Alicia Marial studied at the University of Illinois and the Manhattan School of Music. Before joining the Konzerthausorchester, she was concertmaster of the second violins in the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania and a scholarship holder at the Academy of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

I can’t remember ever not wanting to be a musician. But if I had to choose something else, it would be a restorer. I would be the person with the tiny brushes, trying to get the colours of a historical building or painting just right, millimetre by millimetre.

I wish I could play guitar and sing rock classics.

I always take my guests to Gendarmenmarkt. The concert hall is the reason I’m here. When I show them the overwhelming beauty of the square and the splendour of the hall, I become quite humble, grateful and so happy that I can play there. So it’s no mystery why I chose to live here – so far away from home.