Alexandra and Inna — friendship beyond borders (part two)
LAST week, we met two young and outstanding pianists — Hungarian Alexandra Balog and Filipino Inna Montesclaros.
Here’s the continuation of our insightful interview with the two artists.
Besides being a performing artist, what other endeavors are you passionate about and presently involved in?
Alexandra: I have a music festival and summer academy that I established 10 years ago. It grew to connect great artists with the emphasis on introducing young artists as well. It is a musical community called the Altalena Young Artists group with about 15 young artists mainly from Hungary as its core team. But as my international connections build, I wish to involve artists like Inna from abroad so my dream is to connect great musicians all over the world.
I invite any musicians to take part on the Altalena Music Festival and Summer Academy if you want to study with the most important professors from the best European music universities. You can check out details via: www.altalena. eu or follow the FB and Instagram page: ‘ Altalena Music Festival’
Inna: For me, producing concerts is definitely new territory! I learned a lot from the experience. I hope to do more, collaborate more and just see how far we can go as a country in continuing the effort to celebrate beauty and culture. I hope that we too, here in the Philippines could have a long lasting, high level, music festival for everyone to enjoy and learn from.
Apart from music, I am also a visual artist and love finding many ways to express my ideas and emotions. I love the freedom in painting. It’s a similar flow to making music, but much less ephemeral. I also really enjoy literature! There’s just something so comforting in reading great works.
I also volunteer my time in community work, mentoring and character formation at Paref Woodrose and at Narra Nueva Study Center. I think now that I’m getting a bit older and have slightly more wisdom, I can be of support to these young women in navigating their own problems..
What do you think is the secret of friendships beyond cultural boundaries?
Alexandra: Having many different experiences with people, I can say that as different we are with all our national or regional habits, we are also very similar as human beings. I believe we are all born with similar desires and dreams, but through a nation and a family we are being born to, we get some features that will form our [unique] characters. I think the only way we can overcome those differences is to look behind the scene and explore the ‘unseen’ world of the people. I think there is a greatly exciting world behind every human being and every nation.
Inna: Much like Ali, I see that understanding and appreciating the differences and intricacies of each particular culture, is key to friendships beyond any form of boundaries. And I agree — as unique as each person, and each nation is, at the end of the day, we are all human beings on the same earth, the same universe. It’s a beautiful paradox that must be celebrated.
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Alexandra: I hope to be able to play a lot in different countries and explore the world more and more. I hope to make music in great venues with fantastic colleagues. I also hope to have a small family, which might be a challenge with this lifestyle, but I have maybe some idealistically positive thoughts about it. I also hope we can establish great cultural exchanges projects and keep the ‘Altalena family’ running, exploring the finest young artists year by year, and playing a lot together with our international musicians group.
Inna: To be honest, I just want to be happy and peaceful. I hope that I will be doing something that will make a positive impact on those around me, and in my own personal way, to bring joy-in whatever way possible. Of course, I hope to continue growing as an artist and as a person and continue making music.