June 2015 – upcoming London gigs – North-eastern classical – a London debut for the Baltic Music Society

Baltic Music Society – Inaugural Concert (All Saints Church,, Clydesdale Road, Notting Hill, London W11 1JE, UK, Saturday 20th June, 7.00pm)

The newly-formed Baltic Music Society in London hosts its debut concert of classical chamber music this coming Saturday, in Notting Hill.

This first concert features music by Erkii Sven-Tuur, Jāzeps Vītols and a host of living composers including Arvo Part. It includes the world premiere of a specially commissioned new work – ‘Memories of Lithuania’ by Keith Burstein, a British composer of Lithuanian descent – and music by a wide range of Baltic state composers including Zita Bružaitė, Bronius Kutavičius, Anatolijus Šenderovas, and Ariel Anenburg.

The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia lie on one of the critical geopolitical faultlines of the world and yet still little is known of their culture in the West. However the burgeoning creativity of the region now promises a new wave of cultural riches. The Baltic Music Society exists to explore, present and introduce music from or inspired by the Baltic region. The world refracted through the amber stone of the Baltic – a new light from a new music. Join us at the beginning of this pathway of discovery.

Programme:

Zita Bružaite – Novelette

Bronius Kutavičius – Three Metamorphoses

Jāzeps Vītols – Romance

Erkki-Sven Tüür – Piano Sonata

Keith Burstein – Trio for Viola, Clarinet and Piano, “Memories of Lithuania” (world premiere)

Anatolijus Šenderovas – Cantus in memoriam Jascha Heifetz

Arvo Pärt – Spiegel im Spiegel

Keith Burstein – PianoWorks

Ariel Anenburg – Images

Performers:

Jelena Makarova, Rimantas Vingras, Kristiina Rokashevich, Keith Burstein – piano
Antanas Makštutis – clarinet
Orpheus Papafilippou – violin,
Barbara Gumėnaitė – viola.

Expect a broad range of musical voices, from folk-inspired pieces to torrid, fractured flights of neo-romantic piano through to Pärt’s familiar “holy minimalism”. More information is here, and tickets are available here – price £10.00.

For a few tastes of what’s on offer, I’ve tracked down a few YouTube performances of some of the pieces on the programme – see below:

Tags: Anatolijus Šenderovas, Antanas Makštutis, Ariel Anenburg, Arvo Pärt, Barbara Gumėnaitė, Bronius Kutavičius, chamber ensemble, clarinet music, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Estonia, Jelena Makarova, Jāzeps Vītols, Keith Burstein, Kristiina Rokashevich, Lithuania, London (England), Orpheus Papafilippou, piano music, Rimantas Vingras, The Baltic Music Society (London), viola music, violin music, Zita Bružaitė