By ERIC SCHELKOPF
Russian-born Chicago-based cellist and composer Ian Maksin believes that music can be a unifying force.
Last year, Maksin started his Cello For Peace tour to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. A portion of the proceeds from ticket, merchandise and art sales benefit For Wellbeing, a charitable medical relief organization in Ukraine and also Doctors Without Borders Turkey earthquake relief fund.
As part of the tour, he will perform several shows in the Chicago area, including March 31 at Art Gallery Kafe in Wood Dale, April 1 at 116 Gallery in St. Charles and April 2 at Artifact Events in Chicago. More information is available at https://ianmaksin.com.
I had the chance to talk to him about the tour.
Q – I know you recently performed as part of a Ukrainian Festival in Orlando, Florida with several other Chicago artists.
Oh, yes. Chicago has one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the country. At the festival, they had a dance ensemble from Chicago of probably 30 or 40 kids. They were with me on the return flight to Chicago. The entire group was there with their parents and it was really touching.
Q – When you started the Cello For Peace tour last year, did you have any idea that unfortunately the war in Ukraine would still be going on?
Well, of course we were all hoping that it would end quickly, but even at the beginning, it was completely unpredictable how long it would go on and what the outcome was going to be. In fact, in March 2022, we had no idea if Ukraine would even hold for as long as they did.
Q – Because you still have family and friends living in Ukraine, correct?
Well, here’s the thing. I was born in Russia and I still have family in Russia.
In fact, my father is there. My mother passed away last year.
I also have family in Ukraine and I try to help them as much as I can. And I have friends and colleagues in both Russia and Ukraine.
Q – I know that part of the proceeds from the tour will also go for a earthquake relief find for Turkey.
I wanted to do something for Turkey as well. What really has happened is that because the Ukraine conflict has hit so close to home, it really has raised my awareness and my level of empathy in general for other things that are happening around the world.
Maybe I can inspire other people to take action.
Q – In past interviews that you’ve done, you talk about music being a powerful unifying source.
It is. And the more that I’m doing this, the more that I realize that is true.
It really is an incredible force. And I get proof of that every single day in many ways, that what I’m doing is really powerful and that what other artists are doing as well is extremely powerful in many ways, such as helping people create peace inside their soul.
I do strongly believe that the world around us is a reflection of our own soul and if we don’t have peace inside our soul, the world around us will reflect that.
By creating peace inside our soul, we make the world around us a more peaceful place. And I do believe music is one of the cornerstones that can help us make that happen.
Q – I’m also impressed by the fact that you sing in 30 languages. Was it hard learning 30 different languages and why did you feel it was important to do that?
It started off as a hobby when I was 5 years old. Actually, I have to give credit to my father, who is a very, very accomplished amateur musician. He is a physician by trade.
And he used to play at weddings and he had a repertoire in probably two dozen languages. So he did sing in a number of languages – Italian, French, English, Ukrainian, Polish and Yiddish.
I started copying him doing the same thing, but I wanted to go beyond that. I wanted to know what those songs were about.
My first two languages were Italian and English. I was always fascinated with languages and with how languages are different and how cultures are based on language.
Our cultural differences are based on the language as well. And at the same time, music is what brings us all together.
I always wanted to reconcile that. When I do sing, I actually know every single word and every single phrase that I sing.
It feels like you become the carrier of the language while you sing. Right now, I currently have songs in 30 languages.
The majority of them I gathered doing trips to those countries.
Q – That’s really cool. I saw a tweet from you on Jan. 1 where you were saying “Happy New Year” in 23 languages.
That was kind of like a last second idea. I wanted to do a special greeting and I thought why not do something like that. Actually, people really enjoyed it.
Q – What do you like the best about playing the cello and what advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
I fell in love with the sound of the cello when I was 5 years old. Because of the depth of the sound, it felt like the resonance of the cello sound went straight to the soul, directly bypassing the conscious mind and bypassing thoughts and feelings.
And I think that’s what keeps me going today and that’s what other people find so fascinating and so enticing about hearing the cello.
As far as young musicians are concerned, I do believe that everyone should follow their passion. If they feel passionate for music, they should do it no matter what.
And I do believe that music can be an incredible outlet for creativity, for both professional musicians and people who just want to do it for recreation. I'm very happy to see more and more people of my generation and younger come back to explore their creativity.
I think it’s absolutely vital in our lives to feel fulfilled and to grow spiritually.
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