24th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival

Like every year, the Festival maintains a core of musicians who return every year, while also welcoming guest soloists who visit our island for the very first time, infusing each concert with a fresh and unique perspective. Among the guest artists who will make their debut appearance at the Festival is violinist Kristine Balanas – a musician of “eye-popping virtuosity, a prize winner in the ARD Music Competition, in demand for her “savage, bold, dramatic playing” which makes her an entirely idiosyncratic presence on stage! The Festival will also welcome the return visit of the spectacular first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Daishin Kashimoto, and the celebrated violin virtuoso Svetlin Roussev, First Prize winner of the prestigious Sendai International Competition in 2001.

Another wonderful musician who will appear on the Festival’s stage for the first time is one of the most sought-after violists of our times, Timothy Ridout – a former BBC New Generation Artist and winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award, who has been described by the press as “a performer whose touch could not be surer and whose musical instinct inspires confidence on every level, all conveyed through 24-carat dark-gold tone.” Also making their highly anticipated Cyprus debut are two remarkable German cellists, both First Prize Winners of the prestigious ARD Music Competition and the coveted Echo Klassik Award: the renowned Danjulo Ishizaka, whose performances have been hailed as “an exceptional feat of virtuosity, stamina and memory,” and Julian Steckel – a leading virtuoso of our time, praised for his “masterful and authentic” playing, described as “effortless and unhindered by technical boundaries.” They will be joined by Niek de Groot, one of the world’s most celebrated double-bassists, renowned for his close collaboration with composers such as Kurtág, Stockhausen and Gubaidulina.

The Festival will also feature for the first time the “excellent pianist as well as wise and thoughtful musician” Nikita Mndoyants – First Prize winner of the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition and the 2007 Paderewski International Piano Competition, and as a composer, First Prize winner of the 2014 Myaskovsky International Competition for Composers and the 2016 Prokofiev International Competition for Composers. He will be joined by the illustrious Italian pianist Enrico Pace – whose approach has been praised as “lithe, characterful, and sensitive”, and by the wonderful British pianist Ashley Wass – one of the leading performers of his generation and a regular at the Pharos Festival, who has been described as an “endlessly fascinating artist”, and “possessing the enviable gift to turn almost anything he plays into pure gold”!

After her tremendous success in her Cyprus debut two years ago, the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will welcome the return of one of the world’s most exciting marimbists, Ria Ideta, whose supreme mastery of the marimba promise to transport audiences to new heights of musical ecstasy. It will also feature the long-anticipated return of Paul Meyer – who is unanimously recognised as one of the world’s most outstanding clarinettists, and the world-renowned, multi-winning horn player, Radovan Vlatković, who has been instrumental in popularising the French horn and introducing it to a wider audience.

Last but certainly not least, the Festival will welcome the exceptional soloists who form the core and the backbone of the event each year: the Artistic Director of the Festival, cellist Alexander Chaushian, the incredible violinist Boris Brovtsyn, the young and highly talented Italian violinist Fabiana D’Auria, and the wonderful violists Diemut Poppen, David Abrahamyan and Samuel Barsegian.

Tuesday 27 May – Royal Manor House, Kouklia

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Quintet for Clarinet & Strings in B-flat major (1815)
Paul Meyer (clarinet), Svetlin Roussev (violin), Kristīne Balanas (violin), Samuel Barsegian (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Trio for Clarinet, Cello & Piano in A minor, Op.114 (1891)
Nikita Mndoyants (piano), Paul Meyer (clarinet), Alexander Chaushian (cello)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Quintet in A major, D.667 “Trout” (1819)
Nikita Mndoyants (piano), Kristīne Balanas (violin), David Abrahamyan (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Niek de Groot  (double-bass)

