XVIII INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE FESTIVAL "POKROV BELLS" INVITES ITS VISITORS ONCE AGAIN
For the 18th time, the international folklore festival "Pokrov Bells" will delight its visitors with exceptional concerts, programmes and performances. The events will take place on 8th-12th November at St Catherine's Church, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Vilnius University, Vilnius Town Hall, etc.
On November 8th, the Festival will kick off with a spectacular opening concert, Folklore and the Present, at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic. The world premiere of Mindaugas Stumbras' World Music project SPELL, based on Ukrainian traditional music, will take place in the LNF Great Hall. The concert will bring together performers from Lithuania, Ukraine and Sakartvelo: the folk ensemble Sviato, the K. Vardeli String Quartet, and many other musicians, including the trombone-playing composer Jievaras Jasinskis, pianist Julija Lankė, and the author of the piece Mindaugas Stumbras, who has mastered the classical guitar and the Arabian Oud himself. The concert will be conducted by Levan Jagaev, a young, but well-known conductor in his country, Sakartve, and in Europe.
In the second part of the concert, the Living Tradition will present Lithuanian and foreign traditional music groups. The audience will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by folklore ensembles from Armenia, Spain, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Norway, Sakartvelo, Ukraine and unique examples of traditional choreography. The ensembles' programmes will be performed a cappella or accompanied by archaic folk instruments.
On November 9th, a scientific conference will be held on the theme "Personality in folklore: collector, performer, master and researcher". The conference will also focus on the living heritage of Vilnius - the traditional culture of Lithuania's national communities.
An unforgettable evening of Kartvelian polyphonic masterpieces performed at the Theatre Hall of Vilnius University by the Vilnius beloved ensemble Bedinera from the Megrelia region promises to be an unforgettable experience. This genre of music is included in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Unique traditions will invite you to a concert of Lithuanian and foreign folklore ensembles, and the Folk Dance Evening will be full of traditional dances, singing and meetings.
On November 10th premises of the Lithuanian Minority Folklore and Ethnography Centre will be transformed into a Traditional Singing Laboratory. In the evening, the audience will be treated to Music for Gourmets with performances by foreign and Lithuanian folklore groups - a concert by the Ukrainian folklore ensemble "Drevo" from Kiev and other guests will take place at St Catherine's Church.
On November 11th, the festival will move to Vilnius Town Hall. There, there will be a fair of folk art and culinary heritage, as well as creative workshops on traditional crafts for children and adults. A marathon concert will present artistic portraits of the Festival participants, and the day will be crowned by the sound of Ukrainian Cossack songs and Lithuanian sutartinės. These are some more unique examples of UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage included in the Festival programme.
November 12th Vilnius will be 700 years old. On the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Vilnius, festival participants from foreign countries will take part in guided tours of Vilnius. Participants will visit historical sites, churches, museums and galleries.
The “Pokrov Bells” Festival is looking forward to welcoming both its loyal and first-time audiences.
The organisers would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Festival's partners: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius City Municipality, Lithuanian National Radio and Television.
Tickets for concerts at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic and St Catherine's Church are distributed by KAKAVA.LT
Information from the organisers
Vilnius turns 700:
XVIII INTERNATIONAL FOLKLOR FESTIVAL "POKROV BELLS"
(Vilnius, Lithuania)
PROGRAMME
Wednesday November 8th
19:00
Lithuanian National Philharmonic (Aušros vartų str. 5)
FOLKLORE AND THE PRESENT. Festival Opening Concert
Part 1
International premiere of Mindaugas STUMBRAS World Music project "SPELL"
Based on Ukrainian traditional music
Artists:
Ukrainian folklore ensemble "SVIATO" (artistic director Arina Zakharova):
Tetiana SOPILKA (ethnic vocals, Ukraine)
Sergey OHRIMCHUK (violin, ethnic vocals, Ukraine)
Arina ZACHAROVA (ethnic vocals)
Nikolaj ZACHAROV (ethnic vocals)
Viktor ŽABROV (ethnic vocals)
Luka MEBONIA (ethnic vocals, Sakartvel)
Giorgi SHANAVA (ethnic vocals, Sakartvel)
Irena ROKICKA (ethnic vocals, Norway)
K.VARDELI STRING QUARTET (Sakartvelo):
Konstantine EROYAN (1st violin)
David AKOPIAN (2nd violin)
Ekaterine GARDAVADZE (viola)
Giorgi NADAREISHVILI (cello)
Julija LANKĖ (piano)
Jievaras JASINSKIS (trombone)
Gediminas STEPONAVIČIUS (double bass)
Laurynas LAPĖ (trumpet)
Karolis ŠARKUS (saxophone)
Domantas RAZMUS (percussion)
Andrius REKAŠIUS (percussion)
Mindaugas STUMBRAS (classical guitar, Arabic udas)
Conductor Levan JAGAEV (Sakartvelas)
Part 2
A LIVING TRADITION:
Performances by Lithuanian and foreign folklore groups
Tickets distributed by KAKAVA.LT
Thursday November 9th
10.00
Vilnius University, Room 238 (Universiteto str. 3)
SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE
Personality in folklore: collector, performer, master and researcher.
Traditional culture of ethnic communities - the living heritage of Vilnius
18.00
Vilnius University Theatre Hall (Universiteto str. 3)
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: the KARTVELIAN POLYPHONIC SINGING MASTERPIECES
19.00
Vilnius University Theatre Hall (Universiteto str. 3)
UNIQUE TRADITIONS. Concert of Lithuanian and foreign folklore ensembles
Beer House (Goštauto str. 8)
21.30
Folk Dance Evening: traditional dances, singing and meetings
Friday November 10th
10.00-15.00
Lithuanian Folklore and Ethnography Centre of National Minorities (Stiklių str. 6)
TRADITIONAL SINGING LABORATORY
18.00
St Catherine's Church (Vilniaus str. 30)
Concert of Ukrainian folklore ensemble "DREVO" (Kiev, Ukraine)
MUSIC FOR GOURMETS. Concert of Lithuanian and foreign folklore ensembles
Tickets distributed by KAKAVA.LT
Saturday November 11th
Vilnius Town Hall (Didžioji str. 31)
11.00-19.00
Fair of folk art and culinary heritage.
Creative workshops in traditional crafts for children and adults
14.00-18.00
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: the UKRAINIAN COSSACK SONGS, LITHUANIAN SUTARTINĖS
ARTISTIC PORTRAITS OF THE FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS. Concert - marathon
Sunday November 12th
Vilnius historical sites, churches, museums, galleries
10.00
VILNIUS turns 700: tours of Vilnius for festival participants
