Accordionist M.Novakovičius: your country is more famous abroad than you think Culture

He is not the only star of accordion music whose performance the listeners will be able to hear, Samuelis Telaris, who performs on the world’s most famous stages, will play along with him in Kaunas, as well as the most famous performers of our country.

Serbian and Estonian performer M.Novakovičius claims that Lithuanians are unnecessarily modest – as classical accordion music is playing more and more frequently in the world, our country occupies a much stronger position in this niche than it might appear at first glance.

“I can say that after receiving the invitation to listen to the accordion players of the international competition held in Lithuania, I have really high expectations, because your country has never been disappointed before. The performers are getting better and better every year, which is extremely gratifying.

I would like to point out that we are talking about classical accordion music, it should not be equated with pop music or folk music.

The classical accordion school of independent Lithuania is relatively recent, so it is especially amazing what the performers and teachers managed to create in just over three decades”, M. Novakovičius assesses.

A hot spot on the classical music map

According to the accordionist, Lithuanians are known in the world not only for basketball, but also for their talents in accordion music.

“Of course, this may sound like a strange comparison, but if we find out that Lithuanians will also participate in international competitions, we tense up a lot, because we understand that we will have serious competitors on the stage”, claims the performer M. Novakovičius.

At the concert in Kaunas, M.Novakovičius will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Two Pianos in C minor together with the famous Lithuanian accordionist Laimonas Salijus, accompanied by the chamber orchestra of Vytautas the Great University (VDU), conducted by maestro Vytautas Lukočius.

This orchestra greatly contributes to the spread of classical accordion music in Lithuania and beyond, regularly participates in organized concerts, where it demonstrates the highest level of professionalism, and Rita Bieliauskaitė, who leads the group, is considered a true inspiration of accordion music.

From a local event to an international sensation

L. Salijus, M. Novaković’s stage partner and also one of the organizers of the festival, claims that “Ascoltate” has really grown and expanded its boundaries in 15 years.

“We started with a much smaller, more local competition, but as the whole world opens up, we also opened up and became very attractive in the arena of international accordion music.

We have grown from baby steps and now we have our strong positions. Over the years, the level of the competition has risen significantly – now we have international stars on our jury, and this year’s “Ascoltate” includes artists from Lithuania to China.

This is a great achievement, I could definitely say that Kaunas is now a very bright accordion city”, the organizer claims.

L. Salijus points out that, in addition to M. Novakovičius, another star of classical music – the Italian Samuele Telari – will participate in the commission of the international competition “Ascoltate”.

The world-famous performer performs in the most famous halls, his music inspires many listeners.

“His musicianship is so great, so unrelenting that he goes beyond the limits of the instrument he plays,” say critics about S.Telari.

“The fact that we manage to invite musicians of this level, who without additional questions and very happily come not only to participate in the jury, but also to perform, is a very big achievement. I am very happy that this is not just a competition, but an event that makes our country famous”, asserts L. Salijus.

According to the organizer, even though Lithuania is a small country, it has quite a few dedicated accordion music creators and performers.

“Although we are a small country, we are really noticeable on the world stage of classical accordion music, and we really participate actively. This is not only the merit of our competition. Many people do a great job every day to make us shine like this”, L. Salijus is happy.

The Ascoltate concert will take place on April 19. 18:00 at the Kaunas State Philharmonic The competition auditions will be held on April 19-20 from 10:00 to 17:00 at the Kaunas J. Gruodis Conservatory.