The Flame of Transformation

Conductor: Aleksandar Marković

Soloist: Barry Douglas, piano

Programme:

• • Jelena Dabić: In Circle*
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
  • Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61

The concert “Flame of Transformation” brings together three works through the idea of a creative spark that inspires change and renewal. The music of Jelena Dabić, Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann reveals the power of art to breathe new life into tradition and transform inner struggle into creative strength. Under the baton of Chief Conductor Aleksandar Marković, with pianist Barry Douglas as soloist, the programme takes us through three distinct musical worlds united by the idea of transformation and renewal. Jelena Dabić’s In Circle evokes cycles, change and return—a return in which the familiar acquires new meaning. The work forms part of the series “Return to the Roots: Contemporary Symphonic Music by Serbian Composers”, which places contemporary Serbian art music and its international achievements at the heart of the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra’s new season. The series’ programming framework was developed through the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts project “The Global Achievements of Serbian Art Music in the First Quarter of the 21st Century”. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 offers music of powerful personal expression, in which inherited forms become a space for artistic freedom. Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 rounds off the programme with a story of inner struggle, creative strength and spiritual renewal.

Tickets are available from the Music Youth of Novi Sad box office (Katolička porta 2, 021/452-344), on weekdays from 9 am to 1 pm, or online at the following link: HERE
Tickets cost RSD 1,200, with a 50% discount for university students, school pupils and pensioners.

Barry Douglas, piano

Since winning the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1986, pianist Barry Douglas has built a distinguished international career as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, including London’s Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and Wigmore Hall, the Verbier Festival, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall and the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
He has collaborated with numerous leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Seattle, Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore and Vancouver. He marked the 30th anniversary of his victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition by performing the complete cycle of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s piano concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin and the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast. He is also committed to contemporary music, with notable performances including the world premiere of Kevin Volans’s Fourth Piano Concerto and the European premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Piano Concerto.
As an exclusive Chandos Records artist, he has released six albums featuring the complete works for solo piano by Johannes Brahms, while his more recent projects focus on the music of Franz Schubert and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Irish traditional music holds a special place in his work, which he explores through his own arrangements.
In 1999, he founded Camerata Ireland, a chamber orchestra bringing together young musicians from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, fostering dialogue and contributing to the peace process through artistic collaboration and education. He serves as Artistic Director of both the ensemble and the Clandeboye Festival.
For his outstanding contribution to music and community relations, Barry Douglas was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2021, having previously been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2002 for services to music.