#MiddayMusic presents Anna Kondrashina (flute) and Ugnius Pauliukonis (piano)
This week our Young Artists Anna Kondrashina (flute) and Ugnius Pauliukonis (piano) performed for #MiddayMusic. You can watch their videos below. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch Emma Arizza (violin) perform next Monday and Rustam Khanmurzin (piano) perform next Wednesday, both at midday. Details of their repertoire can be found in the details section on YouTube. All of our #MiddayMusic videos can be watched on our exclusive playlist.
Ugnius Pauliukonis: Vlogging his way to greater success
Award-winning concert pianist,Ugnius Pauliukonis has been busy adding to his talents lately, with a new piano playing vlog that’s attracting thousands of views each month.
The last few years have been really intense in terms of concerts, festivals and masterclasses, so lockdown gave me a chance to reflect on musical path. I’ve always been motivated to inspire other people to learn new things, so I decided to start a YouTube channel, Ugnius.Pianist,where I talk about different piano playing techniques and review ABRSM/Trinity syllabuses. I hope to cover more complex things like improvisation, composition and other things in time.
Ugnius has also been delivering online concerts for the Musicians’ Company and another UK music society, for whom he did a livestream concert. Having performed at world class concert halls, Ugnius says livestreaming can be more challenging than even the most prestigious stage performances because of the potential for technical issues. Despite this, he is keen to explore any format that facilitates the music making and education process.
In between his online performances and YouTube vlogging, Ugnius is busy preparing for a number of concerts from September onwards across Europe. He also has recitals planned for spring. For the Musicians’ Company #MiddayMusic series, Ugnius performs C. Debussy ‘Clair de lune’ and ‘Reflet dans l’eau’, and B. Dvarionas ‘First Snowflakes’. “During these difficult times, we all need to stay calm, reflect on our lives and remember the good that’s happened so far. These pieces, in particular those by Lithuanian composer, B. Dvarionas, bring wonderful memories of my home country. The Debussy works also evoke beautiful memories, while helping to ease the mind and calm you down.”
Anna Kondrashina: Lifting community spirits with music
Award-winning flautist, Anna Kondrashina, took her musical talents to the street she lives on during lockdown, after a neighbour asked Anna and her housemates if they’d perform a concert after the weekly Clap for Carers events. “We started with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, then began doing arrangements from ballets and operas such as The Nutcracker and Carmen. As our other neighbours are also musicians, we rotated the concerts between the two houses. The response was amazing. We had people coming out of their homes to listen, others listening from their windows and people sending us cards. Although musicians are non-essential workers, on some level it felt we were essential to their souls.”
After the weekly NHS applause ended, Anna played another two street concerts with her housemates and the musicians next door. “All kinds of people came and danced, and certainly more young people than I’ve seen at a classical concert. I found the whole experience so rewarding, and it’s really helped bring the street together.”
In between future concert engagements, Anna plans to do more performances as part of the Philomel Project, a consortium of the very best musical talent, which Pavel Timofeyevsky established a few years ago. “With the Philomel Project we hope to get more young people involved in lectures and concerts and to take our music to unusual spaces. We have a residency at the Francis Crick Institute London, a beautiful building, where we held a number of concerts last year. We also hope to reschedule a summer school, Philomel Project Music Academy, which we planned to run at the Menuhin School in April.”
For the Musicians’ Company #middaymusic concert, Anna performs Debussy Sonata for Violin and Piano (2 & 3 movements) arr. and performed by Anna Kondrashina (flute) and Pavel Timofeyevsky (piano). “A positive aspect of lockdown is having more time to dedicate to new endeavours. This arrangement is the result of a lockdown project.”