Self-perception is tricky, but I certainly have a lot of sense for the sensuous, I have always been interested in the field of art and the realm of the human. In terms of pronounced individualism, I am definitely obstinate, I would say.

Today, you are dressed in a suit from eigensinnig wien – how did you and eigensinnig wien find each other?

My father's wife stumbled across it in the seventh district and said we absolutely had to go there. My wife and I went right away. And from the moment we arrived, there was this atmosphere. How you are received, how you are perceived, what the spaces are like. And of course, we were also thrilled by the clothing. It was clear we would return. A powerful spirit is palpable, there are strong, ever-changing products.

Clothing is important because, on the one hand, it puts you in the mood and posture for certain situations. It's a good feeling to be dressed in things that underline, express one's individuality. To agree with what one wears.

As a musician playing a concert, you have to put yourself in a certain place, into a uniform, and elevate your body posture – although I am for an open dress code in classical music, especially in the audience. You don't always have to get dolled up, it's about the event itself, and then I'm also fine if someone comes to the concert in jeans.

Passion, curiosity, and the fearlessness to try things and seize opportunities. It almost sounds as though I'm collecting functions. However, this portfolio is a vast bouquet of states that have simply come to be. At the heart, of course, is art, music—not only playing it but also talking about it, designing formats, curating, and organizing. Always out of excitement and a physical discipline to truly seize things, to be seized by them, and to persevere. It's an incredible amount of hard work, but also great joy.

My days are long; I know how much one often has to invest to achieve something, to network. There are many moments of doubt and despair. But I also love doubt. It's a motivator to persevere and to check if what one is doing still holds true. To explore how one can evolve to find a distinctive path to solve and fulfill tasks. I want to develop and transform until my last breath, and that's why Bruckner is a major theme in my life.

I think so. The concept of play is an incredibly large one with many facets. I aim at the playing that we all bring with us when we playfully discover the world as children. When we learn to crawl and grab, spending hours with a piece of paper without needing anything else – and that from an intrinsic need, from a lust for discovery that lies at the base of every human. One enters a room of the useless and purpose-free, gets filled with something. As a musician, one has to train with a lot of discipline like a high-performance athlete so that something becomes playful, that one does something with a flick of the wrist, with ease. It's about achieving virtuosity.

As a flutist, which I am, it's my central primal mission to meet and surpass myself when I take the flute in my hands, which is very rare these days; I always have to create islands to return home. But also watching my children, how they have access to this world of magic, this world of amazement with all the possibilities that are in it. I believe to really solve problems and challenges like the climate crisis, we need to enter the field of research, of possibilities, of individual development. Especially because we feel ourselves in it. 

In our in-house tailor shop, we design and create unconventional clothing for obstinate characters. Our creativity knows no bounds. And your courage?