Čiurlionis. Sun and Melancholy | Rokas Zubovas, Mihkel Kerem

As part of the extended celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of M. K. Čiurlionis’s birth, violinist Mihkel Kerem and pianist Rokas Zubovas – collaborators for over a decade – expand the composer’s sonic horizon in Čiurlionis. Sun and Melancholy. The programme places Čiurlionis’s music alongside chamber works by legendary composers from Norway, Finland, and Estonia.

Although Čiurlionis wrote no original music for violin and piano, Kerem and Zubovas invite us to consider how his music might sound alongside that of his Nordic contemporaries if the voice of the violin were introduced. The concert features the premieres of two new arrangements for violin and piano: the Nocturne in C-sharp minor and the iconic symphonic poem In the Forest.

Čiurlionis’s work and worldview are rarely considered alongside the spiritual world of Nordic artists. Yet 18 years ago, art historian Laima Marija Petrusevičiūtė’s monograph Melancholy and Sun. Munch and Čiurlionis invited readers to explore parallels between the painting of these two major artists, revealing affinities in their worldviews and artistic thinking.

In this concert programme, pianist Rokas Zubovas and violinist Mihkel Kerem likewise invite audiences to hear how the emotional landscape of Čiurlionis’s musical world – its fragility and subtlety, poetics and themes – intertwines with works by Nordic composers.

• Programme
  M. K. Čiurlionis (1875–1911): Nocturne in C-sharp minor, adaptation for violin and piano; symphonic poem In the Forest, adaptation for violin and piano (premiere)
• E. Grieg (1843–1907): Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major: I. Lento doloroso – Allegro vivace; II. Allegretto tranquillo, III. Allegro animato
• J. Sibelius (1865–1957): 5 Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 79: Souvenir; Danse caractéristique; Sérénade; Tanz-Idylle; Berceuse
• H. Eller (1887–1970): Three Pieces for Violin and Piano

Performers:
Mihkel Kerem (violin)
Rokas Zubovas (piano)

Mihkel Kerem
Award-winning composer, violinist, and conductor Mihkel Kerem is one of the most original and sought-after musicians of his generation. Assistant Concertmaster of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Kerem has composed a vast catalogue of works, including ten symphonies, ten string quartets, numerous concertos, orchestral works, as well as solo and chamber music.

His award-winning composition 1984, based on George Orwell’s novel of the same name, has been performed ten times and adapted into two films in two different languages.

Kerem was Composer-in-Residence at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany, 2002), the Aurora Chamber Music Festival (Sweden, 2009), and the Tallinn Chamber Music Festival (2025). His works have been performed by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Neeme Järvi), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Oulu Sinfonia, Joensuu City Orchestra, Camerata Nordica, and the Chilingirian Quartet.

Kerem’s interest in Čiurlionis’s work spans more than a decade. He composed Without Saying Goodbye (2021) for violin and piano, based on Čiurlionis’s sketches for a violin sonata; A Soul’s Journey (2023) for a ten-piece ensemble, for the play Peer Gynt Meets Čiurlionis; and A Haunting from the Past (2024) for cello and piano, incorporating a fragment of Čiurlionis’s work for cello and orchestra.

Rokas Zubovas
Pianist and Director of the M. K. Čiurlionis House in Vilnius, Prof. Rokas Zubovas is one of the leading champions of Čiurlionis’s legacy worldwide. He has recorded Čiurlionis’s complete piano works and performed them in concert, touring extensively across Europe, Asia, and North and South America with lectures and recitals. Zubovas presents papers at international conferences and edits Čiurlionis’s piano scores. The pianist, who is also Čiurlionis’s great-grandson, portrayed his famous ancestor in the feature film Letters to Sofija (2013).

Zubovas graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and DePaul University in Chicago, later refining his skills at the Heinrich Neuhaus Institute in Switzerland. He has taught at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy in Kaunas.

In 2010, he recorded Čiurlionis’s complete piano works across six CDs. His recordings for piano, piano duo, and various chamber ensembles are featured on more than fifteen CDs.