SPANISH COLOURS

ECHOES OF THE BALTICS

Monika Dars (piano)

The NESSUN DORMA Night Concert Marathon invites audiences to a recital by pianist Monika Dars – a poetic journey through the musical landscapes of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

ECHOES OF THE BALTICS brings together the voices of four distinguished composers from the region: Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Arvo Pärt, Pēteris Vasks and Zita Bružaitė. Their music reflects a distinctly Baltic sensitivity to nature, silence, light and contemplation. Winter and summer landscapes, the vastness of the sea, meditative stillness and poetic imagination merge into a single musical narrative.

At the heart of the programme are works by M. K. Čiurlionis – a selection of Preludes and the Sonata in F major, revealing the unique world of Lithuanian musical Romanticism. Alongside them, audiences will hear both early and mature works by Estonian master Arvo Pärt, the meditative soundscapes of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, and Marios (The Lagoons) by Lithuanian composer Zita Bružaitė, inspired by the spirit of the Baltic seashore.

Monika Dars is an internationally acclaimed pianist whose concert career has taken her throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. As a soloist she has performed with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Lviv Chamber Orchestra, Melomania Symphony Orchestra and the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts Symphony Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with renowned artists including Frans Helmerson, Jan Grimm, Philippe Graffin, Daniel Blumenthal and David Guerrier, and has appeared at major international festivals such as Klara and Musiq3 (Belgium), Aurora (Sweden), Santander (Spain), Harmos (Portugal), Thy (Denmark) and Chopin and His Europe (Poland).

Her artistic achievements have been recognised with numerous international awards, including the Joseph Darche Piano Prize and the Supernova Chamber Music Competition in Belgium, First Prize at the Nordic Strings Chamber Music Competition in Denmark, and Second Prize at the Luigi Nono Competition in Italy. Her recordings have been broadcast by radio and television stations across Europe, and her discography includes the critically acclaimed albums Vasks & Brahms Piano Quartets and Resistance.

Monika Dars studied at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre with Professor Veronika Vitaitė, and later continued her studies at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, and the Bern University of the Arts.

ECHOES OF THE BALTICS is an invitation to discover a musical world shaped by northern light, silence and imagination – a world in which the cultures of three Baltic nations resonate in a shared artistic voice.

Following the concert, audiences are invited to remain for the Media Opera ČIURLIONIS: I SEE MUSIC – a unique theatrical concept created by composer Audronė Žigaitytė. Inspired by the visionary world of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, it combines music, visual art, animation and digital media in a journey where music becomes vision and vision becomes music.