The “Cello Cēsis” 2016 festival will take place from September 16th – 18th and will offer a rich programme of exquisite music.  Artists from Austria, Great Britain, France, Estonia, Russia and of course Latvia will perform.

Special guest of the Festival, French cellist Marc Coppey is considered to be one of the leading contemporary cellists in the world, and he will perform the opening concert.

The Concert “Cello Divas and Sinfonietta Riga” is eagerly anticipated, and will provide a unique opportunity to hear the two most brilliant female Latvian cellists of the moment - Kristīne Blaumane and Marta Sudraba - who now rarely give concerts in their homeland but have achieved much on the international stage.

The festival’s Chamber music concert will be held at Cēsis Castle in a unique atmosphere, ideally suited for chamber music.

As well as the acoustic concert hall, CC also has a Gallery for visual arts, which showcases the work of professional artists, photographers, sculptors etc.  The first visual arts exhibition of the season will be provided by British photographer Mike Pilkington, marking CC’s first exhibition by a foreign photographer.

Friday, 16th September, 19.00

Cēsis concert hall

CELLO. A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR…

Marc Coppey /cello, France/

Petr Laul /piano, Estonia/

Programme: Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy

French cellist Marc Coppey is considered one of the leading cellists of our time and has performed with 20^th century legends such as Jejudi Menuhinu and Mstislav Rostropovich. Marc performs with the world’s leading orchestras and plays in the world’s most prestigious concert halls. He has also gained critical acclaim for his musical recordings. He is the Artistic Director of the Colmar Chamber Music Festival.

His musical partner in this concert will be Estonian piano-player Petr Laul, known for his brilliant technique and musicality. He is a laureate of many international music contests.

In this concert you will hear sonatas and miniatures from Beethoven and Brahms. Camille Saint-Saëns “Swan” will be one of the chamber music highlights of this concert.

Saturday, 17th September, 15.00

Cēsis castle

CONCERT FOR CELLO AND VOICE    

Silvia Ilves /cello, Estonia/, Māra Botmane /cello, Latvia/, Ksenija Kuchukova /soprano, Estonia/

The Estonian artists – cellist Silvia Ilves and singer Ksenija Kuchukova - together with Latvian cellist Māra Botmane will perform a special programme for “Cello Cēsis” based around Italian contemporary composer Alessandro Viele’s  “Songs of the spring”, as well as Latvian and Estonian pieces composed for cello.

Saturday 17 September, 18.00

Cēsis concert hall, Insignia art gallery

FORMAL OPENING OF PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

Featuring pictures by British photographer, Mike Pilkington. Dublin-based Mike is a Senior Exec by day, but also a passionate and fast-developing art photographer who is considering a move into full-time professional art photography.

He is a member of FIAP (La Fédération Internationale de I’Art Photographique ) , Medal winner at the Vienna Salon 2015, Trierenberg Super Circuit - “the largest art photo contest in the world" . He has been accepted for exhibition more than 80 times in more than 20 Internationally Regulated Salons (competitions) in 13 different countries.

Saturday, 17th September, 19.00

Cēsis concert hall

CELLO DIVAS AND SINFONIETTA RĪGA

Kristīne Blaumane and Marta Sudraba /cello, Latvia/

State Chamber Orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga”

Solo Boriss Brovcin /violin, Great Britain/

Conductor Normunds Šne

Program: Johannes Brahms, Dmitri Shostakovich, Giovanni Sollima

A unique opportunity to see and hear on the same stage Latvian cellists Kristīne Blaumane and Marta Sudraba who nowadays rarely perform in Latvia.

Kristine Blaumane has won many prestigious contests and prizes and has been the Lead cello in the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2007. She will perform Johannes Brahms Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra together with violinist Boriss Brovcin.

Cellist Marta Sudraba currently lives in Vienna and plays with the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.

Sunday, 18th September, 12.00

Cēsis concert hall

CELLO FAIRY TALES

Concert for children with cello group MELO M