When we listen to music, it seems to us that all we hear are sounds and pauses, and the composer’s job is to use them successfully. However, even in complete silence, the sound remains with us, because as long as we are alive, we are accompanied by the metronome of our pulse. 

The composer’s skill is to change it, to make our hearts beat faster, to beat in unison, to combine not only the sounds but also the people around them. This is how synergy is born, which continues to pulsate in everyone, forcing them to move forward and showing them the way. And this mentoring is the most powerful lever of art.

The pulse of “Contrasts” is the synergy of the heartbeat of the Stanislav Lyudkevych Concert Hall: all the composers whose works were performed in the programs. Soloists whose interpretations went beyond the word “performance”. The orchestras for which these masterpieces were created.

The Academic Symphony Orchestra INSO-Lviv will perform a special program at the Closing of Contrasts. This year, the permanent headliner of the Festival will be joined by the famous Ukrainian violist Kateryna Suprun and the Polish conductor, one of the best of his generation, Vincent Kozlowski. The synergy of their creativity will reveal to the world the breathtakingly beautiful masterpieces of twentieth-century music – and the latest musical experiments. The proposed program will combine the already traditional, magical Fanfares, specially created by Vincent Kozlovsky for his favorite festival, as well as works by Ukrainian famous artists – Svitlana Azarova and Oleksandr Shchetynskyi, which will be performed in Lviv for the first time. 

A separate page of the event will be the outstanding Viola Concerto by Krzysztof Penderecki. This composer wrote music “not with notes, but with sounds” – thus expanding the palette of expressive means of the instrument, the Polish artist created a deep emotional perception of music, planned an unforgettable moment with the delicate atmosphere of art for the audience.

Artists:

• Kateryna Suprun, viola 
• Symphony Orchestra “INSO-Lviv” of the Lviv National Philharmoni

• Vincent Kozlovsky, conductor (PL)

Program:

• Vincent Kozlovsky (1990). “Contrasts Fanfares” (2019)
• Svitlana Azarova (1976, UA/NL). “One Hundred Thirty-One Angstrem” (2014)
• Oleksandr Shchetynskyi (1960). “Franz Josef’s Land” for symphony orchestra (2011) 
• Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020, PL). Concerto for viola and orchestra (1983)

Moderator is Olha Lozynska