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Simon SinekBreaking Tradition with cellist Anastasia Kobekina | A Bit of Optimism Podcast
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Cellist Anastasia Kobekina Modernizes Classical Music for a Playlist Generation
- Simon Sinek says he found Kobekina on Instagram through her percussive, improvised take on Vivaldi's A Minor Cello Concerto, which he sees as a gateway for people new to classical music.
- Kobekina says she put single movements on her Venice album, treating it like a playlist, and notes that composers such as Beethoven and Chopin used to have movements performed separately.
- The two discuss the soloist's life of short rehearsals, constant travel and introversion, and Kobekina describes how she prepares to open herself to audiences and feels how they listen.
- They disagree gently about dissonant contemporary pieces on orchestra programs; Sinek finds them alienating, while Kobekina defends contemporary work and calls for a balance of tradition and new approaches.
- Sinek concludes that Kobekina treats music as a tool for communicating with people, as in the story of playing for her ailing grandmother, and predicts that audiences will look very different in ten years.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasClassical music has everything pop music has
Kobekina says classical music contains beautiful melodies and haunting harmonies, and that the barrier for new listeners is its form, with long symphonies and many rules and frames.
Breaking up pieces is an old tradition
Kobekina points out that in Beethoven's time pieces were performed as separate movements, and that Chopin performed only two movements of his cello sonata. This makes today's insistence on whole works a newer habit.
An album can work like a playlist
Kobekina built her Venice album as a playlist, a little Venetian portrait of music. Sinek argues that classical programming is still stuck in an album mentality in a playlist society.
Performing is an active exchange with the audience
Kobekina says listening is not passive, and she can tell how people are listening to her, much like telling a story to someone. She prepares herself to stand open and vulnerable and to seek that connection.
Old instruments carry history but still need updating
Kobekina says she plays her 1698 Stradivarius because it is a piece of art and history, even though modern instruments can sound very close. Sinek adds that she also updates the music by banging on it.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesI realized that, uh, you know, one can say more sometimes with, with music than with words.
— Anastasia Kobekina
Because classical music is fun just as any other music, yeah. It's, it's just how to find the approach.
— Anastasia Kobekina
It's not about taking music and putting in formaldehyde and preserving it for life, but it's about using it as a tool to communicate.
— Simon Sinek
It's not even about the way that the notes are on the page. It's about what the notes are intended to do. They're a gift. Music is a gift.
— Simon Sinek
You're in this precious moment of now because this is the only way of making music.
— Anastasia Kobekina
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SPEAKERS
Author and leadership speaker, host of the podcast A Bit of Optimism.
Anastasia Kobekina
guestClassical cellist and recording/touring soloist.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
