The violinist’s portrait, one day after taking part in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

Vanessa Mae: “All of my classmates had different dreams. They wanted to be lawyers, doctors... I wanted to be a violinist and I am very lucky to have accomplished that ambition.

I was asked recently if I wanted to become a serious musician or just a pop star. In my opinion, this would mean that they think that pop music is easy when it is far from it.

At 5 I was listening to Michael Jackson’s music, but I was playing Mozart’s and Mendelssohn’s opuses.

I think the violin is the closest instrument to the human voice. It can give off all of those emotions, moods... it can give you the impression of flying...

I started studying the piano at four years old and a year later I discovered the violin. Its shape resembles that of the human body or a doll’s. Holding this instrument under my chin ever since I was little seemed to be a gesture of affection.”

Pamela Nicholson: “For me, Vanessa will always be a child...Nor I, nor my husband have ever wanted her to choose this career. We have many friends that are musicians. My husband’s family had always been very close to Benjamin Britten. I am a pianist myself and I know it is a difficult way of life.”

Felix Andrievky: “I kept a journal ever since Vanessa’s first lesson, at the age of nine. She had a remarkable memory for vast compositions. Scottish Fantasia, for example, was prepared in two to three lessons.”

Norman Lebrecht: “The history of violin playing depicts many ‘child geniuses’ who were playing wonderfully before turning 10, but they were playing as children do.”

Vanessa Mae: “I know that many have called me a ‘wonder child’, but I think it depends on the person. You can reach maturity at 15, 25, or even at 45 years old... I met Mel at 14. He knew everything about my classical music activity. I told him that I wanted to record a pop album...”

Mel Bush: “And it was a very good idea. It was something new, very different... we had a period when the guitar was trendy... but the most popular and most loved instrument is still the violin.”

Vanessa Mae and her acquaintances talking in 1995 about the musical phenomenon still at its starting point.

She was born in Singapore, with the father from Thailand and the mother from China, and from the age of three she has been living in Great Britain. She stood out from a young age, managing to combine pop music with the classical, creating her own style, the Vanessa Mae style. The violinist who competes in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at the women’s giant slalom ski race, was Wednesday, 19^th February, the ‘Performer of the Day’, on Arpeggio presented by Ana Voinescu, from 10:00.