Given the timeliness, this may seem strange, but 7th Koufonisi Classical Music Festival, which has been held for three weeks now, this year has as its theme “Optimism”. Even some of the titles of his concerts reflect this spirit: “Belle Epoque”, “Beyond the Darkness”, “The Hero’s Journey”.

The protagonist of the last concert, of course, with the liberatingly optimistic title Journey to Freedom, is one of the leading violinists of his generation, Ukrainian Valery Sokolov. How much “optimism” – or even what? – Can a Ukrainian feel in recent months?

“I always try to remain optimistic,” Valery Sokolov replies. “Unfortunately, though, I’ve had a hard time coping with this year’s troubles—more than ever. So this year, optimism has given way to trying to stay busy, not looking back, and not thinking too much. You know, in addition to its obvious consequences, armed conflict can also cause severe depression in people. Therefore, it is important not to stop, but to look ahead as much as possible.”

However, one need only look at Sokolov’s biography to see that the 36-year-old musician never stopped moving forward. At the age of 14 he left his native country to study violin at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London, a few years later he won first prize at the International Violin Competition. George Enescu in Bucharest, he saw how the famous Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovich wrote for him. and dedicated an entire concert to him, collaborated with such orchestras as the British Philharmonic, with such conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, performed in such halls as the Vienna Musikverein, recorded with companies such as Erato Records.

At a concert on Monday in Ano Koufonisi, Valery Sokolov, together with pianist, conductor and artistic director of the Koufonisi Classical Music Festival Cornelios Michaelides, Ukrainian Alexei Sandrin (cello), Dutch Havich Elder (violin) and Ilias Liveirato (viola), will perform works by Ravel, Cassado, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

Does Sokolov want to send a message about the presence of works by Russian composers in the program of the evening? Is there any symbolism there? “Everyone can interpret these elections as they like and find in these works any symbolism they want,” the Ukrainian answers bluntly and continues: “Political madness, like everything short-lived, comes and goes. However, great music lives to the end.”

The proceeds from the concert will go to the Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund, which supports war-tested Ukrainian artists. But how will the Ukrainian cultural scene as a whole be rebuilt after the war? “A difficult question,” Sokolov comments. “Mainly because there are aspects of culture in Ukraine today that its people must first want to restore through the necessary modernization of broader cultural structures and after abandoning the dictatorial ways of working inherited from the Soviet model. The cultural scene must be organized, graduated, so that it can stand next to analogues in other countries and not remain closed to local activities that affect its level.