The musicians play from memory.
by Richard Newsham
Think music that takes classical masterpieces “off the beaten track” to reveal beauty with a new edge as the Lithuanian string ensemble known as NICO (for New Ideas Chamber Orchestra) turns 13 under the baton of its charismatic young composer Gediminas Gelgotas. The players–solo and group award winners of many international competitions–have appeared at the world’s leading venues while their albums and concert recordings ride the radio air waves of Europe.
And now NICO makes its U.S. debut in Ventura on Friday, May 10, at 8 p.m. as part of the Ventura Music Festival’s 25th season at the Ventura College Performing Arts Center. The musicians play from memory, mixing classical with new music idioms and non-traditional techniques for a glorious and sublime fusion of sound that is captivating younger and new audiences for classical music wherever they go. Their concerts are a grooving postmodern jukebox featuring a newer generation of Baltic, British and German composers dedicated to reimagining the classics (Mozart, Vivaldi) to make them new and exploring myth and mystic visionaries (Hildegard von Bingen, St. Teresa of Avila, Goethe and Lithuania’s M.K. Čiurlionis) as pathways to compelling contemporary music full of color, dramatic melody and elemental peace.
