UILLEANN PIPES SYMPHONY: Mark Redmond, Lithuanian Symphonic Wind Orchestra | VILNIUS WINDS

"The Vilnius Winds festival continues the tradition of presenting the brightest names in wind music. This year's programme emphasizes international fellowship and creative diversity. The festival stage will come alive with virtuosic stars from Ireland, Spain, and Norway, alongside world premieres and rare, masterfully crafted wind music rarely heard in our country. The festival’s host, the Lithuanian Symphonic Wind Orchestra, will once again prove that wind music knows no boundaries, bringing even the boldest creative visions to life.

The festival's opening concert in the LVSO Concert Hall will feature music by Spanish composer Óscar Navarro, conducted by the composer himself. Navarro is one of the most prominent figures on the international wind instruments music scene today. His work transcends the traditional framework of wind music, freeing the orchestra from rigid academic standards. By blending Spanish identity with global styles and bringing the cinematic sweep of film scores to the concert stage, he tells vivid stories through sound. He also embraces theatricality – frequently transforming the musicians into actors who vividly project the colors of different cultures.

At the festival, as every year, the Lithuanian Symphonic Wind Orchestra presents a programme dedicated to avant-garde contemporary music, prepared by the recognized interpreter of contemporary music and the orchestra's chief conductor Karolis Variakojis. The concert will feature the work of Mauricio Kagel, a definitive pioneer of instrumental theater.

The culmination of the festival is a concert at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic hall, where we will hear the most prominent Irish bagpiper of our time, Mark Redmond. The concert will feature the world premiere of a work specially commissioned by the festival – a large-scale composition for symphonic wind orchestra and uilleann pipes by composer Shaun Davey (Ireland). This concert is organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Ireland, to commemorate the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The festival will draw to a stunning close with a performance by the unique Norwegian wind ensemble, tenThing. The ensemble formed by the famous trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth has today become a true symbol of Scandinavian craftsmanship and creative energy. This group of ten talented women shatters stereotypes surrounding the 'masculine' nature of brass instruments, performing a vast repertoire that spans from Baroque masterpieces to jazz standards and contemporary compositions.

We hope that this year's festival will open up spaces of discovery for you, and we hope that the dialogue between traditions and modern forms of expression born during the concerts will become an inspiring experience."

Artistic Director of the Lithuanian Symphonic Wind Orchestra
Prof. Dr. Antanas Kučinskas