Resounding Europe II: Dedicated to Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU

In the first half of 2027, when Lithuania will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time in its history, Kaunas Philharmonic is proud to contribute to this important national event and to become an integral part of Lithuania’s sociocultural programme for its Presidency. To mark the occasion, we present the exceptional concert series “Resounding Europe,” dedicated to giving meaning to this historic period and honouring one of the most prominent figures in European music history, Ludwig van Beethoven, on the 200th anniversary of his death. Using L. van Beethoven’s music as a universal language, the concert series will invite reflection on the importance of freedom, solidarity, human dignity, democracy and unity for contemporary Europe, and on the role of culture in strengthening intercultural dialogue, a sense of community and European cultural identity. This concert will also commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of L. van Beethoven’s contemporary, composer and conductor Johann Philipp Christian Schulz. In 1825, while serving as Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, he and the orchestra gave the world’s first performance of the complete cycle of all nine L. van Beethoven symphonies. The cycle was repeated in 1826. He also conducted the premiere of L. van Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto in 1811 and the premiere of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s First Symphony in 1827. The second concert in the series will be conducted by Michael Köhler, a renowned interpreter of F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s symphonies and oratorios who is based and works in Leipzig. The project is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.