The Pharos Arts Foundation returns to The Shoe Factory in October to present the 14th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival.
For 14 years, the Festival has introduced Cyprus audiences to the ever-evolving world of contemporary music, providing a crucial platform for composers to collaborate with world-renowned soloists and ensembles. The Pharos Contemporary Music Festival has been a hub for presenting world premieres and introducing neglected 20th-century masterpieces, as well as works by the new generation of composers.
As the Pharos Contemporary Music Festival continues to redefine the cultural landscape of Cyprus, this year’s edition is certain to be an extraordinary sonic journey. Organised from 4 until 13 October 2023 at The Shoe Factory in Nicosia, the 14th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival will present five distinct and exciting concerts, alongside an array of ground-breaking interdisciplinary events, such as lectures, workshops, and educational activities for the youth.
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THE CONCERT AGENDA:
Wed 4 Oct:
VIOLIN & PIANO RECITAL “BIRD PORTRAITS”
PETER SHEPPARD SKAERVED violin & RODERICK CHADWICK piano
The Festival opens with violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved and pianist Roderick Chadwick for a fascinating programme of imaginative works inspired by birdsong. The works they are performing range from the brilliant circle of Bird Portraits by Edward Cowie, through to works by Olivier Messiaen and Robert Saxton, and reach back to the 1600s, when composers across, like Heinrich Biber, were fascinated with birdsong.
Fri 6 Oct:
CONCERT “HYMNS”
ICTUS ENSEMBLE & SOETKIN ELBERS soprano
The second concert of the Festival welcomes the Cyprus debut of one of the most important ensembles of our times, the Brussels-based Ictus Ensemble who will join forces with the fervent voice of the young soprano Soetkin Elbers for a programme inspired by hymns, ancient and modern, intersecting the 9th century hymns of Saint Kassiani of Constantinople with works by John Cage, Dmitri Shostakovich, Salvatore Sciarrino, Michael Pisaro, Tarquinio Merula, Filippo Perocco, James Tenney.
Sun 8 Oct:
PERFORMANCE “CIRCO POBRE”
PASSEPARTOUT DUO
Surprising, unheard-of sounds will be the focus of the third Festival concert as it presents a rare, 45-minute performance by the talented and uniquely resourceful Passepartout Duo – comprising pianist Nicoletta Favari and percussionist Christopher Salvito. The two musicians are continually reassessing the tools they use in order to create their music, and they are developing a specialised and evolving ecosystem of handmade musical instruments. The centrepiece of their performance is the Chromaplane, a new electronic instrument the Passepartout Duo have developed over the past year.
Wed 11 Oct:
CONCERT
NEUE VOCALSOLISTEN & GARETH DAVIS clarinet
The celebrated Neue Vocalsolisten return to The Shoe Factory after ten years for another yet memorable concert. Vocalsolisten have been instrumental in shaping the genre of vocal chamber music theatre, with hundreds of works having been composed especially for them, and with collaborations with other top-class specialist ensembles and orchestras, international opera houses, independent theatre scenes, electronic studios, important festivals and concert series of new music all over the world. In Cyprus, they will join forces with the leading clarinettist Gareth Davis to deliver a programme of electrifying, vibrant and dramatic works by Georges Aperghis, Evis Sammoutis, Zeynep Gedizlioglu and Carola Bauckholt. The concert is kindly supported by the Goethe-Institut Zypern.
Fri 13 Oct:
PIANO RECITAL
PAVLOS ANTONIADIS
The 14th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival concludes with the debut in Cyprus of the renowned Greek pianist, Pavlos Antoniadis. Collaborator of the team interaction-son-musique-mouvement at IRCAM, Antoniadis has collaborated with some of the most important composers of our time. For his recital, Antoniadis will perform an impressive programme of works by François-Bernard Mâche, Iannis Xenakis, Maria Kaoutzani, Hakki Cengiz Eren, Leoš Janáček, and Galina Ustvolskaya.
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INFORMATION & BOX OFFICE:
Pharos Arts Foundation
www.pharosartsfoundation.org & Tel. 22-663871 (Monday – Friday 10:00am-2:00pm)
All concerts begin at 8:30 pm