History

The concert of the festival came to Deltuvafor the first time

Four days, four concerts, and performers from five countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, France, and Malta. It’s the world premiere of the work. This is a short description of the 14th traditional international percussion music festival ‘Percussion Ukmergė 2018’.

The festival began on the 8thof March with a concertfor women. During the opening ceremony, the patron of the festivalVygaudas Ušackas,who isthe honorary citizen ofUkmergė district,welcomed everybody by sending the video greeting. The percussion ensemble ‘Perpetuum Ritmico’ from Latvia and the Chizhik-Jazz-Quartet from Russia came to impress and entertainwoman.

The versatility of ‘Perpetuum Ritmico’musicianshas more than once convinced the audience of the festival. The spectators of the first concert in Deltuva were fascinated. Some listeners, whohad seen percussion instruments for the first time and have not heard their sound before, could hear marimba, vibraphone, or timpani. In the concert, the young 26-27-year-old performers not only played all these instruments, but also demonstrated how the floor could sound, and performed a musical work only by using their palms.

The members of this ensemble played with spoons on the table at the ‘Friends Concert’ in Taujėnai Manor, and during the commemoration of the 11th ofMarch, they played with rods and buckets by the monument ‘Lituania restituta’in Ukmerge.

Chizhik-Jazz-Quartet from Russia performedin the second part of the concert to women. Drum, piano, and bass guitar melodies supported the sound of vibraphone. Alexey Chizhik, the leader of this jazz music ensemble, also played in Taujėnai manor.

Almost all participants of the festival were seen inthe Friends Concertin Taujėnai manor. Not only did they play the solo, they also made unexpected duets. For example, Alexey Chizhik played with a guest from France Adelaide Ferriere. We also saw the regular participants of the festival – the ensemble ‘Giunter Percussion’, where Pavel Giunter, Sigitas Gailius and Tomas Kulikauskas played. At the end of the concert, all musicians united in the ensemble and eleven participants of the festival performed a very energetic samba for the audience, which was appreciated and repeated.

On the 11th ofMarch, the closing concert of the festival began with the delivery of ‘Mayor’s Award’.The Mayor of the district Rolandas Janickas presented the token to Antanas Pocius, who is themethodologist of the Ukmerge Art school,the founder and leader of the mixed choir of Ukmerge Culture Center ‘Vyturys’,on the Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania. Gražvyda Tušienė, who is the manager of the cultural activities of Ukmergė Culture Center, was awarded the ‘Mayor’s Award’ for active cultural practice, promotion of cinema and professional art in Ukmerge district.

The Latvian chamber orchestra, led by the guest of the festival and one of the world’s leading conductors, the charismatic Brian Schembri from Malta,performedin the closing concert. The orchestra performed four works with different soloists. Pavel Giunter (vibraphone) and Sigitas Gailius (marimba), a young womanAdelaide Ferriere (marimba), who has already won world-wide fame, the Latvian pianistMartinš Zilberts and the art director of the festival Edgars Saksons from Latvia have appeared on the scene. By the way, Edgars Saksons opened the festival and closed it by greeting the audience in Lithuanian.

The world premiere of the ‘Pentimenti’ (for string orchestras and percussionists) by the Maltese composer K. Fiorini took place in the closing concert of the festival. Though this piece is intended for the capital of Malta, Valletta, which was declared European Capital of Culture this year, the work was first performed in Ukmerge.

Musicologist Darius Užkuraitis conducted all festival concerts.

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Darius Varnas

Ukmergė District Municipality Mayor Darius Varnas

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