Oreneta in Amboise ;)

25 - 30 Aug 2025

How is it even possible that eight people, all with such diverse and strong personalities, are still stuck together after three years, radiating a kind of joy I didn't even know could exist?

I truly think it's a miracle. Like a solar system holding itself together in the universe, I'm not even joking. You can't imagine how different we all are: in our personalities, the way we communicate, our approaches, and actually also how we play. This is all with the fact we use English as a common language but are from seven different countries. Yet, somehow, it all melts together, making us feel that probably something could actually make sense in this ×+=÷# world.

It started off a bit chaotic, with me and Hanna having no battery on our phones (typical from my side), trying to get to a house outside of Paris from Gare de l'Est, getting stuck on the train, asking people around and showing them the address. It felt like our adventure of the week had started right then ;D.

We kind of arrived safely (with “some” delays, of course) and started immediately to rehearse Shostakovich's Octet. The work was written when he was even younger than any of us— just 18 years old. We wanted to say, "Ah, it's almost our age!" but well, the time has passed, people; we need to accept it. ;D

What a piece! He pulls us all into the intensity without effort—it's not possible to not feel his music while playing. On the other hand, that's probably the difficulty, I guess. We need to keep a certain distance from our emotions and involvement while playing, as if we are observing it from afar to serve his music to the audience properly. (This is according to Prof. Schmidt, and I totally agree!)

And of course, after Shostakovich, we started to rehearse our beloved Enescu Octet. We played through it, trying to remember and reconnect with this work—it was also written when Enescu was 19 years old, full of layers of texture, vivid yet subtle emotional changes. I personally see different shapes of water when I play this octet: a dawn in the sea after a storm, the summer sun crossing through the deep water, and magical creatures dancing and swimming ;).

I love to re-take and re-learn pieces. All the memories and visions come back vividly, like watching a movie play out in front of you. And on top of that, you discover some unexpected new feelings and perceptions—you get surprised by yourself; why didn't you see it that way back then?

And yes, W.A. Mozart's Divertimento in F. He composed it when he was 15 years old. His work is absolute perfection for me. I am not a scholar, but I feel everything is perfectly placed. The reasons... I don't know ;).

We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner all together, living in a beautiful house with a view of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre outside Paris for four days (maybe not really breakfast, I couldn't really wake up). Also! We went to eat at a beautiful French restaurant to celebrate... something... the fact that we were all together!

Just a funny fact, with appreciation of course—I'm not really a lazy person in general (or am I?), but in Oreneta, the people are way more active and full of initiative than I am. When I woke up in the morning, someone had already been to a bakery, bought croissants for everyone, and cooked eggs. Meanwhile... I was still in my bed ;D.

For the last two days, we went down to Amboise, staying in a beautiful house next to a vineyard, the Loire River, and some chickens. I cannot not write in this blog about our brilliant cook there. She was cooking for us all day, filling our house with that ‘food is ready’ scent, or the ‘ahhh, she is making dessert’ scent. I am not used to eating more than one dish per meal (especially in Basel, when I'm cooking for myself), so I was not prepared to have a 3-course meal for lunch and dinner every day. But of course, who can resist such an opportunity with all exceptionally delicious traditional French cuisine?

We were all really tired the day before the concert, so we decided to rehearse without instruments—instead, we were singing and dancing. But I have to say, it was one of our most effective rehearsal sessions of the week!

On the day of the concert, we went to the market and played a couple of random pieces to meet people in Amboise, who were buying vegetables and bread at the market. The weather was with us. It was supposed to rain, but it stopped just while we were playing. We felt some good oreneta karma was coming back ;) (, you know what I am talking about, my dear Oreneta colleagues?)

The concert felt very special, as always with Oreneta. Oreneta works like a puzzle made of unique, irregular pieces; we keep being who we are, we just put ourselves together and it becomes one picture. It's a picture that none of us could create alone. Our concept is that nobody needs to pretend, nor feel pressured to do something or to play in a way they don't want. We try to fit all together, inspiring each other with ideas without making unnecessary compromises or forcing anyone to change.

Of course, we always find things we need to change and develop. But we do it with open hearts and ears, and with hope. Not by grinding ourselves down. I appreciate my colleagues more and more; they let me be free as I am.

Looking forward to our next project in October in our home city, Cologne!

Warm greeting from Guangzhou,

Yuko