V International Joseph Achron Music Festival | Song of Memory

Giedrius ARBAČIAUSKAS (narrator)
Dalia DĖDINSKAITĖ (violin)
Gleb PYŠNIAK (cello)

Program

• TEXT: Grigory Kanovich
• MUSIC: M. K. Čiurlionis, C. Cui, Duettissimo, M. Ravel, A. Šenderovas

The program “Song of Memory” is born from the texts of writer, humanist, and Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts laureate Grigory Kanovich. In his work, Vilnius opens up not only as a city, but also as a space of memory, lost voices, coexistence of cultures, and human dignity.

Based on Kanovich’s essay “A Dream of the Lost Jerusalem,” a sensitive literary and musical narrative is created about a city where different nations, languages, destinies, and faiths met. Here, word and sound complement each other: the read texts become the inner voice of the city of Vilnius, while the music opens up what remains beyond words — longing, silence, light, and the fragility of memory.

The program features music by M. K. Čiurlionis, César Cui, Duettissimo, Maurice Ravel, and Anatolijus Šenderovas. Works from different eras and styles are connected not as separate numbers, but as parts of a seamless dramaturgy that accompanies the world of Kanovich’s texts — from lyrical contemplation to painful historical memory and hope.

This chamber evening will be created by actor Giedrius Arbačiauskas, violinist Dalia Dėdinskaitė, and cellist Gleb Pyšniak. They will invite the audience to listen to the memory of Vilnius — personal and shared, fragile and alive.