Mezzo-soprano Roza Herwig is the soloist during Ricciotti per Tutti.

When did you start making music?
I grew up in a musical family: my mother is a conductor, so I heard a lot of classical music, and my father played amateur trombone in big bands, which exposed me to jazz. At just eighteen months old I sang songs from The Sound of Music with my mother, and at three I visited the opera for the first time — Tosca: an experience that left a deep impression on me. I started playing the violin at seven. When I began making music together with others, for example my brother on cello and later in youth orchestras, I discovered the real joy of playing together and the happiness you can give the audience. When I was in the final year of primary school and got to sing the lead in The Sound of Music , I knew for sure: this is what I want to do!

Which artist (living or deceased) would you like to have a coffee with?

The person I would most like to have a cup of coffee with is Julie Andrews! She has been an inspiration to me my whole life. I find her voice beautiful and versatile: she uses it in so many different ways. She has a musical theatre background but sang classical and jazz with equal ease. The flexibility and diversity of her voice have always inspired me.

Ricciotti performs in many different places. What is one of the craziest places you've ever played?

High in the mountains, at 2,500 meters, in a little hut in a rifugio in Italy, we had just watched the Euros on a choppy screen with only a single bar of internet. The Netherlands had lost, so everyone was a bit down. Outside in the cold, right where that one bar reached, we sat with a group of Dutch people under blankets. Around half past eleven at night, under a clear starry sky, I then sang a cappella the song Liefde Van Later by Herman van Veen. It was a very special experience.

More information about Roza can be found on her own website.