I remember when my violin teacher asked me: “Kristīne, do you want to play the violin full time?” I was living without my parents in the capital of Latvia with older girls as roommates, having the time of my life. There I was, a 10-year-old from a small Latvian town, sitting opposite his chair. And I said yes, I want to do this. From then on, the real work began.
Ever since I can remember, my household and surroundings were always filled with music. My dad made me, my younger sister and brother listen to the Beatles and Chuck Berry and all kinds of rock and roll songs. He was playing guitar, singing, and teaching these songs to us. It was not even classical music yet, but we were already training our ears as musicians. Singing and performing has always been a part of our upbringing.
My first solo competition was in Vilnius, and I actually didn’t pass the first stage, which, of course, was heart-breaking for a 10-year-old. The first competition I entered, I failed. How I played is kind of a blur to me, but I remember Vilnius very clearly.
We – me and my mom – were staying in a dormitory and realised that we didn’t have enough money left to stay there any longer. We were hoping to advance in the competition. That’s why I started playing on the streets. I started making money as an independent woman at the age of ten, and it actually went very well. From then on, street performances became my daily life. We went back to Riga, and it became one of the ways we provided for ourselves. It was quite a turning point.
As a result, I think music can really open a lot of doors, no matter where you come from. You don’t even have to speak any language because music is a language of its own. There are a lot of opportunities to have an impact on someone’s life through music.
Looking back, I couldn’t have imagined how these situations were going to change my life. My siblings and I were deliberately training for competitions, events, and concerts, and we were working, working, working. It sounds tough, but it was actually great because we learned discipline and developed a sense of purpose in the very early stages of life.
There are multiple examples of situations that changed my life unexpectedly throughout my career. For example, I broke a string on stage once during the live TV performance of the Latvian Music Awards. It was so stressful. At the time, it felt like an eternity. However, when I rewatched a video of that moment, it all happened so fast. I instinctively just turned around, took the violin from the orchestra’s leader, apologised, gave him mine, and continued to play. The next day, it was all over the national news.
By now, the YouTube video has millions of views. From that moment, my life changed, people noticed me, and I got even more opportunities to perform. It’s crazy how you can work, work, work and then, a small coincidence turns your life around.
You can take everything I own, but you can’t take my achievements, my skill, my passion and approach to music. No one can.
Kristīne Balanas
Seeing the results after investing all that time, energy, and hard work is a feeling that no one can take away from you. You can take everything I own, but you can’t take my achievements, my skill, my passion and my approach to music. No one can. I am able to move people with the skills I gained through my own hard work and determination. That achievement is priceless.
I have travelled around the world playing the violin for about two decades now. At this point in my career, I feel that I want to encourage more young musicians to pursue their careers or help them with advice, connections, and ideas. Right now, I want to focus more on education. Of course, playing concerts is amazing, and I will not stop doing that until I can no longer move my fingers. However, there are more things I can do and achieve as a musician, and if I can help younger people, I should do it.
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