Viva Musica! festival reveals more names for its 21st edition
The program will feature three exceptional soloists who represent not only musical maturity and virtuosity but also the diversity of classical music.
Bratislava, April 23, 2025
The Viva Musica! festival will once again bring inspiring encounters with world-class artists. Japanese pianist Maki Namekawa will perform a new piano concerto by Philip Glass – Mishima Concerto. The extraordinarily talented young Czech pianist Nora Lubbadová will enchant listeners with a solo recital, and the program will also feature British saxophone sensation Jess Gillam.
At the invitation of the Viva Musica! festival, American composer and pianist Philip Glass performed in Slovakia for the first time in 2015. Exactly ten years later, his music returns to the festival with a new work for piano and orchestra – Mishima Concerto. The piece is based on Glass’s original score for Paul Schrader’s 1985 film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, which depicts the life of one of Japan’s most prominent writers, Yukio Mishima (1925–1970). The soloist of the concert will be the extraordinary Japanese pianist Maki Namekawa, a long-time collaborator and close friend of Philip Glass, to whom the composer dedicated the piece. “As an excellent observer of people, Philip’s insights are always tantalizingly on point. He expresses his views in a few simple sentences, and only on matters of substance, without emotion — and rarely with negative thoughts. The music he wrote for Mishima reflects this aspect of his personality. Rather than accompanying or describing the film’s action, the music functions as a kind of reflection of what Philip understands about the character of Yukio Mishima, his innermost thoughts, and the anguish at the end of a period in his life. The final piece of the original Mishima soundtrack, titled Closing, seems to tell us that the end of this life is the beginning of the next one, not the sorrow of coming to an end, but the conviction that things will always go on. Philip Glass’s music confirms this conviction,” says Maki Namekawa.
The concert will take place on July 4, 2025, at 8:00 PM at Slovak Radio, with Maki Namekawa joined by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies. In addition to Mishima Concerto, the program will also include the only symphonic work by Austrian-American composer with Czech roots, Erich Wolfgang Korngold – the monumental Symphony in F-sharp, Op. 40. “Korngold’s complex and masterful Symphony was meant to be used as a calling card, announcing his re-entry upon the European concert and theatrical stage after years in exile, in flight of the Nazi terror—a personally dramatic gesture which initially was an almost complete failure. Only recently has this wonderful music gained a hard-won acceptance within the concert repertoire,” added Dennis Russell Davies. The Brno Philharmonic under his baton last appeared at the Viva Musica! festival in 2022, performing alongside the legendary Laurie Anderson.
A rising star
She is young, talented, and incredibly authentic in her performance. Czech pianist Nora Lubbadová is considered one of the greatest classical music talents of the new generation. She began playing piano at age four, gave her first public performance a year later, and has since performed in prestigious venues in Helsinki, Vienna, Prague, London, and Amsterdam, earning accolades in numerous international competitions, including the Zlatý oriešok award for the most talented children in the Czech Republic.
“I don’t remember my life before the piano, but I can’t imagine my life without it. I play what I feel and hope that someone truly hears it. Slovakia holds a special place in my heart, thanks to my mother, and I’m happy to be able to perform here,” says Nora, who is currently studying under leading teachers in Vienna and Prague. At Viva Musica! she will present a solo recital featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Fryderyk Chopin, Carl Nielsen, and Claude Debussy. Her performance promises an exceptional musical experience. The concert will take place on June 28, 2025, at 8:00 PM in the Moyzes Hall in Bratislava.
Classical music with a twist
British saxophonist Jess Gillam is one of the most prominent figures in today’s classical music scene. Her performances are known for their technical brilliance, energy, and genuine joy in sharing music with audiences. She was the first saxophonist in the history of the BBC Young Musician competition to reach the final and became the youngest soloist ever to perform at the BBC Proms closing concert. She is currently the artist-in-residence at the Royal Albert Hall, an ambassador for several youth music projects, and the first saxophonist ever signed by the prestigious Decca Classics label. In addition to performing, she also hosts her own BBC Radio 3 show This Classical Life, dedicated to classical music. In 2021, she was awarded the M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her contribution to music.
Jess is known for pushing boundaries and breaking down stereotypes about classical music. She will appear at Viva Musica! with her eight-member ensemble, Jess Gillam Ensemble, presenting a stylistically diverse and vibrant program that brings classical music into dialogue with contemporary and popular music. “I am very excited to come and perform in Slovakia for the first time and I’m really looking forward to meeting the audiences. I’ll be bringing my ensemble to the wonderful Viva Musica! festival for a night showcasing the saxophone in all its glory with music by CPE Bach to James Blake, and Nadia Boulanger to Michael Nyman, and we can’t wait to welcome you into an energetic and diverse evening,” said Jess. The concert will take place on July 8, 2025, at 8:00 PM at Slovak Radio.
The program of this year’s Viva Musica! festival will once again offer a diverse lineup of top artists, including exclusive premieres, concerts in gardens and parks, the #NextGeneration series, and international summer masterclasses in Pezinok.