About

This is the first performance of the recently formed ensemble Baltic Flute Quartet. Leading active performing careers, the Baltic flutists – Lithuanian Giedrius Gelgotas, Estonian Mihkel Peäske, Latvians Reinis Lapa and Andis Klučnieks – have accumulated a great repertoire, and for this concert they have chosen works for flute quartet by Baltic composers. “The title of the concert Viva Musica via Baltica is apt, it is like a journey through our three countries. It will be the first time the audience will hear the opus Saulėlydžio jūros daina (Song of the Sunset Sea), written for our quartet by composer Loreta Narvilaitė,” say the flutists.

As a soloist and member of various ensembles, Giedrius Gelgotas initiates new works, takes care of their performance and dissemination; has won awards in international competitions. He is the concertmaster of the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra’s flute section, as well as one of the founders and members of the Lithuanian Flute Quartet and the St. Christopher Woodwind Quintet. Andis Klučnieks is a Latvian flutist, composer and conductor. He is the winner of the Tina Orsi Anguissola Scotti International Competition in Italy, a recipient of the Diena newspaper Award in Culture and, together with Altera Veritas, the Grand Music Award (the highest prize awarded by the Latvian state in the field of music).

Born into a family of musicians, third-generation flutist Mihkel Paëske is a member of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is the founder of the contemporary music ensemble NYYD Ensemble and a flutist open to all genres from rock to baroque. Reinis Lapa, who lives and works in Liepaja, is a member of the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra. As a flutist and conductor, he has participated in many different orchestral and chamber music projects in Latvia and abroad.