Juris ĀZERS, percussion

Guntars FREIBERGS, percussion

Anna PETRINI, Paetzold recorder

Pavelas GIUNTERIS, percussion

Oskars BOKANOVS, double bass

Agate POOKA, vocals

Artūrs PERTS, bass clarinet

Miķelis FIŠERS, set design

Programme:

Iannis Xenakis, Rebonds A

Iannis Xenakis, Rebonds B

Iannis Xenakis, OKHO

Fausto Romitelli, Seascape

Anna Fišere, Hesychia

Anna Fišere, Hagneia (world premiere)

This is the second programme by the percussionist tandem Juris Āzers and Guntars Freibergs as the resident artists of Cēsis Concert Hall. The concert is conceived as a mirror of contemporary art, synthesizing music and visual arts. The dramatic composition is designed as a feast for the ears and eyes alike. The performance of these outstanding percussionists will merge virtuoso technique with live scenography designed by the inimitable Latvian artist Miķelis Fišers. The concert promises to treat the viewers to a genuinely mystically intense experience.

The programme brings together music by the acclaimed Latvian composer Anna Fišere and the 20^th-century Greek legend that is Iannis Xenakis. The linking element here is RITUAL: on the one hand, mathematically conceptual in two legendary pieces for percussion solo by Xenakis: Rebonds A performed by Juris Āzers and Rebonds B performed by Guntars Freibergs; on the other hand, intuitive and more spontaneous in Anna Fišere’s Hesychia, a piece for chamber ensemble that was selected for the 2024 International Rostrum of Composers.

The main element of intrigue in the programme is represented by the world premiere of Hagneia, Anna Fišere’s large-scale piece for percussion duo. Alongside stage objects, it will feature never-before-seen home-made sound instruments. Some of these sound-making objects have been given a new lease on life after a sad time of forced idleness in scrap metal bins. The sound will be further enriched by a unique bronze spinning bell by the percussionist and percussion maker João Pais Filipe from Portugal, as well as an array of exotic and unusual instruments from various parts of the world. The listeners will truly become witnesses to a metaphysical ritual.

The programme also features Xenakis’ Okho, a piece for a djembe trio that will see Freibergs and Āzers joined by the Lithuanian percussion star Pavelas Giunteris. The special guest of the night, the Swedish virtuoso of the Paetzold recorder Anna Petrini, who is actively appearing in concerts globally, will interpret Fausto Romitelli’s solo piece Seascape.