“Birthday is no longer a miserable celebration for me”. Ewelina Saszenko about her holiday, her Polish identity and plans for the future

“I have been to Palanga. I am going to Sicilia for a week in September in order to have some rest. Apart from that, I spend my leisure time at home, doing some gardening” – commented Ewelina Saszenko, a well-known Lithuanian singer, Pole from the Vilnius Region.

Antoni Radczenko: Please accept my sincere happy birthday wishes on behalf of the editorial staff, a bit belated, though…

Ewelina Saszenko: Thank you very much…

In one of the interviews, you admitted that Birthday is…

… a miserable celebration, but I do not think so anymore, since this year’s birthday was truly glamorous. It was great fun, I had a blast. My dearest friends gathered and arranged an exquisite party for me. Hence, birthday is a stupendous celebration, once we know, with whom we want to spend it. My birthday depression has gone for good. 

Summer is highly intensive time for the artists, especially for the singers. How it is in your case?

Quite on the contrary. I am not a singer who performs songs on a street. I admire concert halls and contact with audience. Therefore, I work from autumn to the end of spring, this is the time of my intensive work. I have some rest in summer, recharge my batteries and regain strengths for autumn. I will be participating in the programme “Golden Voice” (“Złoty głos”, „Auksinis balsas), thus I have been preparing intensively for it.

Did you manage to go on holiday somewhere in summer?

I have been to Palanga. I am going to Sicilia for a week in September in order to have some rest. Apart from that, I spend my leisure time at home, doing some gardening I have always believed that the best rest we can get, is at home.

You have been extremely active in the concerts you give to the local Poles. In September you will be performing one in celebration of the harvest home in Trakai, you also gave another in Eišiškės several months ago. What do these events mean to you?

In a way, I consider it as paying off “a debt” that I owe to my Polish identity, a sort of duty. I gather that I should participate in such events, as in this way I can express my gratitude for the Poles, who are also my fans. I am delighted when my concerts are attended exclusively by the Polish audience. This is not always the case during my other concerts, sometimes they are not present there. Thus, every time I have such an opportunity, I seize it and take part in such events.

What is the reaction of your Lithuanian colleagues? Have you ever experienced any negative reactions?

I have not the faintest idea. I have never taken an interest to get to know and I am not interested in their opinion. To be honest, I do not know, what to do. I simply feel, what I am supposed to do, and when I feel something, then I know I must do it.

Perhaps you would let us on a secret and tell us, what your repertoire will contain in the nearest future?

I have been preparing a new project, a mono musical about men, but I would not like to say too much on this subject. The premiere will be held in all the bigger Lithuanian cities in November.

Source: http://zw.lt/kultura/urodziny-juz-nie-sa-dla-mnie-smutnym-swietem-ewelina-saszenko-o-urlopie-polskosci-i-planach-na-przyszlosc/

Tłumaczenie by Joanna Mirek w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Joanna Mirek within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.