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“Easter Expectation” with the world famous choral masterpiece
: 2019-04-16
Send On Maundy Thursday the Choir “Vilnius” and the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra offers to join in a deep contemplation at St Catherine’s Church. The two groups, conducted by Modestas Barkauskas, will perform Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993), a cantata for double chorus and strings by one of Scotland’s most distinguished and vital composers, James MacMillan.
Commissioned and first screened by the BBC a quarter of a century ago, this work is one of MacMillan’s most enduring achievements, often lauded for being passionately involving and wonderfully crafted. It has received over two hundred performances worldwide, including a Lithuanian premiere at the National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius two years ago, where it was performed by the Polish choir and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. It is for the first time that the piece is to be performed by Lithuanian musicians alone.
“It’s been some time since we started searching for possibilities and opportunities to perform this piece. We are very glad to have St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra among our regular like-minded partners,” told Artūras Dambrauskas, Principal Conductor of the Choir “Vilnius” about the idea to present John MacMillan’s work to the Lithuanian audiences.
