“We go to Saint Petersburg as messengers for Latvia playing Latvian music – the trademark of our orchestra – but we will also play other compositions from a wide musical spectrum. All the works performed at the concert are masterpieces – Pēteris Vasks’ concerto, Distant Light, will introduce Saint Petersburg to the brilliant violinist Mark Bushkov, while Markus Lindberg’s composition displays a completely different facet of the orchestra. It is a great honour to play in this concert hall!” said conductor Normunds Šnē before the event.
“The Distant Light violin concerto is a beacon of Pēteris Vasks’ creative work. It has entered our bloodstream – each note is our companion,” says Normunds Šnē. It was through this composition that the orchestra met the violinist Mark Bushkov last year in Germany.
Born in France and currently living in Belgium, Mark Bushkov has been a finalist and laureate of several prominent competitions, including the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Brussels (2012) and the Montreal International Music Competition (2013). This season he also had his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam under the baton of the famous Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons. In May, Mark Bushkov performed at Sinfonietta Riga's season-closing concert in Riga.
The Musical Collection international festival in Saint Petersburg celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. In honour of this milestone, several prominent musicians are taking part, including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov and Vassily Sinaisky, pianist Nikolai Lugansky, cellists Alexander Knyazev and Natalia Gutman, organists Axel Flierl and Hans Ole Thers, violinist Arabella Steinbacher and other outstanding artists.
The Sinfonietta Riga chamber orchestra concert in Saint Petersburg was part of the Latvian EU Council Presidency cultural programme which has contemporaneity, uniqueness and excellence as its core values.
