Diplomacy”, headed by Kristina Kazandzhieva, Yanka Dimitrova and Elena Malíková. Suddenly, at the very end of our interview I was asked to communicate in Bulgarian, a language I have spoken mainly as a child, and reveal some of the words I remember. My spontaneous reply: “Stork is in the water,” accompanied by some basic introduction sentences 😊. I hope stork will make it one day to the Bulgarian Olympic games 😊.