The Vilnius City Municipality St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra conducted by Modestas Barkauskas will perform a concert devoted to Krzysztof Penderecki on 15 July 2021 at 7 p.m. at the St. Catherine Church in Vilnius. The event with live broadcast by LRT Klasika is a part of the project “Krzysztof Penderecki: Europe in tribute to the Master” carried out by the Polish Composers’ Union in collaboration with foreign partners.

With this concert, we want to commemorate the world-famous composer, conductor and teacher, a long-time Honorary Member and the Honorary President of the Polish Composers’ Union, who passed away on 29 March 2020. The programme includes Penderecki’s Sinfonietta per archi alongside corresponding works by other composers from Poland, including students of the Maestro and winners of the composers’ competitions under his name, as well as a piece by one of the most famous contemporary Lithuanian composers, Raminta Šerkšnytė.

Penderecki’s Sinfonietta is the orchestral equivalent of his String Trio (1990/91). It is a perfect example of a neo-classical work influenced by the Baroque form of concerto grosso with clear references to Bartók’s music. The piece will be juxtaposed with Sinfonietta – Time is ticking written by Penderecki’s student, Maciej Bałenkowski. This motoric piece inspired by the concept of time received the 1st prize in the "Sinfonietta per Sinfonietta" Composition Competition (2018) held under the honorary patronage of Krzysztof Penderecki. The programme will also include Wojciech Kostrzewa’s Novelette (2018, 1st prize in the 3rd Krzysztof Penderecki International Composers’ Competition “Arboretum”), and Andrzej Ojczenasz’s Tech-uniques (2019, 1st prize in the 5th Krzysztof Penderecki Composers’ Competition as part of the 9th NDI Sopot Classic Festival). The concert will be completed by Raminta Šerkšnytė’s early work De profundis (1998), which aims at displaying a wide range of sound possibilities in various orchestral textures.

The project is realised by the Polish Composers’ Union / Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC in partnership with the Vilnius City Municipality St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra with the support of the Polish Institute in Vilnius. Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund.

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Live broadcast: LRT Klasika website, Šv. Kristoforo Kamerinis Orkestras’ Facebook page and YouTube channel.