What made you choose the accordion?

Actually it was my grandmother. I used to spend the summers in their house in Russia and one summer she found in the attic of a neighbour an accordion and she said “oh well, if it’s no use to you, let me give it to my granddaughters.” Because she could play a little bit of the Russian traditional instrument, garmoshka, from the same family as the accordion, she helped me with it and I was able to play a few songs in quite a short time.

Ksenija Sidorova

What kind of music did your grandmother play? 

She only played for herself and it was the traditional stuff. Nobody in my family is a musician, this is why I ended up with an accordion [laughs].

Do you play other instruments as well?

No, just the accordion. Of course, as a student I was playing the piano as well but there’s no time for everything.

Why do you love the instrument so much?

I think it’s one of those instruments people easily connect to because it belongs to so many traditions all over the world. It’s even popular in Bollywood, it’s a huge instrument in...