Concert by Onutė Gražinytė and Simona Venslovaitė

A new program by pianist Onutė Gražinytė and violinist Simona Venslovaitė, dedicated to female composers of the last few centuries – exceptional artistic personalities whose voices, across different eras, cultures, and aesthetics, bear witness to unique experiences.

Pianist Onutė Gražinytė and violinist Simona Venslovaitė invite you to a concert program centered on the woman as a free creator, performer, and seeker of her own voice and identity, fighting for the right to be heard and recognized. These themes are close to the musicians themselves, which is why the program features female composers of the last few centuries – exceptional artistic personalities whose voices, across different eras, cultures, and aesthetics, bear witness to unique experiences best recognized by women.

The first composer in the program is Clara Schumann, who maintained close ties with the most prominent creators of her time and contributed significantly to the development of classical music. She was not only a talented composer but also an actively performing pianist who managed to balance an intense artistic career with family life – she raised eight children. The program will begin with three romances, sometimes subtle and fragile, sometimes bubbling. They reveal the intimate world of Romanticism, where the pages of music become an emotional diary of earthly experiences and bold dreams for the composer.

Grażyna Bacewicz, who came from a Lithuanian-Polish family, speaks in her Fourth Sonata with a modern, energetic, and intellectual musical voice. There are many contradictions that harmonize here: strength and intellect intertwine closely, creating a harmonious connection with natural emotional intuition. One can feel the anxiety of the post-war period, but also the aspirations for creative freedom. After the intermission, another romance will return us to the world of romanticism – a gentle, lyrical, and nostalgic musical confession by composer Amy Beach, breathing with the warmth of late Romanticism.

To ensure that the work of a Lithuanian-born composer is also heard during the concert, the program is supplemented by Diana Čemerytė's piece "Pas de deux," which opens a contemporary, sensitive, and personal dialogue. This is music that invites you not only to listen but to be within it, to experience the fragile balance between inner peace and constant movement. In the composer's own words: "It is a conversation of rich colors and the rustle of a naked violin, an alternation of piano monologue and long violin lines. It is symbolic that the piece was started while two lives were stirring in the womb (steps for two), and finished while dreaming of white cherry snow passages." At the end, we will experience Mel Bonis's sonata together, which breathes elegance, refined French color, but also drama, great scope, and a highly dynamic emotional spectrum.