The 10th edition of the festival Music at Jašiūnai Manor, celebrating its first jubilee, will open in Jašiūnai on 6 July. Classical and traditional music from different nations will be performed in the Jašiūnai Manor on Sundays until 17 August. The free concerts, as every year, will bring together the historical venue, nature and the sounds of music.

“It is highly gratifying that, despite various challenges, the festival Music at Jašiūnai Manor is celebrating its first 10th anniversary. We are looking forward to a truly rich festive programme, in which each of us will discover an artistic miracle. Let music unite us all,” says Zdzislav Palevič, Mayor of Šalčininkai District Municipality.

The festival programme covers a wide geographical range of artists. Listeners will be treated to musical greetings not only from Lithuania, but also from Poland and distant exotic lands. The seven concerts of the 10th season of the festival will gather classical, contemporary, traditional Azerbaijani, Argentinian and Portuguese music. Not only Jašiūnai Manor’s unique history and museum exhibitions will draw the visitors, but also the abundance of professional music concerts. According to the staff of the Šalčininkai District Municipality Culture Centre, it is very pleasing that rich musical afternoons every year stimulate cultural tourism and contribute significantly to the cultural attractiveness of the district.

Music at Jašiūnai Manor is a beautiful and successful result of the cooperation between the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society and the Šalčininkai District Municipality Culture Centre, embodying one of the Philharmonic Society’s goals – to work closely with the regions by organising festivals in various parts of Lithuania. Rūta Prusevičienė, Director of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, is delighted that the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society’s resident ensembles enjoy performing at Jašiūnai Manor in summertime, where they join forces with other performers not only from Lithuania, but also from abroad. “Every year, Jašiūnai Manor becomes an attractive cultural venue where listeners and performers from different cities meet,” says Prusevičienė.

The festival will start on a solid note. The opening concert on 6 July, Giesmė M. K. Čiurlioniui – 150 (Chant to M. K. Čiurlionis – 150), will be dedicated to the significant anniversary of M. K. Čiurlionis. The concert will program music not only by Čiurlionis, but also by his contemporaries Bohuslav Martinů from the Czech Republic and Claude Debussy from France, as well as the famous film music composer Ennio Morricone and contemporary Lithuanian composers. The concert will feature the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society’s resident Chamber Ensemble Musica Humana and soloists: soprano Dovilė Kazonaitė, pianist Sonata Alšauskaitė, flutist Ieva Kuprevičiūtė and Motiejus Bazaras, who will be playing the exotic Ondes Martenot or the theremin. 

On 13 July, Tango Pasión de Buenos Aires concert will offer a musical surprise from far away Argentina. Vocalist Noelia Moncada, captivating audiences with her exceptional vocal technique, expressive and emotional performances, will perform together with Spanish pianist Néstor Zarzoso. The concert programme will focus on traditional Argentine tango.

On 20 July, the Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense, performing on period instruments, is already familiar to the festival audience. The orchestra will be conducted by Maestro Adam Banaszak in the concert Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and will feature music by contemporary Polish composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Wojciech Kilar as well as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Little Serenade of the Night) and the works of Motiejus Radvila, the composer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

On 27 July, Polish soprano Aldona Bartnik and Japanese pianist Naruhiko Kawaguchi will present a rare opportunity to hear not only the audience’s favourite piano opuses by Fryderyk Chopin, but also the composer’s songs for voice and piano, rarely heard in Lithuanian concert halls. Bartnik, a certified early music specialist, and Kawaguchi, who has devoted his professional life to Chopin’s music, will offer a vivid programme of Chopin’s works for voice and piano.

The concert Mugham Virtuosi from the Land of Fire. “Sahib Pashazade Duo” on August 3 will add an exotic spin to the festival. Performers from Azerbaijan Sahib Paşazadə and Kamran Karimov will play traditional Azerbaijani instruments, perform traditional Azerbaijani music mugham and original compositions based on it. Mugham has been declared by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity and is also included in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The concert will also feature Lithuanian performers – the Čiurlionis Quartet and cellist Donatas Bagurskas.

Probably no summer festival is complete without the nostalgic and sensual Portuguese fado, and it will be part of Music at Jašiūnai Manor too. On 10 August, the festival will host the Portuguese Francisco Moreira, one of the most prominent names in contemporary fado. His melodious, enchanting voice and authentic fado performances captivate audiences across Europe. Moreira will perform with his band.

The festival will close with a colourful fiesta of symphonic music. On 17 August, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra will appear at Jašiūnai Manor under the baton of the Orchestra’s artistic director and principal conductor Modestas Pitrėnas, with cellist Gaudas Paulius Krištaponis, oboe player Viktoras Palejus and harpist Joana Daunytė as soloists. The symbolic motif of the 150th anniversary of Čiurlionis’ birth at the opening concert will be highlighted here by the performance of his overture Kęstutis. The programme will also include impressively virtuoso works for soloists and orchestra. At the end of the concert, a surprise awaits the audience – a transcription for symphony orchestra of Ferenc Liszt’s famous Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C minor.

The festival is funded by the Šalčininkai District Municipality, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, as well as the Marshal of Masovia Province, the sponsor of the concert of the Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra of Period Instruments “Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense”. All Festival concerts are free of charge and start at 15.00. We invite you to enjoy beautiful musical summer.

LNF inf.