Kathinka Witzke is a talented 11-year-old girl from Denmark who loves playing the violin and modeling. Her Instagram account has 50,000 followers and counting! Kathinka loves spreading joy through her music and the pictures and videos she shares.
At what age did you start playing the violin?
I started playing the violin when I was 6 years old. Normally there is a waitlist of several years but that year I don't know what happened, I was very lucky and got quickly enrolled.
What inspired you to learn to play the violin?
Already when I was about 6 month I started in the local music school. Me and mum did 'rhythmic classes' and later on I sang in a child choir. I also tried to learn piano for a while. But this never really inspired me as did the violin. I actually fell in love with my friend's baby size violin, I think I was about 3 or 4 years old, and I just knew that I wanted to have my own violin and learn how to play. From that first moment on I loved the sound of it. My mum knew that I was serious about starting violin classes, and she therefore signed me up for solo violin classes. And here I am, still loving it, but also still struggling and trying to learn to master this beautiful and difficult instrument. And actually still with a rented violin from my local music school. :)
Many people around the world are inspired by the Danish culture and "hygge" way of life. What is it like, living as a young girl in Denmark?
Hygge is very difficult to define and describe, because it's just a part of Danish culture and society. When you live here you are used to this way of living and don't think that it's any different compared to other places. But I guess it is. :) For me as a young girl I guess hygge is when I spend time with my friends after school, when I go shopping with my mum, or even when I'm alone and play my violin. Here in Denmark everything is very relaxed, the school is for instance only 6 hours per day and by law the school must not give you any homework. So you'll finish everything while at school, and after school you can therefore play with your friends, go to sport or the music school or whatever is your interest. So you'll have much time in the afternoon to just 'hygge'. Many schools, unfortunately not mine, even have a hygge class once a week where they'll eat cake and just talk and have fun!
You play the violin and you do modeling. Which do you enjoy more?
I started with just the violin, and I still love it so much. Then about 6 months ago I became very interested in fashion and how to style my clothes, and I thought it could be fun to begin modeling as well. I really love to have my photos taken, with or without my violin, so I also do modeling sessions together with my violin. To answer which I enjoy more, I guess it's about 50-50. :) I try to combine my two main interests, and I think this variation is actually what makes it interesting for myself, and others to follow.
What advice do you have for kids your age learning to play music?
My violin teacher is very classically trained and pretty conservative in the way that I have to learn everything from scratch, including notes reading, meaning that I cannot proceed to something a little more difficult, before I totally master the level that I'm currently at. This makes the learning process a little slow sometimes, not boring, just slow, and if you want to learn something new that you really think could be fun, then you'll have to wait!! There are other ways to study the violin which gives you are more quick understanding of the music, where you play more by the ear and mostly without notes reading. In the latter way you proceed faster, but later on you'll have to correct a lot of things. So it's important to choose the teaching method that applies best to you. My mum choose the hard way for me, I'm actually happy about it most of the time... because I know that I will learn everything correctly, but I'm also impatient and interested in playing other pieces than just classical, experimenting more, and for this I basically need a second teacher. My advices comes after 4 years of training, and I guess if you are interested in learning to play the violin, know that it's a very difficult instrument to master, so be patient and practice a lot, and most importantly, just start! Another advice is to make sure that your family loves to hear violin music all the time, also your siblings;) I'm lucky to have a very supportive family that really wants to help me achieve all my dreams.
Please share a violin story, in which your playing made someone's day.
This is a little difficult to answer :), but many many people write to me every day on my socials. I literally receive hundreds of messages everyday, far more than we can manage to answer, and they are all so nice, kind and encouraging. Not only regarding my violin playing, but also on my modeling and personality. I feel so blessed to have so many kind followers around the world, and I think it's so amazing that people from all kinds of countries get inspired by my doing no matter from what country they are. This makes me incredibly proud, and that actually makes my day too!
Below a few examples of the sweet comments that I'm so lucky to get everyday.
To visit Kathinka's official Instagram page, click
HERE!
