Vilnius Festival 2015
VILNIUS FESTIVAL 2015
19th festival
Music Illuminates the World
1–21 June, 2015
Brimming with ideas, the Vilnius Festival has for many years determinedly pursued its mission of illuminating the world. This year’s aspiration is perhaps even more challenging: to put music at variance with the destruction of the world, to create a gigantic opus filled with spiritual harmony, many-voiced melodies, multicoloured timbres, moderate tempos and everyday rhythms emanating with heartening emotions. If this kind of music accompanies the lives of our listeners, we are happy to be part of a buoyant, peaceful and creative society.
Once upon a time, Čiurlionis envisioned the world as a great symphony. Today, 140 years after the genius was born, this symphony is filled with other kinds of sounds, but its arrangement embraces a much wider world than what was contemplated then. Strong bonds with musicians from the furthest corners of the world, guests gathering from various geographical latitudes, strengthen the invaluable feeling of artistic friendship, and reveal a mesmerising diversity of music. This year’s Vilnius Festival also offers a wide geographical sweep: from neighbouring Latvia to furthest China and Martinique; unexpected genres, from a jazz programme projecting the mysteries of an unknown world to the unique Peking Opera; and immortal pages of history, from Bach to the Ode to Joy.
The Vilnius Festival enjoys creative partnerships with many illustrious musicians and European festivals. As a result of new collaborations, the festival welcomes the MDR (Central German Broadcasting) Symphony Orchestra, which will give the Lithuanian première of Extracultural, an opus by the Lithuanian composer Gediminas Gelgotas (commissioned by the Vilnius Festival, it received its world première in the legendary Gewandhaus in Leipzig), a meeting of Italian and Lithuanian ensembles (the renowned Quartetto di Cremona and its protégé the Mettis string quartet), the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, and a bounteous array of international musicians at the closing gala concert and celebration of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. By the way, the 2013 Vilnius Festival, called Primary Musical Summit, featuring leading Lithuanian performers such as Violeta Urmana, gave a notable opening chord to the events of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Welcoming the summer, the Vilnius Festival, one of the biggest musical celebrations in Lithuania, invites audiences to the National Philharmonic Hall, the National Opera and Ballet Theatre, and the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, to meet illustrious masters of sound, and hear fascinating music which illuminates every soul, and the entire world.
Wishing you memorable moments at the festival!
The organisers of the Vilnius Festival