The St. George Art Season will take place from June 2 to 26.
Why does Edmund Seilius, who actively performs concerts and sings at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre, also need the St. George Art Season? “Sometimes I get tired running between jobs, but I was raised to finish what I start. Only here you can’t see the end,” he laughs. “But the concerts attract such an audience that if the venue has fewer than 150 seats, even standing people can’t fit. People are interested, they come willingly, and we try to cater to everyone’s taste. By the way, I noticed that the festival attracts not only people from Marijampolė – I see music lovers I’ve met at the Vilnius or Kaunas Philharmonics. As long as people need it, this work has meaning.”
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One of the reasons attracting music lovers to Marijampolė is that some concerts take place only there and are one-time events. Moreover, every year the organizers strive to open new or long-unperformed scores, premieres take place here. “We observe what is missing on our stages and try to compensate for it. Now I see a lack of vocal symphonic music,” says Edmund Seilius. There will indeed be quite a lot of it at the St. George Art Season.
“We start the festival with a celebration to gather the audience who regularly come to us – the park is always full of people. Since this year’s programs have many French motifs, we decided to hold a French evening ‘Soiree Francaise’ for the festival opening. We gathered beautiful, rarely heard music,” says Edmund Seilius. The audience will hear not only fragments from Georges Bizet’s operas but also French operettas, works from composers Reynaldo Hahn and Francis Lopez’s repertoire. There will also be chanson and contemporary melodies. They will be performed by the VDU Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Vytautas Lukočius, with mezzo-soprano Evelina Volodkovič, sopranos Kristina Zmailaitė and Barbora Seiliūtė, baritone Laimonas Pautienius, and the festival organizer himself, tenor Edmund Seilius.
The piano trio “FortVio,” celebrating its 20th anniversary with concerts across Lithuania, will visit Marijampolė on June 4. At the city’s cultural center, pianist Indrė Baikštytė, violinist Ingrida Rupaitė, and cellist Povilas Jacunskas will perform a program exclusively of Lithuanian composers’ works.
“We invite ensembles that have never been to Lithuania. Such is the women’s vocal sextet ‘Equillibrium’ from Austria, which will perform the concert ‘Gesang zwischen dir und mir’ on June 8 at the Marijampolė Evangelical Lutheran Church. Their program is completely new, very interesting; I doubt people have heard those pieces. Why not show such a thing in Lithuania, in Marijampolė?” – the festival organizer presents the program, in which the chamber vocal ensemble will perform modern secular and Baroque church music.
For several years now, the St. George Art Season has paid special attention to the exceptionally talented but undeservedly forgotten composer and artist Konstancija Brundzaitė (1942–1971). Her vocal works, distinguished by Lithuanian character, deep texts, and innovative sound, will be performed on June 11 at the Beatrice Kleizaitė-Vasaris Art Gallery by soprano Barbora Seiliūtė, bass Egidijus Dauskurdis, and pianist Arūnas Staškus.
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This year the world commemorates the 150th anniversary of the famous Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. On June 15, at the Marijampolė Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra and soloists – violinist Gerald Bidva and guitarist Sergejus Krinicinas – will perform at the concert “Spanish Colors” dedicated to this occasion. Not only de Falla’s works will be played, but also Spanish tango melodies.
On June 19, at the Marijampolė Cultural Center, the St. George Art Season, together with the Tytuvėnai Festival, will present the project “Johannes Brahms – Love Songs and Waltzes.” The audience will hear a format rarely performed in concert halls – a vocal quartet. The piano duo of Justas Šervenikas and Estonian Johan Randvere will accompany the vocal quartet with four hands, consisting of soprano Kristina Zmailaitė, Austrian mezzo-soprano Christiane Marie Riedl, tenor Edmund Seilius, and Belgian bass-baritone Sebastien Parotte. “Performing Brahms’ ‘Love Songs and Waltzes’ is difficult but very interesting; those four voices intertwine beautifully,” says the tenor who will appear in several concerts of his festival.
On June 22, at Marijampolė’s “Cat’s Courtyard,” there will be a light French-sounding program “Cafe de Paris.” Popular pieces will be performed by an unusual quartet: guitarist and vocalist Chris Ruebens, accordionist Nerijus Bakula, violinist Tadas Dešukas, and drummer Andrius Kairys.
At the festival closing on June 26, at the St. Michael the Archangel Basilica, a premiere in Lithuania will take place – two Claude Debussy works never before performed here: “L’Enfant prodigue” (“The Prodigal Son”) and “La demoiselle elue” – the story of a nun conveyed by two soloists and a women’s choir. These are two lyrical scenes with biblical themes, which can also be considered cantatas. Performers include the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dainius Pavilionis, the State Choir “Vilnius,” soprano Kristina Zmailaitė, mezzo-soprano Evelina Volodkovič, tenor Edmund Seilius, and baritone Romanas Kudriašovas.
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All St. George Art Season concerts are free. The full program is here.
