Belarusian Music Comes to Brussels
A taste of Belarusian culture came to Brussels last night (6th September) when the Brussels Conservatory of Music hosted a concert performed by the Chamber Orchestra of the Belarusian Academy of Music, and conducted by Vladimir Perlin. A cameo appearance and virtuoso solo by the world famous King of the Gypsy violinists Roby Lakatos was additional icing on the musical cake.
The Belarusian Academy of Music is the Republic’s leading musical school, which has over its 80 years of history prepared highly professional young musicians of the highest creative and professional status. Graduates of the Academy include the soloists of the Belarusian State and Russian Philharmonic Orchestras and the leading musicians of the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet.
“I am delighted that we can bring our talented and creative Belarusian artists to Belgium and showcase in Brussels some of the home grown musicians from my country to appreciative audiences here in the capital of Europe,” said His Excellency Aleksandr Mikhnevich after the concert.
The leading Belgian Attorney and Honorary Consul of Belarus for Flanders, Mr Karel Van Hoorebeke said, “It is a pleasure for me to sponsor such a wonderful performance, and I am proud to help raise awareness here of the rich diversity of cultural excellence that exists today in Belarus.”
Speech by HE Ambassador Aleksandr Mikhnevich at the Concert by the Belarusian Academy of Music and Roby Lakatos performed at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels.
Publié par Belarus EU Business Council sur jeudi 7 septembre 2017
The Chamber orchestra performed music by Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Britten under the musical direction of the internationally renowned Belarusian conductor Vladimir Perlin. Mr Perlin has been the permanent artistic director and chief conductor of the Concert Orchestra of the Belarusian Academy of Music since 1988. He regularly leads the orchestra on international tours to the Russian Federation, Germany, Poland, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Qatar, Lithuania and many other countries.
The concert also featured a tour de force by Roby Lakatos who has been described by the Daily Telegraph as the “fastest-fingered fiddler in the world”. Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos has a universal appeal through his versatile repertoire, easily switching from jazz to classical music and traditional folk tunes.
He was born in 1965 into a famous family of gypsy violinists descended from the legendary Janos Bihari, “King of the Gypsy Violinists” and made his first public appearance at the age of nine in a gypsy band. He studied classical music at the Béla Bartok Conservatory of Music in Budapest where he won first prize for violin in 1984. I first heard Roby and his ensemble play at Les Ateliers de la Grande Isle in Brussels which he made his musical home between 1986 and 1996. His playing was also greatly admired by the famous maestro Sir Yehudi Menuhin, who always made a point of visiting the club to hear Lakatos play when he came to Brussels.
Roby Lakatos, the world famous “King of the Gypsy violinists”
