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The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra concludes its intensive 84th season, marked by the sign of the Čiurlionis Year, with a very colourful and attractive programme, which reflects the efforts to promote and revitalise Lithuanian music, the dissemination of the works of various countries of the world, the cooperation with the most outstanding and young artists, and the joint programmes with the Lithuanian ensembles.

Together with Vilnius Choir and renowned opera soloist Viktorija Miškūnaitė, the Orchestra revived the cantata Saulės poema (Poem of the Sun), composed in 1975 by Teisutis Makačinas and dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Čiurlionis. The work was inspired by Čiurlionis’ multifaceted, poetic paintings, which seem to be echoed by a clear harmonic language, polyphonic development and echoes of laments.

The concert programme also features Japanese accents. Lithuania nurtures a spiritual friendship with the special Japanese culture, which is mostly manifested through art, especially music, where composers’ ideas, new works and their performers lead to. This time we will hear the famous Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu’s symphonic reflection on nature, the pinnacle of the ‘new lyricism’ – the Concerto for piano and orchestra Memo Flora, each movement of which illustrates the qualities of flowers in an expressive and colourful way. The opus is performed by a guest from Japan, Yukine Kuroki, a young pianist already known to our audience. She won the Grand Prix at the 2012 International Balys Dvarionas Competition in Vilnius and has gone on to win prizes at major competitions such as the Dublin Competition, the Liszt Competition in Utrecht, the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv, and has also appeared at the Vilnius Piano Festival.

The final highlights of the concert will be Fearful Symmetries by the very popular American composer John Adams. He relates this opus to pop music and minimalist rock and calls it ‘travelling music’, i.e. music that gives the impression of constant movement in a changing landscape. The programme will also feature works by the well-known Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos, a composer of music full of penetrating lyricism.