Gidon Kremer, Magdalena Ceple, Kremerata Baltica & Fuad Ibrahimov
Biography Gidon Kremer, Magdalena Ceple, Kremerata Baltica & Fuad Ibrahimov
Gidon Kremer
Driven by his strikingly uncompromising artistic philosophy, Gidon Kremer has established a worldwide reputation as one of his generation’s most original and compelling artists.
His repertoire encompasses both standard classical scores and music by leading 20th and 21st-century composers. He has championed the works of Russian and Eastern European composers and performed many important new compositions, several of which have been dedicated to him. His name is closely associated with composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Luigi Nono, Edison Denisov, Aribert Reimann, Pēteris Vasks, John Adams, Victor Kissine, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, Leonid Desyatnikov and Astor Piazzolla, whose works he performs in ways that respect tradition while being fully alive to their freshness and originality.
Gidon Kremer has recorded over 120 albums, many of which have received prestigious international awards. His long list of honours and awards includes the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Triumph Prize in Moscow, the Unesco Prize and the Una vita nella musica – Artur Rubinstein Prize. In 2016 Gidon Kremer received the Praemium Imperiale, widely considered to be the Nobel Prize of arts.
In 1997 Gidon Kremer founded the chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica to foster outstanding young musicians from the Baltic States. The ensemble tours extensively and has recorded almost 30 albums for the Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammophon and ECM labels. During the 2016/17 season Kremerata Baltica embarked on landmark tours to the Middle East, North America, Europe and Asia, marking the ensemble’s 20th anniversary.
Gidon Kremer’s commitment to the work of Mieczysław Weinberg in recent years has been particularly notable. In 2019, Deutsche Grammophon and Accentus Music released albums recorded with Gidon Kremer featuring Weinberg’s orchestral and chamber music.
Kremerata Baltica
Founded in 1997 by renowned violinist Gidon Kremer, the Grammy-Award winning chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica is considered to be one of Europe’s most prominent international ensembles. Maestro Kremer intentionally selected young, enthusiastic musicians to stave off the dreaded “orchestritis” that afflicts many professional orchestral players. Essential to Kremerata Baltica’s artistic personality is its creative approach to programming, which often ranges beyond the mainstream and has given rise to world premieres of works by composers such as Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Pēteris Vasks, Leonid Desyatnikov and Alexander Raskatov.
Since its establishment Kremerata Baltica has played in more than 50 countries, performing in 600 cities and giving more than 1000 concerts worldwide. The orchestra’s wide-ranging and carefully chosen repertoire is also showcased in its numerous and much-praised recordings. Its album of works by Mieczysław Weinberg on ECM was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award, its recording of Shostakovich’s piano concertos with Anna Vinnitskaya won the ECHO Klassik 2016. The recording of Weinberg’s symphonies No. 2 and No. 21, a joined adventure with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, received a Gramophone Award in 2020.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions in 2020 the orchestra wasn’t able to meet, rehearse, perform concerts and travel the world as usual. But the members, living in different countries, didn’t loose their desire to perform music and bring joy to people. The members of Kremerata Baltica who live in Lithuania started preparing programs and performing concerts there, and those who live in Latvia started performing in Latvia and Estonia. This gave the beginning to Kremerata Lithuanica and Kremerata Lettonica.
The Kremerata Baltica also serves as a medium to share Gidon Kremer’s rich artistic experience with the new generation and, at the same time, to promote and inspire the musical and cultural life of the Baltics.
