PANTONALE FESTIVAL 2024 – DREAM OF PEACE

Our 10th International Festival is entitled »Peace Dream« and thus refers to the work »Peace Dream« by the Spanish composer Gorka Hermosa. We had already dedicated the festivals of the previous two years to the theme of peace – under the impression of the Russian attack on Ukraine and currently also the bloody conflict in the Gaza Strip. Music is the language that connects everyone and can transcend cultural boundaries.

With this year’s festival, we are not just advocating for peace, we are not just celebrating the variety of sounds and expressiveness of the accordion, we are not just bringing top-class international virtuosos to the Philharmonic stage – we are also having put together a very special musical one for our anniversary program, with a total of four very exciting premieres by well-known contemporary composers:

PEACE DREAM by Gorka Hermosa
The Spanish composer and accordionist had already composed the first movement for the PANTONALE Peace Festival 2023 and premiered it himself in the Berlin Philharmonic. This year the composition will be continued with a second and third movement. The work is about struggle and war, but also about love and hope. It is based on a Ukrainian and a Russian melody, which relate in different ways, oppose each other, drown out, thwart each other, but also complement each other and enter into a musical dialogue.

BOŠKO AND ADMIRA by Mikolaj Majkusiak
The Polish composer’s suite deals with the story of the Bosnian Admira Ismić and the Serb Boško Brkić, who became world-famous as »Sarajevo’s Romeo and Juliet« after their tragic death in 1993. The work will be performed by the Bosnian-Serbian duo Dragana Gajić (viola) and Marko Ševarlić (accordion) with a string orchestra.

CONCERT FOR ACCORDION AND STRING ORCHESTRA by Vladimir Genin
With Vladimir Genin we present an outstanding composer of our time, whose innovative mono-operas recently received much applause in the Pierre Boulez Saal. He revised his »Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra«, originally composed in 2018, in 2023. It will now be premiered by Marko Ševarlić at this year’s festival.

LITTLE TRIPTYCH by Artem Nizhnik
For the premiere of the work by the Ukrainian-Israeli composer, we were once again able to get the exceptional Moldovan artist Radu Ratoi on the accordion, who shone at our festival last year.

The jazz compositions »Tribute« and »Easy Blues« by Arkady Shilkloper will also be presented in new and special arrangements: horn, accordion and orchestra, with Shilkloper providing a special surprise moment with the alphorn. Eduard Akhanov also interprets his jazz suite »Impressions« in a new arrangement for horn and accordion.

The concerts at a glance

KICK-OFF CONCERT 
Sunday | April 14, 2024 | 5 p.m.
Auenkirche Berlin-Wilmersdorf
Radu Ratoi Solo »Baroque to Avant-Garde«

GALA CONCERT
Friday | May 24, 2024 | 6 p.m
Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Music Hall
International soloists with PANTONALE chamber orchestra conducted by Miran Vaupotić

The musicians come from Ukraine, Russia, the Republic of Moldova, Spain, Israel, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany. They make music together and send a message of peace to the world.

TICKETS
Information about pre-sales for the events can be found here.

 

 

The PANTONALE Festival »PEACE DREAM« is organised under the patronage of DHV President Jochen Haußmann MdL.