On 28 November, Thursday, at 7 p.m. the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre shall welcome an extraordinary orchestra I, CULTURE. Established by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in 2011, the I, CULTURE Orchestra (ICO) is an ensemble of outstanding young musicians from Poland and the Eastern Partnership member states – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
According to the director of Adam Mickiewicz Institute Mr. Pawel Potoroczyn, "The power and logic of music can reassure us that sooner or later each dissonance will find a proper solution". And so, the mission of the I, CULTURE Orchestra is to foster positive change in the cultural and social development of the countries of Eastern Europe and Southern Caucasus through enterprises of the highest artistic quality. Above all, the I, CULTURE Orchestra is an exquisite ensemble. This year’s edition of the project featured instrumentalists selected from among several hundred candidates. The I, CULTURE Orchestra is also an initiative of enormous social potential, a laboratory of civic education, cooperation and understanding which transcends every division.
The Orchestra’s success has been founded on the universal principles of solidarity, integration and friendship. As an educational project, the ICO enables young talents to change their perspective on their respective artistic surroundings and hone their skills under the supervision of eminent instrumentalists of some of the world’s most prominent orchestras. A flagship project of the Foreign Cultural Programme of the 2011 Polish Presidency of the EU Council, the ICO was inaugurated with a tour of Europe’s most prestigious concert halls (London, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid). The second edition of the project featured concerts in the capitals of the Eastern Partnership member states, while the third ICO tour included visits to Scandinavian and Baltic countries as well as Ukraine.
The programme of the concert in Vilnius shall include M. K. Čiurlionis' symphonic poem "In the Forest", W. Lutoslawski's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra and B. Bartok's Concerto for the Orchestra.
German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, who is the soloist of this concert, has been hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.” Johannes has performed with the world’s leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony and Israel Philharmonic. He works regularly with conductors of the highest level including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Manfred Honeck, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Paavo Jarvi and Semyon Bychkov. Johannes has gained a reputation for his exquisite performances and wide ranging repertoire, much of it recorded on his extensive award-winning discography.
In Vilnius the ICO shall be conducted by conductor Lukasz Borowicz, currently the Artistic Director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He Lukasz Borowicz has appeared as a guest conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish SO, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Wiener Volksoper, Orchestra of the Opera in Marseilles, I Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan, Prague Symphony Orchestra and most of Polish symphony orchestras. His recordings have been awarded two Diapason d’Or Prizes, two Fryderyk Prizes and were nominated for the Midem Classical Awards (2008) and the Preis der Deutschen Schalplattenkritik (2009). They also featured as the BBC Orchestral and Opera Choice on several occasions.
