As always, the highlight of the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival is the series of chamber concerts at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia – one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture in Cyprus and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Organised for the 19th consecutive year, the Festival encompasses four concerts, from Saturday 1 until Tuesday 4 June 2019, with some of the world’s most celebrated and finest soloists: amongst them, Alexander Ghindin – unanimously acclaimed by critics and music lovers as one of the most charismatic and original pianists of our times and winner in such prestigious competitions as the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (the youngest ever laureate), the International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels, and the Cleveland International Piano Competition; the sensational violinist Christel Lee – First-prize winner of the 2015 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki; violinists Anna Tifu and Doriane Gable as well as pianist Olga Zado – considered amongst the leading female musicians of their generation; the return visits of the remarkable Lars Anders Tomter (described as the “Giant of the Nordic Viola”), and pianist Ashley Wass (described by Gramophone as “a thoroughbred who possesses the enviable gift to turn almost anything he plays into pure gold”), violist David Abrahamyan and cellist Alexander Chaushian. The Festival will also welcome the wonderful Cypriot soprano Zoe Nicolaidou.