Wednesday 28 May – Royal Manor House, Kouklia

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
String Quartet No.6, Op.80 (1847)
Kristīne Balanas (violin), Svetlin Roussev (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Niek de Groot  (double-bass)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Piano Quintet, Op.14 (1855)
Nikita Mndoyants (piano), Svetlin Roussev (violin), Kristīne Balanas (violin), David Abrahamyan (viola), Danjulo Ishizaka (cello)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Sextet No.2 in G major, Op.36 (1865)
Svetlin Roussev (violin), Kristīne Balanas (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Samuel Barsegian (viola), Danjulo Ishizaka (cello), Alexander Chaushian (cello)

Thursday 29 May – Royal Manor House, Kouklia

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) for Clarinet, Viola & Piano, Op.132 (1853)Paul Meyer (clarinet), Diemut Poppen (viola), Enrico Pace (piano)

W.A Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, K.478 (1785)
Enrico Pace (piano), Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Kristīne Balanas (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Danjulo Ishizaka (cello)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Quartet in A major, Op.26 (1861)
Ashley Wass (piano), Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Julian Steckel (cello)

Friday 30 May – Royal Manor House, Kouklia

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op.40 (1840)
Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Ashley Wass (piano)

Ohad Ben-Ari (b.1974)
Concerto for Marimba - excerpts (2014)
Ria Ideta (marimba), Ashley Wass (piano)

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1994)
“From the New World” arranged by Ria Ideta
Ria Ideta (marimba), Ashley Wass (piano)

Eric Sammut (b.1968)
Sugaria (2002) movement I – arranged by Ria Ideta 
Ria Ideta (marimba), Ashley Wass (piano)

Eric Sammut (b.1968)
Rialto (2007)
Ria Ideta (marimba), Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Niek de Groot  (double-bass), Paul Meyer (clarinet)

Evis Sammoutis (1979)
I radiate for solo marimba (2025) – World Premiere
Ria Ideta (marimba)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Quintet for Piano & Strings in G minor, Op.57 (1940)
Enrico Pace (piano), Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Svetlin Roussev (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello)

Saturday 31 May – Royal Manor House, Kouklia

W.A Mozart (1756-1791)
Horn Quintet in E-flat major, K.407 (1782)
Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), David Abrahamyan (viola), Julian Steckel (cello)

Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960)
Sextet in C major, Op.37 (1935)
Enrico Pace (piano), Paul Meyer (clarinet), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Julian Steckel (cello)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Two Pieces for String Octet, Op.11 (1925)
Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Fabiana D'Auria (violin), Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Svetlin Roussev (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), David Abrahamyan (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Julian Steckel (cello)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
String Octet in E-flat major, Op.20 (1825)
Svetlin Roussev (violin), Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Fabiana D'Auria (violin), Daishin Kashimoto (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Samuel Barsegian (viola), Julian Steckel (cello), Alexander Chaushian (cello)

Sunday 1 June – The Olive Grove, Delikipos

Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra / Yiorgos Kountouris, conductor

Jo
hannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Hungarian Dance No.2 in D minor (1879)

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Piano Concerto No.1 in D-flat major, Op.10 (1911)
Soloist: Nikita Mndoyants (piano)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for four violins in B minor, RV580 (1711)
Soloists: Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Diemut Poppen (violin), Svetlin Roussev (violin), Ela Kallidou (violin)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Romeo and Juliet (overture-fantasia), TH42 (1869)

RIA IDETA marimba
RADOVAN VLATKOVIĆ horn
PAUL MEYER clarinet
NIEK DE GROOT double-bass
ALEXANDER CHAUSHIAN cello
JULIAN STECKEL cello
DANJULO ISHIZAKA cello
SAMUEL BARSEGIAN viola
DAVID ABRAHAMYAN viola
DIEMUT POPPEN viola
TIMOTHY RIDOUT viola
FABIANA D’ AURIA violin
SVETLIN ROUSSEV violin
BORIS BROVTSYN violin
KRISTINE BALANAS violin
DAISHIN KASHIMOTO violin
ASHLEY WASS piano
ENRICO PACE piano
NIKITA MNDOYANTS piano
CYPRUS YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, YIORGOS KOUNTOURIS conductor
Standard
€20
Concessions & Members
€15