About

Tonight, Ukrainian conductor Oksana Madarash joins the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. She has been invited to international festivals in Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary. Since 2007, Madarash has been conducting almost every year at the festival Operetta at Kaunas Castle. She has staged operas, operettas and musicals in various theatres. For her services to Ukrainian culture Madarash was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Ukraine in 2019. Since the outbreak of war in 2022, the conductor has been working at the Kaunas State Musical Theatre, conducting performances and concert programmes, and has been actively involved in Lithuanian musical life.

Madarash presents this programme: “The concert opens with an 18th-century gem – Symphony No.1 in C major by one of the founders of Ukrainian symphonic music, Maksym Berezovsky, often dubbed “the little Ukrainian Mozart”. In fact, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Berezovsky may have met at the Bologna Philharmonic Academy, where they studied with Giovanni Battista Martini at a similar time. Nonetheless, their works certainly meet in this concert.

Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov says: “I don’t write new music; my work is a response and echo of what has already been written.” Silvestrov’s The Messenger is a deeply moving work for piano and strings inviting to reflect on how the reflections of history resonate in contemporary music. A special highlight of the evening will be the premiere of the Concerto for accordion, chamber orchestra and percussion by Linas Rupšlaukis, the soloist of which is Tadas Motiečius, a winner of various international competitions and one of Lithuania’s most actively performing accordionists.

The concert will conclude with the splendour of Mozart’s music – the overture to the opera Mitridate, rè di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus) and the wonderful Piano concerto No. 23 in A major, KV 488, featuring Kamilė Zaveckaitė, a winner of many competitions, living in Austria. This programme is dear to me because it reflects the long-standing musical links between eras, cultures and traditions. It is a reminder that art is a living thread that connects the works of the past with the voices of the present. I invite you to join me on this journey through time and sound!”