About

Vilnius String Quartet, the collective of new-generation artists, successfully blends deep-rooted traditions with a modern approach to the classical repertoire, earning recognition for its interpretive maturity, technical precision, and exceptional sonic energy. The Quartet performs with renowned artists as well as young talents. In this concert, musical families and generations symbolically come together. Alongside the melodious Italian Serenade by the master of song Hugo Wolf and the octet by the great romanticist Felix Mendelssohn, the programme will feature a string quartet by the latter’s sister, the composer Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel. Having lived in her brother’s shadow, she primarily showcased her music at Sunday music gatherings, which were attended by such figures as Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann. It was only later that the composer gained wider recognition.  

The composer’s famous brother’s, Felix Mendelssohn, Octet in E flat major (arranged by Carlo Borchard for string quartet and piano four hands) will be performed by the Vilnius String Quartet alongside a piano duo of the younger generation, sisters Kaja and Klėja Kašubaitė. These talented musicians are the youngest Lithuanians to have made their debuts in the world’s most famous concert halls: the Philharmonic and the Konzerthaus in Berlin, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Royal Palace in Warsaw, the Town Hall in Brussels, and the philharmonic halls in Kyiv, Kaunas, and Vilnius, among others. Since 2022, they have been living in Berlin, where they are studying at the Berlin University of the Arts, as well as at the International Music Academy and the Youth Chamber Music Academy. The pianists have won prizes at international competitions in the solo and piano duo categories (over 100 first prizes and 28 Grand Prix). For five years, Klėja was a scholarship recipient of the M. Rostropovich Foundation; since 2023, Kaja and Klėja have been scholarship recipients of the Yehudi Menuhin Association “Live Music Now,” and since 2024, of the German foundation “Musikleben.” In 2025, they were junior residents at the Weissenbrunn Palace in Germany, and in 2026, they were laureates of the international “Mein Geld Medien” project “Jeunesse musicale européenne.” For their outstanding achievements and for promoting Vilnius, Kaja and Klėja were awarded the “Little Christopher” by the Vilnius City Municipality.