Gala concert of the festival “World Piano Stars Salute M. K. Čiurlionis”

Programme:
MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS –
Theme, variations and finale in D major, VL 151
      Performed by ANDREW BROWNELL

Piece for piano in A minor Miražas (Mirage), VL 175 
Elegy in D minor, VL 191
Piece for piano No. 3, Op. 19, Lakštingala (Nightingale), VL 268 
Prelude in D flat major No. 3, Op. 29, VL 250
Humoresque in G minor, VL 162
Variations Bėkit, bareliai (Run, You Fields), VL 279
Prelude in F major /A minor, VL 188
      Performed by GUSTAV PIEKUT

Nocturne in C sharp minor, VL 183
Prelude in F sharp major Viešpaties angelas (Angelus Domini), VL 184
Prelude in B major Svajonėlė (Reverie), VL 18
Prelude in F sharp minor Ruduo (Autumn), VL 264
Impromptu in F sharp minor, VL 181
Prelude in A major, VL 335
Prelude in F sharp minor, VL 185
Nocturne in F sharp minor, VL 178
      Performed by SZYMON NEHRING

Theme and six variations on Sefaa esec theme, Op. 15, VL 258
Prelude in G major, VL 338
Prelude in augmented G mode, VL 339
Prelude in D minor Motule mano (Oh, My Dear Mother), VL 340
Prelude in G minor, VL 342
Prelude in G minor, VL 343
Prelude in D minor, VL 344
Fugue in B flat minor, VL 345
      Performed by DMITRY MAYBORODA

MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS–ROKAS ZUBOVAS – Pokalbis, kurio niekada nebuvo (The Conversation that Never Was)
      Performed by ROKAS ZUBOVAS

The festival World Piano Stars Salute M. K. Čiurlionis will conclude with a gala concert, where five world-renowned pianists will salute Čiurlionis on his birthday.

Symbolically, the gala concert will take place on the exact day of Čiurlionis’ birth, so the concert programme will be, as one might say, a concise retrospective of the piano music of the ambassador of our culture and identity.

Andrew Brownell, who will open the concert, is appreciated by music critics for the creative and consummate programmes as well as interpretive insight. He is the only American pianist to have won the major International Bach Piano Competition in Leipzig.

While still a student, Gustav Piekut captured the attention of the audience with his impeccable technique, intelligence and sheer power. The pianist’s second album, released in 2024 on the renowned NAXOS label, was praised by the BBC: “Piekut hit the sweet spot between technical accuracy and off-the-cuff brilliance.”

Szymon Nehring’s touring stretches not only across Europe, but also to other continents. In 2017, Nehring became the only Polish pianist so far to win one of the world’s biggest Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competitions in Tel Aviv. This achievement paved his way to the world’s most important concert halls.

Dmitry Mayboroda’s career took off when he won prizes at the prestigious Clara Haskil (Switzerland) and Premio Jaén (Spain) international piano competitions. In recent years, Mayboroda has performed with the most renowned orchestras in Europe.

The concert will close with the performance of pianist Rokas Zubovas, director of the M. K. Čiurlionis House in Vilnius and great-grandson of M. K. Čiurlionis. He has recorded and performed all of Čiurlionis’ works for piano. He researches Čiurlionis’ oeuvre and shares his expertise in lectures in Lithuania and abroad. This time, the pianist will perform his own original paraphrase on the themes of M. K. Čiurlionis.

Concert organisers: the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, PI Tytuvėnai Festival, M. K. Čiurlionis House

The concert is partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality