First concert of the year for CySO

Wind, string and all sorts of instruments will sound again as the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra prepares for its first concert of 2024. After a buzzing December agenda, the musicians pick up their bows and tune their instruments to offer audiences more evenings of music.

The Premiere 3 concert will welcome the Orchestra’s Honourary Conductor Alkis Baltas to the podium. On January 17 (Nicosia), 18 (Limassol) and 19 (Paphos), musicians will present an inspiring programme with music from the latter part of the 20^th century.

The repertoire will present compositions by Nicolas Economou, particularly four of the pieces from his solo piano etudes titled Childhood Whims, orchestrated especially for this programme by Baltas. In addition, the orchestra will also perform the Four Temperaments by Paul Hindemith, known both as a concert piece as well as music for a neoclassical ballet commissioned and choreographed by George Balanchine for the Ballet Society in New York. Pianist Vicky Stylianou will be the soloist in this piece.

The programme will then continue with Baltas’ Music for Youth which he describes as “a composition addressed to those who always maintain a youthful temperament, regardless of their age!” The highlight of the evening will be Cantus Arcticus or Concerto for Birds and Orchestra by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, which will receive its Cyprus premiere. It is a highly original and evocative work that incorporates the recorded song of birds from the Arctic Circle.

Premiere 3

First Cyprus Symphony Orchestra for 2024. January 17. Pallas Theatre, Nicosia. January 18. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. January 19. Markideio Theatre, Paphos. 8.30pm. www.cyso.org.cy. Tel: 22-463144