Simon Trpčeski and Friends

A concert of chamber music like you've never heard before

Dmitri Shostakovich: Trio No. 2 in E minor for piano, violin and cello
Tome Mančev: Dance for percussion and piano
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Max Bruch: Romance in F major, Op. 85, for viola and piano
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for clarinet and piano, FP 184
Pande Shahov: Quintet for piano, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion
Guillaume Connesson: Divertimento (adapted for sextet by Vlatko Nushev)

The temperament we have as we grow up distinguishes us forever, even in music. Perhaps this can partially explain why musicians, even after walking cosmopolitan career paths for a long time, hear and perform printed music in different ways.

The musicians joining Simon Trpčeski for this concert are united by their common origins and temperaments – they all come from the Balkans and are tightly connected with folk music from the region. Their love for this folk tradition is what binds them together and perhaps similarly even shapes their understanding of the great works of classical music. Together they form an unusual chamber group that approaches the task of designing a concert programme with originality. Their musical tastes are limitless, as is their musicality and virtuosity. They perform works of classical and contemporary music with equal dedication, placing the works of Max Bruch, Francis Poulenc and Dmitri Shostakovich alongside new works by their contemporaries and compatriots. We will have the opportunity to hear a unique program featuring masterpieces of classical chamber music together with uplifting new works. In addition to the composers previously mentioned, the ensemble will also present works by their peers, including a work by UK-based Macedonian composer Pande Šahov, who we also know as the composer of music for the Makedonissimo project, percussion fireworks by Tome Mančev, also from North Macedonia, and music by Guillaume Connesson, one of the most frequently performed and communicative French composers working today.

The common threads of the concert will be obvious: the deep connection between musicians who fuse together the diversity of classical, folk and new music, a mentality that is simultaneously both Western and Eastern, artists who perform with a sincere openness and a desire to inspire listeners through music.