Press Release

13th International Pharos Festival 21 May – 1 June 2013

“From Aphrodite's hill-top Sanctuary to an idyllic olive grove, the stunning locations of the Pharos Chamber Music Festival attract top musicians year after year” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012

The International Pharos Chamber Music Festival is being organized again this year, despite the recent shortcomings in Cyprus. The Festival has established itself as the most important annual classical music event on the island, and has gained international reputation for its quality concerts and magnificent settings. Guided by a visionary spirit and dedicated to artistic excellence and innovation, the Festival attracts over 2.000 visitors every year. It also maintains a strong tradition of community service, with educational concerts organized for students of public schools and a number of master-classes for young instrumentalists.

Organized between 21 May and 1 June 2013, the 13th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival welcomes to Cyprus some of the most remarkable artists on the international music scene, for eight concerts in three unique venues in Cyprus: the notable Royal Manor House in the ancient village of Kouklia, birthplace of goddess Aphrodite; The Shoe Factory, a contemporary recital venue situated in Ermou Street near the buffer zone in Nicosia; The Olive Grove, a world-class, open- air venue surrounded by the idyllic forest of Delikipos.

This year’s Festival would not have been made possible if it were not for the kindness of the participating artists, who expressed their wish to show solidarity with the people of Cyprus by performing for a very small symbolic fee, in order to enable the Foundation to reduce the price of the tickets even more. At a time when our country faces enormous economic, political and societal challenges, the necessity of serious cultural events is often neglected, yet it is precisely during these difficult times that we need the inspiration and beauty that only the arts and music can provide.

W H AT, WHEN & WHERE:

27-31 May / Royal Manor House, Kouklia Five Concerts with Boris Brovtsyn, Daishin Kashimoto, Levon Chilingirian, Monika Urbonaite, Charles Sewart (violin), Sam Barsegian, Diemut Poppen (viola), Alexander Chaushian, Marc Coppey (cello), Hayk Khachatryan (double-bass), Sergei Nakariakov (, flugelhorn), , Vahan Mardirossian, Maria Meerovitch, Elisha Abas (piano)

THE VENUES:

The Royal Manor House / Kouklia is one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture on the island and an unparalleled venue for intimate chamber music performances. The building also houses an archaeological museum, which records the rich history of human activity in the region from about 2800 BC to the present day. The Royal Manor House, which is part of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s “Aphrodite’s Cultural Route”, is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Palaipaphos, or Old Paphos, was a city-kingdom of Cyprus and one of the most celebrated pilgrimage centres of the ancient Greek world. It was the site of a famous sanctuary of Aphrodite, the oldest remains of which date back to the 12th century BC. Join us in a leisurely exploration of the history and cultural heritage of the western region of Cyprus.

INFORMATION: PHAROS ARTS FOUNDATION Tel. +35722663871 / www.pharosartsfoundation.org

TICKETS Ticket price: €10 BOX OFFICE: Tel. 7000-9304 (daily 9.30-11.30am) / www.pharostickets.org KYRIAKOU FULLPAGE BOOKSHOPS: 30 Ellados Ave., 8020 Paphos, Tel. 26 822850 Monday 27 – Friday 31 May, 2013 / Royal Manor House, Kouklia / 8:30pm

Five Chamber Concerts with:

Violin: Boris Brovtsyn, Daishin Kashimoto, Levon Chilingirian, Monika Urbonaite, Charles Sewart Viola: William Coleman, Diemut Poppen, Sam Barsegian Cello: Alexander Chaushian, Marc Coppey Double-Bass: Hayk Khachatryan Trumpet / Flugelhorn: Sergei Nakariakov Piano: Ashley Wass, Vahan Mardirossian, Maria Meerovitch

Programme:

Monday 27 May 2013 Wednesday 29 May 2013

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) W.A. Mozart (1756 –1791) Double-bass Quintet No.2 in G major, Op.77 (1876) Fantasia No.4 in C minor, K.475 (1785) Levon Chilingirian / violin, Charles Sewart / violin, William Coleman / viola, Vahan Mardirossian / piano Alexander Chaushian / cello, Hayk Khachatryan / double-bass Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) Interval Selection of Mazurkas Elisha Abas / piano (1797–1828) Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 “Trout” (1819) Interval Ashley Wass / piano, Levon Chilingirian / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello, Hayk Khachatryan / double-bass (1811-1886) Three Petrarch Sonnets S158 from Années de pèlerinage II (1858) Ashley Wass / piano

Tuesday 28 May 2013 Samuel Barber (1910–81) Piano Sonata, Op.26 (1949) (1833–1897) Ashley Wass / piano Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.23, for piano 4 hands (1861) Ashley Wass / piano, Vahan Mardirossian / piano Thursday 30 May 2013

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) (1732–1809) Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op.40 (1865) Piano Trio No.39 in G major, Hob. XV/25 "Gypsy" (1795) Sergei Nakariakov / flugelhorn, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Maria Meerovitch / Vahan Mardirossian / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Marc Coppey / cello piano W.A. Mozart (1756 –1791) Interval Piano Quartet No.2 in E-flat major, K.493 (1785) Ashley Wass / piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Marc Robert Schumann (1810–1856) Coppey / cello Fantasiestücke, Op.73 (1849) Sergei Nakariakov / flugelhorn Interval

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) Max Bruch (1838–1920) Impromptu in G-flat major, Op.90, No.3 (1827) String Octet in B-flat major, Op. Posth (1920) Maria Meerovitch / piano Daishin Kashimoto / violin , Levon Chilingirian / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Monika Urbonaite / violin, William Coleman / viola, Sam Barsegian / viola, Marc Franz Liszt (1811–1886) Coppey / cello, Alexander Chaushian / cello Soirées de Vienne - Valse caprice No.6 d'après F. Schubert (1852) Maria Meerovitch / piano Friday 31 May 2013

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) W.A. Mozart (1756 –1791) "C" from Deux Poemes de Louis Aragon (1943) Horn Quintet in E-flat major, K.407 (1782) "Violon" from Fiançailles pour Rire, No.5 (1939) Sergei Nakariakov / trumpet, Levon Chilingirian / violin, William Coleman / viola, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello "C'est ainsi que tu es", from Métamorphoses, No.2 (1943) Sergei Nakariakov / flugelhorn Franz Schubert (1797–1828) Jean-Baptiste Arban (1825–1889) Piano Trio No.2 in E-flat major, D.929 (1827) Variations on Bellini's Norma Vahan Mardirossian / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Alexander Chaushian / cello Sergei Nakariakov / trumpet Interval

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)

Piano Quintet in G minor, Op.57 (1940)

Maria Meerovitch /piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Sam Barsegian / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello

Boris Brovtsyn / violin

Boris Brovtsyn was born in 1977. After graduating from Moscow´s Central Music School in 1994, he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where he studied with Maya Glezarova. During his time there he became a laureate of international competitions, such as Georg Kulenkampf (1994, Cologne), Transnet (1996, Pretoria) and (1998). In 2001 he was a finalist at the Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition and won the 2001 Reuters Prize. The following year he won the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition.

In 1998, Brovtsyn made his UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by