A first-class music festival

This week the 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival continues with a number of performances at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia.

The first concert, on Thursday, will bring together a number of internationally acclaimed musicians to perform the Duo for Violin and Vila No.1, K.423 by Mozart, Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.49 by Felix Mendelssohn and Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor by Johannes Brahms.

Friday will amaze the audience with a performance of pieces by Jesus Guridi, Ferenc Farkas, Maximo Diego Pujol – performed by the Cyprus Guitar Trio, Cesar Franck and Felix Mendelssohn.

Saturday will bring to the Kouklia stage a performance of pieces by Ernest Chausson, Philip Glass and Dmitri Shostakovich, while the week will come to a close on Sunday with works by Joseph Haydn, Camillle Saint-Saens and Franz Schubert.

Among the performing artists at the music festival are Sergei Babayan on piano, Clara-Jumi Kang on violin and Diemut Poppen on viola.

Babayan is claimed for the immediacy, sensitivity and depth of his interpretations, the rare emotional intensity and bold energy of his performances and his extraordinary mastery in exploring a stylistically diverse repertoire.

Kang was born in Germany into a musical family and started playing the violin at the age of three. At seven, she got accepted to the Juilliard School to study on full scholarship and at the same time she had already performed with orchestras such as Leipzig Gewandthaus and the Hamburg Symphony. In 2011 she released her first solo album entitled Modern Solo.

Poppen studied in Germany, USA and Paris. As a soloist, she has performed in major music centres all over the world and several composers have written new pieces for her.

Seventieth International Pharos Chamber Music Festival
Number of classical concerts. June 15-18. Royal Manor House, Kouklia, Paphos. 8.30pm. €10 each performance. Tel: 96-669003

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