Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica: “In Search of Music” | Fuad Ibrahimov (conductor, Azerbaijan)

Maestro Gidon Kremer, one of the most renowned violinists of our time, returns to Paliesius Manor alongside the Grammy Award-winning orchestra Kremerata Baltica! G. Kremer has graced the world’s most celebrated stages, collaborating with eminent orchestras, conductors, and composers, and has released over 120 albums, many of which have received prestigious accolades. His chamber orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, has toured more than 50 countries, performing over 1,000 concerts across 600 cities, and is widely regarded as one of Europe’s most distinguished international ensembles. Conductor Fuad Ibrahimov serves as the chief conductor of the New Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Baku Chamber Orchestra; in 2024, he was also appointed music director of the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra. We warmly invite you to experience this extraordinary concert of musical luminaries!

Gidon Kremer was born on February 27, 1947, in Riga, Latvia. At the age of four, he began his studies with his father and grandfather, both distinguished string players. At seven, he enrolled in the Riga Music School, where he progressed rapidly, and at sixteen, he was awarded the First Prize of the Latvian Republic. Two years later, he began studying at the Moscow Conservatory under David Oistrakh. G. Kremer has earned numerous prestigious awards: prizes at the 1967 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the 1969 Montreal International Music Competition, as well as first prizes at the 1969 Paganini and 1970 Tchaikovsky International Competitions.

Over the past five decades, he has established a global reputation as one of the most original and compelling performers of his generation. He has appeared in nearly every major concert hall as a recitalist and alongside the most celebrated orchestras of Europe and North America, collaborating with many of the leading conductors of the last half-century.

The violinist’s repertoire is unusually broad and diverse, spanning the Classical and Romantic periods. He also possesses a profound mastery of 20th- and 21st-century composers, including the works of A. Berg, H. W. Henze, and K. Stockhausen. G. Kremer’s name is closely associated with globally renowned composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Giya Kanchel, Sofija Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Luigi Nonu, Edison Denisov, Aribert Reimann, Pēteris Vasks, John Adams, Victor Kissine, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, Leonid Desyatnikov, and Astor Piazzolla. In performing their works, he honors musical traditions and roots, while masterfully bringing forth their freshness and modernity. It is fair to say that today there is no other soloist of such exceptional stature who so extensively champions the violin works of modern and contemporary composers.

G. Kremer is an exceptionally prolific recording artist who has released over 120 albums. Many of these albums have received awards: notable honors include the Grand prix du Disque, Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis, Bundesverdienstkreuz, Premio dell ‘Accademia Musicale Chigiana, the Triumph Prize in 2000 (Moscow), the Unesco Prize in 2001, the Saeculum Glashütte Original MusikFestspielPreis in 2007 (Dresden), the Rolf Schock Prize in 2008 (Stockholm), the Istanbul Music Festival Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and the Una Vita Nella Musica – Artur Rubinstein Prize in 2011 (Venice). In 2016, Gidon Kremer was awarded the Praemium Imperiale, widely considered the Nobel Prize of the music world.

Founded in 1997 by the celebrated G. Kremer, the Grammy Award-winning chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica is recognized as one of the most prominent international ensembles in Europe.

For this orchestra, the Maestro intentionally selected young, enthusiastic musicians. A defining characteristic of Kremerata Baltica’s artistic identity is its creative approach to programming, which often moves beyond mainstream trends and has included world premieres of works by composers such as Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Pēteris Vasks, Leonid Desyatnikov, and Alexander Raskatov. Kremerata Baltica serves as a medium for the renowned violinist—who is both the founder and artistic director of the orchestra—to share his artistic experience with a new generation. Together, the orchestra also fosters and inspires the musical and cultural life of the Baltic states.

Kremerata Baltica has toured more than 50 countries, performing over 1,000 concerts in 600 cities. The breadth of the ensemble’s repertoire is reflected in its award-winning discography. Their album of works by Mieczysław Weinberg, released by ECM, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2015, and their recording of Shostakovich’s piano concertos with Anna Vinnitskaya won the ECHO Klassik award in 2016. A recording of Weinberg’s Symphonies No. 2 and No. 21, performed alongside the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, earned a Gramophone Award in 2020.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, the orchestra was unable to meet, rehearse, host concerts, or travel the world as usual. Yet, the orchestra’s members, residing in different countries, did not lose their desire to make music and bring joy to people. The members of Kremerata Baltica living in Lithuania began to prepare programs and perform locally, while those residing in Latvia started performing in Latvia and Estonia. Thus, Kremerata Lithuanica and Kremerata Lettonica were born.

Conductor Fuad Ibrahimov is the chief conductor of the New Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Baku Chamber Orchestra, and in 2024, he was also appointed as the music director of the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra.

He was awarded second prize at the Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Paris in 2018, where he appeared with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra. Following this, he was immediately invited to conduct the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert with Nikolai Lugansky. In 2019, he conducted Kremerata Baltica with Gidon Kremer on tour in the Baltic states and at the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. That same season, he performed with Sinfonia Varsovia at the Folle Journée de Nantes festival and in Tokyo. During the 2023–2024 season, he has been invited by the National Orchestra of the Pays de la Loire, the NFC Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, and others. One of the most significant highlights is an upcoming concert with Evgeny Kissin and the Bordeaux National Orchestra.

F. Ibrahimov has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (England), the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Göttingen and Nuremberg Symphony Orchestras, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Kremerata Baltica, the Kronberg Academy, Ensemble Moderne, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Sinfonica Siciliana Orchestra, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted Das kritische Orchester Berlin, whose musicians are drawn from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the South Westphalia Philharmonic Orchestra, and other prominent orchestras. In 2012, as a guest conductor, he led his first independent opera production at the Cologne Opera with the Gürzenich Orchestra (Germany).

Fuad Ibrahimov began his musical studies at the age of 12, attending a specialized music school affiliated with the Baku Academy of Music in Azerbaijan. There, he joined the class of Professor Tofig Aslanov (1994–1998) and later became a member of the Tutti youth string orchestra. In 1998, he began studying the viola at the Baku Academy of Music and also enrolled at the Cologne Academy of Music, where he became the music director of the student symphony orchestra. He received scholarships from the Friends of Azerbaijan Culture foundation and the Dr. Carl Dörcken-Werner Richard foundation. In 2010, he was awarded a special DAAD prize for exceptionally talented foreign students. In 2019, he received the Golden Plane award for culture, presented by the First Lady of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

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