Festival Viva Musica! will celebrate his 20th birthday
He will perform at the anniversary edition phenomenal violinist Maxim Vengerov and Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe

The jubilee 20th year of the festival Viva Musica! will once again bring the best of the world of classical music to Bratislava. This year, its visitors can look forward to the world-famous violin virtuoso and Grammy winner Maxim Vengerov, who will return to Slovakia after twenty years. Another announced performer in the festival program is the Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe - an artist who breaks down any common classical stereotypes and fully describes the philosophy of the festival "classics differently".

If there was a Superstar in classical music, Maxim Vengerov would be its main representative. He made his stage debut at the age of 5, recorded his first album at the age of 10 and collaborated with the world's most important artists and orchestras during his fascinating artistic career. Currently, he is at the peak of his creative powers and at the same time already in the position of an inspiring legend. "When I touch the violin, everything is there. It's as if two magnets have come together: me and music," said the violin virtuoso, who will also bring his rare Stradivárkas from 1727 to Bratislava.

Maxim Vengerov's artistic career is lined with concerts in prestigious world halls and at festivals, dozens of important awards, iconic recordings in world music publishers, but also activities in the field of conducting or pedagogical work in the field of training young musical talents. For the Bratislava audience, Vengerov prepared a focused "Beethovenian" dramaturgy embodied in Sonatas for violin and piano no. 1, 5, 8 and 10, which he will perform together with the star pianist Polina Osetinskaya. "I am very happy that at the festival Viva Musica! together with Polina, we will present a program consisting of four Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano. Beethoven's sonatas are among the most important works of the violin repertoire, and they are of great importance to me. They are works of great emotional depth and constant discovery, with each sonata an intimate dialogue between violin and piano. I am returning to Bratislava after a very long time and I am glad that it is with this program," says Maxim Vengerov. "This concert will be part of a series in which we will perform Beethoven's complete violin sonatas with my dear friend, Maxim Vengerov. we will be able to share it with the Bratislava audience," added Osetinskaya.

The concert will take place on Thursday, July 11 at 8 p.m. in the Great Evangelical Church on Panenská Street in Bratislava.

Classical and electric guitar

Another confirmed performer of the 20th Viva Musica! is Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Scotland and the Kunst-Universität in Graz, he is rightly called one of the best guitarists of the young generation, who pushes the limits of his interpretation mastery with every concert and new album (Broken Branches, Profesión, Lost & Found, softLOUD). Shibe is an avid promoter of contemporary music and is best known for his innovative approach to playing the classical and electric guitar or the renaissance lute. He likes to combine new music with music from across the centuries, often in his own arrangements. The Times magazine wrote of him: "Sean's music is masterful, beautiful and compelling in every way."

Sean Shibe is the holder of several important awards (ECHO Rising Star, OPUS Klassik, BBC New Generation Artist, Leonard Bernstein Award, Grammy nomination, etc.) and, despite his young age, he currently works as a guitar professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. He will come to Bratislava with an original program, in the framework of which he will present works for classical and electric guitar, starting with the work of Hildegard of Bingen, through the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Agustin Barrios Mangore, to iconic names of music of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Olivier Messiaen, Steve Reich or Thomas Adès.

Sean Shibe's concert is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. in Ponton on Tyršovo nábreží.

International music festival Viva Musica! was established in 2005 and will celebrate its 20th birthday this year. In the period from July 4 to August 15, 2024, he will bring 13 concerts in various places in Bratislava. The festival will again include popular concerts in city gardens and parks with the subtitle Musical Gardens, referring to the first year of the festival, which was held under the same name - Musical Gardens of Bratislava. The festival plans to publish other concerts gradually.

Tickets are available at www.vivamusica.sk and in the Ticketportal network.
The festival was supported from public funds by the Art Support Fund.