Changing Forecasts and Premiere of a Work by Antanas Kučinskas. LCO, Bazaras Brothers, Karolis Variakojis

Performers:
LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
(artistic director and conductor Sergej Krylov)
Soloists: MOTIEJUS, MYKOLAS and BENEDIKTAS BAZARAS (pianos, keyboards)
Conductor KAROLIS VARIAKOJIS

Programme:
ANTANAS KUČINSKAS – Triple concerto for harpsichord, piano, prepared piano and string orchestra (premiere, commission of the LNPhS, 2026)
OSVALDO GOLIJOV – Tenebrae
MICHAEL GORDON – Weather One

The works on this programme are peculiarly interconnected and complement the overarching theme of transformation and spatiality. Composer Antanas Kučinskas’ new opus, commissioned by the LNPhS will be the highlight of the evening. It will be performed alongside works by internationally acclaimed foreign composers. Kučinskas says of his Triple concerto: “It is a sonic journey through the evolution of keyboard instruments, while also exploring the boundaries of the classical concerto genre. The work consists of three movements (fast–slow–fast), each focusing on a specific solo instrument, thus revealing different historical and aesthetic layers. The innocent ‘play’ that begins in the first movement later modifies: the transformed timbre of the instrument introduces a sense of unease and foreboding. The Triple concerto is not only a dialogue between three soloists and a string orchestra, leaving room for the soloists’ improvisation, but also a symbolic transition from Baroque clarity to today’s existential tension.”

For this opus the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra will be joined by pianists and multi-instrumentalists Motiejus, Mykolas, and Benediktas Bazaras. They are no strangers to a wide variety of musical experiences – from classical piano to the jazz, funk, rock, electronic, and popular music scenes. What do they “foretell” this time? This question will be answered when Kučinskas’ latest opus is performed.

The programme will also offer Weather One, a composition by the renowned American minimalist Michael Gordon, who has visited Lithuania on numerous occasions. The work was inspired by chaotic weather patterns, which he sought to convey through the language of music. Osvaldo Golijov, an Argentine and American composer of Eastern European origin, blends cultural influences from a time when Christians, Jews, and Arabs lived in peace. His music, “flowing from three cultural streams into one,” is also associated with ideas of the mystery of the vast universe. “The compositional challenge was to write music that would sound like a spaceship flying through space, never touching the ground,” Golijov has said.

Tonight, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and soloists will be led by an experienced performer of contemporary music, Karolis Variakojis, principal conductor of the Lithuanian Symphonic Wind Orchestra and a co-founder of the contemporary music ensemble Synaesthesis. He has collaborated with the illustrious Gordon, performed numerous works by him, and received praise from the composer himself.