The winner of the 2005 Sibelius Competition has announced she will be focusing on her life away from the stage, after 35 years of performing
Violinist Alina Pogostkina has announced that she is stepping away from her performing career, according to a personal statement published on her social media channels.
Pogostkina, who won the Sibelius Competition in 2005, wrote that she recently met her agent in Munich ‘to say goodbye’. Reflecting on her decision, she stated: ‘Being on the big stages of the world belongs to a life that is no longer mine.
’What a wild adventure it was. I experienced so much. Love, passion, loneliness, fear, lots of searching for myself, my voice, my purpose. So many amazing people on my path, connection, inspiration. So many travels. And music, I liked to see it as a window to heaven. A direct path to god. I had the most divine experiences on stage.’
In the message, Pogostkina said she has ‘transitioned to something else’ after 35 years on stage. She explained that she had been ‘looking for freedom’ and ‘could not find it in that role’.
Pogostkina described her reasons for stepping back in practical terms: ’Now the time has come for me to put that all down, to learn to actually live with a regulated nervous system, to be with the simple things of life. With nature, my kids, my husband, a workplace where trying to transmit what I experienced and learnt on my path.’
She noted that her public artistic identity has changed, saying: ‘The person you know on stage has shedded some skins. No more glamour and also no more saving the world. For now.’
Pogostkina also expressed appreciation for those who supported her throughout her career. She thanked her agency Harrison Parrott as well as her husband and her followers.
Although she has stepped away from performing, Pogostkina indicated that a return remains possible: ‘I might be back one day with a new voice.’
Pogostkina is additionally the founder of Mindful Music Making, an organisation that hosts retreats and workshops designed to support classical musicians mentally, physically and emotionally.
No comments yet