Violinist and conductor Roberto González-Monjas takes the helm of Vinterfest as its new Artistic Director. The 15th edition of the “classical music festival that rocks” (The Times), will take place February 14 – 16, 2020 in the Dalecarlia region of Sweden.
Roberto says:
“Welcome to the Vinterfest! It is a true honour to be taking over the artistic direction and following in the steps of previous directors Martin Fröst and Vikingur Olafson. It is thrilling to be heading a festival where the connection to its audience, the care for its artists and the creation of an inspiring, intelligent musical programme are the main priorities.
“This year’s programme revolves around Prometheus, and each of the 11 concerts over 3 days musically explores one or more sides of this fascinating myth: eternal punishment, humour in music, the relationship between him and Pandora… The last concert will feature Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus with narration by Swedish actor Leif Andrée.
“I am thrilled to be joined by such talented artists: soprano Larua Aikin, hornist Ben Goldscheider, pianists Kit Armstrong and Julien Quentin, violinist Tobias Feldmann, violinist/violists Barnabás Kelemen and Katalin Kokas, violist Blythe Th Engstroem, cellists Maximilian Hornung, Bruno Delepelaire and Matthias Bartolomey, the progressive strings of BartolomeyBittmann, the Vindla String Quartet, host orchestra Dalasinfoniettan Värdorkester, and Students from the Music Conservatory in Falun.”
Last week, Roberto and Kit Armstrong took on their Mozart Challenge at the Stadthaus Winterthur. Each season, the duo focuses on a composer’s full sonata cycle as part of a deep exploration into the music and language of different composers. In 2017/18 they performed Beethoven’s cycle, followed by Brahms in 2018/19. This time they performed the 16 main Mozart sonatas over three consecutive evenings at the Stadthaus Winterthur.
Roberto explains: “I believe challenges are a fundamental part of an artist’s life: they help us grow immensely and they are also the best way to face our own fears! Immersing oneself in the world of a composer such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is also a deeply humbling and inspiring proceeds – and even more so if the journey is shared with a partner as extraordinary as Kit Armstrong. I very much look forward to this exciting journey!”
For more information and to purchase tickets to Vinterfest: Prometheus, please visit https://www.vinterfest.se
