First season of concerts at the new Karosta Chamber Hall

The new Karosta Chamber Hall is pleased to invite you to the first 5-concert season of "Autumn of Sounds in Karosta". The Hall is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in Karosta, at 1 Pulkveža Brieža Street. The chamber music concerts will be held every second weekend from 9 September to 4 November, offering to the public the sounds and moods of autumn by five outstanding but very different music ensembles.

At its opening concert earlier this summer, the Karosta Chamber Hall revealed the splendour and acoustics of what was once the officers' residence built during the tsarist era. The building's owner, Lithuanian choral conductor Rasa Gelgotiene, has restored and furnished the gilded ornate hall with golden angels, decorations and colourful stained-glass windows, thinking of it as mini-concert hall. "The Karosta Chamber Hall is a fresh new pearl in Liepāja's cultural space, with its own characteristic Karosta vide," says Baiba Vigule, project manager of the Association "Baringtons K2" and one of the organisers of the concerts.

September concerts are scheduled for Saturdays. On 9 September at 15.00, the series will be opened by an outstanding flute and classical guitar duo - Reinis Lapa and Miks Akots. Their programme is inspired by two continents - Europe and South America, two dances - waltz and tango - and two composers - Enrique Granados and Astor Piazzolla. South America or Europe will appear alongside these glamorous dances, accompanied by lively sketches composed by other composers.

The second concert on 23 September, will take place a bit earlier, at 13.00, with “Trio Tresensus”, an ensemble that has already made a name for itself in academic music, performing in Liepāja for the first time. The kokle player Līga Griķe, saxophonist Aigars Raumanis and percussionist Uģis Upenieks have put together Latvian chamber music pieces. They made own arrangements of Gundega Šmitė's "Three Variations on Latvian Folk Songs", Uģis Prauliņš' miniature "Interlude" and Emīls Dārziņš' "Melancholic Waltz". We will also hear original music created for this ensemble by young composers Renats Cvečkovskis and Kārlis Rērihs.

October concerts in the Karosta Chamber Hall will take place on Sundays. On 8 October at 15.00 we will hear an extraordinary string duo, featuring the Latvian harpist Darta Tisenkopfa-Muselli and the Italian violist Giulia Arnaboldi. They will perform original works for viola and harp by composers of the 20th century, as well as a solo work for viola composed in 2021, taking you into a contemporary mood.

On 22 October at 13.00, you will hear a coloratura soprano guest soloist Gunta Gelgote from the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, flautist Giedrius Gelgotas (Lithuania) from the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and pianist Aija Kuzmane.

They have chosen music by the Latvian composers Renata Stivriņa, Laura Dubina and Georgs Pelēčs - the original scores written for the team.

On Saturday, 4 November at 15.00, the cycle will follow the Patriotic Month celebrations and will be closed by the National Armed Forces Staff Orchestra Clarinet Quartet "Quattro Differente", the longest-standing ensemble of the orchestra with almost 25 years of experience performing in Latvia and abroad. The programme will include works of various Baltic composers.

The concerts are organised by the Association "Baringtons K2" and supported by the Liepāja Culture Department and the National Armed Forces. The first four concerts’ tickets are available at the "Biļešu paradīze" website, while the last concert in November, featuring the NAF Staff Orchestra Clarinet Quartet "Quattro Differente", is free of charge. For more information about the concerts, please visit www.facebook.com/Karostaskamerzale

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