Kremerata Baltica Festival at Paliesius Manor | 2026

The spectacular Kremerata Baltica festival returns to Paliesius Manor for the third time!

On July 18–19, a host of talented performers and an extraordinary musical journey await you at the Manor: a dynamic and highly contrasted program bridging classical and 20th-century works, revealing the sheer diversity of style and musical language among European composers.

The festival will feature one of the most prominent violinists of our time, Maestro Gidon Kremer, the Grammy Award-winning orchestra he founded, Kremerata Baltica, and four renowned guest soloists from various countries. The highly decorated Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee recorded a Beethoven sonata with the orchestra that took first place on the Apple Music Classical Video Charts in over 40 countries. German pianist Julius Asal, hailed as a rising star and one of the most promising performers of his generation, was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist. Latvian cellist Magdalena Ceple, who holds the title of Latvia’s Young Musician of the Year, is known for her exceptional flexibility, musicality, and supreme technical mastery. Ukrainian Andrei Pushkarev is the principal percussionist of Kremerata Baltica, having once been the youngest principal timpanist in the Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra.

Gidon Kremer was born on February 27, 1947, in Riga, Latvia. At the age of four, he began studying with his father and grandfather, both distinguished string players. At seven, he entered 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 studies at the Moscow Conservatory under David Oistrakh. Gidon Kremer has won numerous prestigious awards, including 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 earned a worldwide reputation as one of the most original and compelling performers of his generation. He has performed in nearly every major concert hall as a recitalist and with the most celebrated orchestras in Europe and North America, collaborating with many of the most prominent conductors of the past half-century.

The violinist’s repertoire is unusually broad and diverse, spanning the Classical and Romantic periods. He is also thoroughly versed in the works of 20th- and 21st-century composers, such as A. Berg, H. W. Henze, and K. Stockhausen. Gidon Kremer’s name is also associated with world-renowned composers like Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Luigi Nono, Edison Denisov, Aribert Reimann, Pēteris Vasks, John Adams, Victor Kissine, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, Leonid Desyatnikov, and Astor Piazzolla. When performing their works, the violinist respects musical traditions and roots while masterfully highlighting their freshness and modernity. It is fair to say that today there is no other soloist of such high stature who so widely promotes modern and contemporary works for the violin.

Gidon Kremer is a highly prolific artist, having released over 120 albums. Many of these have received awards: notable among them are 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 music world’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

Founded in 1997 by the renowned Gidon Kremer, the Grammy Award-winning chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica is considered one of the most prominent international ensembles in Europe.

The Maestro deliberately selected young, enthusiastic musicians for this orchestra. An essential feature of Kremerata Baltica’s artistic identity is a 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 is a way for the celebrated violinist, who is not only the founder but also the ensemble’s artistic director, to share his artistic experience with a new generation. The orchestra also jointly fosters and inspires the musical and cultural life of the Baltic states.

Kremerata Baltica has performed in over 50 countries, giving more than 1,000 concerts in 600 cities. The sheer breadth of the ensemble’s repertoire is reflected in its award-winning discography. An album of Mieczysław Weinberg’s works released by ECM was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2015, while a recording of Shostakovich’s piano concertos with Anna Vinnitskaya won an 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, won a Gramophone Award in 2020.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, the orchestra was unable to meet, rehearse, perform, and travel the world as usual. However, 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 in Lithuania, while those living in Latvia began performing in Latvia and Estonia. Thus, Kremerata Lithuanica and Kremerata Lettonica were born.

Since her professional debut at just 11 years old, Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee has appeared as a soloist with orchestras worldwide and won numerous accolades, including first place at the prestigious 7th International Paulo Cello Competition in 2023, first place for the Pablo Casals International Award in 2022, and first place at the Johansen International Competition in Washington in 2022.

As a member of the Echo Klassik-nominated LGT Young Soloists, the musician has performed in halls around the globe. With LGTYS, she recorded a critically acclaimed rendition of Beethoven’s A major Cello Sonata, arranged for cello and strings, which secured the number one spot on the Apple Music Classical Video Charts in over 40 countries. The cellist plays a Giuseppe Guarneri “filius Andrea” cello, crafted around 1712–1715, with a bow made by François Nicolas Voirin, generously provided by Canimex Inc.

German pianist Julius Asal was praised by pianist Menahem Pressler for his “exceptionally beautiful sound and special sonority.” The artist has quickly established himself as one of the most promising performers of his generation. In October 2023, Deutsche Grammophon announced an exclusive contract with Julius Asal. Furthermore, he was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist for the 2024–2026 term.

Named a 2024 Rising Star by Classic FM, the young pianist is a regular guest at international festivals and performs in such prestigious concert halls as Wigmore Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg. In the spring of 2022, the Spanish label IBS Classical released Julius Asal’s debut album, featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev alongside Asal’s own arrangements from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which received international acclaim.

Latvian cellist Magdalena Ceple is known for her exceptional flexibility, musicality, and supreme technical mastery. For the 2021–2022 season, she became the solo cellist of the prestigious Baltic chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica. Gidon Kremer has stated that “she undoubtedly has her own signature—something rarely seen among the so-called rising stars of today.”

The musician is studying Baroque cello at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and is one of four academicians in the ASAM Baroque Academy. Overall, however, she is a remarkably versatile performer, playing everything from classical to jazz and contemporary music. She has won numerous awards, including the title of Latvia’s Young Musician of the Year in 2016, and has participated in international academies and toured Europe and Japan.

Born in Kyiv, vibraphonist Andrei Pushkarev became the youngest principal timpanist in the Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra at the age of 22. In 1999, the musician joined the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra and continues to hold the status of a recognized soloist and principal percussionist within the ensemble. With the orchestra, he tours worldwide and records with renowned labels—for instance, he participated as a soloist in the recording of the Grammy Award-winning album After Mozart. He is a passionate jazz enthusiast and developed the “Bach Vibrations” project proposed by Gidon Kremer, in which he interprets Bach’s works in a jazz style. “Andrei Pushkarev and his vibrations are special—he is not just a good musician, but a true magician,” notes Gidon Kremer.