One of the world's finest vocal chamber groups, the Hilliard ensemble, will join forces with the renowned Chilingirian Quartet for a unique spiritual concert that has never been presented in Cyprus before. The concert will involve the madrginal Responsoria in Parasceve by Carlo Gesualdo, a Renaissance composer who is nowadays more known about his personal tragedy than his masterpieces. Responsoria will be interspersed with Haydn’s meditative The Seven Last Words from the Cross.

THE HILLIARD ENSEMBLE
DAVID JAMES (countertenor) / ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP (tenor) / STEVEN HARROLD (tenor) / GORDON JONES (baritone) / David Gould (countertenor) /
David Beavan (bass)

The Hilliard Ensemble is considered one of the world's finest vocal chamber groups, and is probably unrivalled for its formidable reputation in the fields of both early and new music. Its distinctive style and highly developed musicianship engage the listener as much in medieval and renaissance repertoire as in works specially written for the group by living composers. The ensemble's performing schedule is busy and varied, amounting to some hundred concerts a year. Its substantial following in Europe, particularly in Mediterranean and central European countries, is augmented by regular visits to Japan, the USA and Canada.

The group’s reputation as an early music ensemble dates from the 1980s and its series of highly successful records for EMI (many of which are now re-released on Virgin), but from the start the group has paid equal attention to new music. In 1994, Officium was released, “one of the biggest crossover hits of the ‘90s”. This was the first of the group’s collaborations with the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. 1997 saw the release of the Canadian film Lilies, for which the group provided the soundtrack, and a renewal of their collaboration with Garbarek with the release of Mnemosyne which they have toured throughout the world. The Hilliard Ensemble also commemorated the 500th anniversary of the death of Ockeghem with special tribute programmes and through the launch of their own mail-order record label, hilliard LIVE.

Concerts with major orchestras have included a performance of Pärt’s Litany with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and a series with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Kent Nagano and the BBC and Philadelphia orchestras.

THE CHILINGIRIAN QUARTET
LEVON CHILINGIRIAN (violin) / RICHARD IRELAND (violin) / SUSIE MÉSZÁROS (viola) / PHILIP DE GROOTE (cello)

The Chilingirian Quartet is one of the world’s most celebrated and widely travelled ensembles renowned for their thrilling interpretations of the great quartets and commanding performances of the contemporary repertoire. The Quartet was founded in 1971 by Levon Chilingirian and Philip De Groote. Whilst each member is a virtuoso musician, their success as a quartet has earned them the Royal Philharmonic Society’s coveted Chamber Ensemble Award. The Chilingirian is Quartet-in-Residence at the Royal College of Music in London and the resident ensemble at the Lake District Summer Music Festival and the University of California at Irvine.

European engagements have included major festivals throughout the world and prestigious series at the Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, Munich Herkulessaal, Zurich Tonhalle, Stockholm Konserthuset and Vienna Konzerthaus. The Quartet tours North America every season and has performed extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Asia, Africa and South America.

The Chilingirian Quartet, sought after for their insight and imagination, has given many world premieres - most recently Michael Berkeley’s cello quintet Abstract Mirrors and Hugh Wood’s Serenade and Elegy - and has a special relationship with the music of Sir Michael Tippett, all of whose quartets it performs regularly. In 2005, to mark the composer’s centenary, they gave performances of the Tippett Triple Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, a work they have recorded with Richard Hickox. Currently recording for the UK’s top independent record labels, Hyperion and Chandos, the Chilingirian’s extensive discography includes the Bartok and Dvorak cycles.

TICKETS:

Adults: €20
Friends and Supporters of the Pharos Trust : €17
Concessions : €12

Tickets can be purchased from:

The Pharos Trust (22 663 871),
Moufflon bookshop (22 665 155),
Soloneion bookshop (22 666 799)