V International Joseph Achron Music Festival | The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind

Boris BROVTSYN (violin, Austria)
Monika URBONAITĖ (violin)
Jurgis JUOZAPAITIS (viola)
Gleb PYŠNIAK (cello)
Vytautas GIEDRAITIS (clarinet)

One of the most prominent chamber music evenings of the festival will bring together an exceptional ensemble of performers: internationally acclaimed violinist Boris Brovtsyn, some of Lithuania’s most prominent chamber music artists — violinist Monika Urbonaitė, violist Jurgis Juozapaitis, cellist Gleb Pyšniak — and one of the country’s most important clarinetists, Vytautas Giedraitis. These musicians are united by active concert activity, international experience, and a sensitive sense of chamber music partnership.

Different eras, cultures, and musical languages will meet in the program. Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 — one of the composer’s early chamber music masterpieces, full of romantic tension and lyricism — will be performed. Alongside it, Joseph Achron’s “Elegy” will be presented, sounding in Lithuania for the first time.

At the center of the evening is Osvaldo Golijov’s “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” for clarinet and string quartet, also being presented in Lithuania for the first time. This work is inspired by the figure of the 13th-century Kabbalah teacher Isaac the Blind and the Jewish musical tradition. It echoes with sounds of prayer, chants, klezmer music, and contemporary chamber expression. The clarinet becomes the main narrative voice here — sometimes singing, sometimes weeping or dancing, while the strings create an intense, ever-shifting musical landscape.

This is an evening where the music of different eras and cultures will unfold through a powerful chamber dialogue, combining the sensitivity of Romanticism, echoes of Jewish tradition, and contemporary musical imagination.