During the last month of 2017, ten year old Ilva Eigus (student of Liana Tretiakova) was featured on Swiss Television in the program “Glanz und Gloria”.

 
Despite speaking four languages, learning with great ease at school and performing on stage as a violinist from an early age, the modest fifth grader said she does not consider herself a “Wunderkind”. When asked if she sometimes experiences stage-fright, she replied that it makes no difference to her whether there is a single person or hundreds in the audience. “I just think ‘music’”, says Ilva with a smile.

Her violin teacher at the ZBSM, Liana Tretiakova, is also surprised about Ilva’s talent and her earnest joy of performing in concerts. “High ability shows itself very clearly on stage. The skill to give your best performance in front of the audience is a sign of being truly gifted” says Liana, recalling Ilva’s first performance of a Kabalewski violin concert at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Ilva’s teacher in the Montessori school stressed another quality of Ilva during the interview – being self-reliant and exceptionally well organised. This allows Ilva to manage the dense school curriculum despite her occasional absences due to concerts and master classes.