The Eighth Alexander Paley Music Marathon: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Let the final Saturday of summer be filled with music! World-renowned piano virtuoso Alexander Paley and three other talented performers invite you to the eighth edition of this music marathon—a magical “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

This marathon is dedicated to the music of German composer Felix Mendelssohn. According to A. Paley, he is a deeply significant figure in world music and one of the most important composers in history—”a man kissed by God, a second Mozart.” The composer, a true child prodigy, passed away at just thirty-eight, yet he penned an abundance of works during his lifetime. “His entire life was like a Midsummer Night’s Dream,” notes A. Paley.

A. Paley and his fellow talented musicians will perform not only such celebrated works by F. Mendelssohn as the “Wedding March,” written for the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but also compositions that will be heard in Lithuania for the very first time—such as the String Octet, which the composer himself transcribed for piano four hands. The very concept of the event is also unique in Lithuania: an entire day devoted exclusively to the music of this single composer.

The fiery piano virtuoso Alexander Paley leaves no one indifferent with his talent and charisma. Audiences give him standing ovations, and critics spare no praise. His dream of playing the piano was born in early childhood, as the young pianist eagerly awaited the chance to touch the keys of a “Belarus” upright piano for the very first time.

Honored with numerous world-class awards, the pianist has performed and is always warmly welcomed at the most prestigious concert halls and festivals. The list features Radio France, Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Salle Pleyel, and Salle Gaveau (Paris), Grands Interprètes (Lyon), the Lille Piano Festival, the Besançon Opera Theater, Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Laeiszhalle (Hamburg), concert halls in China, and beyond.

As the years go by, A. Paley’s star never fades. Dividing his time between New York, Paris, and Vilnius, the pianist performs around 80 concerts worldwide each year.

Pei-Wen Chen, born in Taipei, Taiwan, made her debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York shortly after completing her piano studies at the Mannes College of Music. She is a laureate of international piano competitions and a participant in world-class projects. The pianist performs regularly in Europe and on other continents, and has collaborated with many prominent artists, such as Licia Abanese, Elly Ameling, Regina Resnik, Jon Vickers, Evelyn Lear, Diane Soviero, Deborah Voigt, Ruth Falcon, Mignon Dunn, Sherril Milnes, Olga Peretyako, and others. A special place in her artistic life is held by concerts performed with her husband, Alexander Paley.

She joined the Washington Opera Company for the production of the opera Fedora, worked at the Metropolitan Opera and Amato Opera theaters, and directed various prestigious opera and concert performance projects in the US. The pianist has taught at several US universities and is currently a professor at the Mannes College of Music in New York and Montclair State University in New Jersey. In 2017, P. W. Chen was appointed pianist for the Shanghai Classical Singers Competition and has served as a jury member for multiple international vocal competitions.

Violinist Raimondas Butvila played in the Lithuanian State Quartet and was the first concertmaster of the present-day Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. In 1993, under a creative cooperation agreement between Lithuania and Venezuela, he traveled to this South American country. In Caracas, he served as the musical director of the Emil Friedman College and as a professor at the University of the Arts (UNEARTE), preparing several generations of professional musicians over the course of 18 years. As a soloist, he performed frequently with Venezuelan orchestras, playing the core violin concerto repertoire. He has played extensive chamber music and was a member of the Trio Academico Emil Friedman.

In 2011, he returned to Lithuania, where he is a professor and the head of the String Instruments Department at the Music Academy of Vytautas Magnus University.

Since 2013, he has engaged in a highly active artistic collaboration with his former classmate, the world-renowned piano virtuoso Alexander Paley. They have held philharmonic recitals in Lithuania and a concert with the VMU Chamber Orchestra, featuring performances of violin and keyboard concertos by J. Haydn and F. Mendelssohn. Through this creative partnership, they have performed the complete chamber repertoires of L. van Beethoven, W. A. Mozart, F. Schubert, S. Prokofiev, and J. Brahms. Since 2016, R. Butvila has participated in the annual festival organized by A. Paley in Moulin d’Andé, France.

Cellist Marius Dominykas Sakavičius was born in 1994. He graduated in cello from the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art, in the class of teacher Romanas Armonas. He also completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performing arts (cello) at the VMU Music Academy, in the class of Assoc. Prof. Ramutė Kalnėnaitė.

The performer is a participant and laureate of various national and international masterclasses and competitions, having played as a soloist with numerous orchestras. The young cellist is also a member of the newly formed piano trio Vytautas Magnus Trio, and on the contemporary art scene, he actively participates in various projects, collaborating with the contemporary dance performance and creation team Šeiko Dance Theater. His music has resonated not only on stages in Lithuania but also in Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, Denmark, Israel, and Great Britain.