A Viola
Coming and Going for the Profession

• Text zum Nachlesen

  The Viola about Itself

  I am a viola, a bit like a violin, some say, but quite different. I am larger and can play lower tones, I sound somewhat huskier – and smokier. I usually paint a dark shadow for the violin when we play together. What often happens.

  Whoever built me had to learn a lot. And Daniel, who plays me, professionally – he also had to learn a lot, very much, and... really practice a lot. I can‘t help it, I am just an all-around demanding instrument – but only because people are demanding. And Daniel had to be demanding too. After all, he wanted to become a professional musician.

  He started in Spain, his country of origin. But there, he was told that if he wanted to make something of himself, he had to go to Germany. Especially because it‘s particularly demanding in Germany (at least in terms of classical music). And so he went.

  At some point, I came along, and another viola too – we always have to be in pairs, in case something is wrong with one of us. Anyway, we have now arrived in Siegen and are played by Daniel in an orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen. Many of our colleagues there had similar experiences. This profession is demanding, not only, but also because it can sometimes lead you to another country.

  Zusatzinfos

  Daniel Ibáñez García studied musicology at the University of Oviedo and obtained his bachelor‘s degree at the local conservatory. However, he then moved to Germany – to the conservatories in Mannheim and Stuttgart, where he pursued his master‘s degree and played with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen and the State Theatre Darmstadt. Why Germany? Germany is internationally renowned for its high quality in classical music. Talent and skill play the most significant role, orchestra members themselves vote on the admission of new colleagues, and classical music, politically and socially, enjoys a comparatively high reputation. Since 2016, Daniel Ibáñez García has been the deputy principal viola player with the internationally staffed Philharmonie Südwestfalen.

  The Self-Portrait by Peter Paul Rubens to the Viola

  I am a self-portrait by the famous painter Peter Paul Rubens. This man would have understood exactly why Daniel went to Germany. Because back then, over 400 years ago, he traveled across the continent alone for art too. But for him, it wasn‘t music; it was painting. And that of course led him to Italy.

  I say „of course“ because many artists before and after him did the same – Italy, that‘s where they all went, really. Because Italy was considered the cradle of the Renaissance, the land of the great masters like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Titian... and Rubens wanted to, yes he had to, live and work there, study everything, and network well to advance as a painter.

  I say „of course“ because many artists before and after him did the same – Italy, that‘s where they all went, really. Because Italy was considered the cradle of the Renaissance, the land of the great masters like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Titian... and Rubens wanted to, yes he had to, live and work there, study everything, and network well to advance as a painter. So, that was also a form of, today we sometimes call it, „labor migration“ – as you can see, something completely normal, but often made into a problem. Much is said about so-called „skilled workers“ but, in reality, many migrants also work in the low-wage sector. And although this work is hugely important too, it is valued differently – instead of prestige, it is more associated with prejudices...

  How about you? Would you move abroad for work? Or have you already done so?