On 23 April, at the village church in Schönefeld, on the Wegscheider organ inaugurated there in 2020, Hanna Cho, Heena Lee and Aleksandr Volkov – students of Professor Henry Fairs at the Berlin University of the Arts – performed and enchanted the audience with music by D. Buxtehude, J. S. Bach, F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and R. Schumann. The envoy from the Latvian Embassy, Ms Elina Borhersa, praised the project and expressed Latvia’s interest in and appreciation for it, whilst Kristian Wegscheider explained the concept behind the Baroque organ in Riga, modelled on that of Andreas Contius.
On 3 June, Rudite Livmane, the Latvian cantor of the Protestant parish of Alt-Pankow, had brought together a group of around 30 artists for an exceptionally rich programme, which she conducted and presented. At the same time, she played the Baroque organ from Kristian Wegscheider’s organ workshop, which has been installed there since 2021. The programme featured wonderful music under the theme ‘Musical Kaleidoscope – Music from Latvia’, including organ accompanied by vocals, flute, strings, oboe, timpani and piano/cello, as well as vocal works performed by a project choir from Pankow with the participation of members of the RIAS Chamber Choir. The large audience responded with enthusiastic applause. The welcoming address by the Latvian Ambassador, H.E. Ms Alda Vanaga, was read out on this occasion, but once again highlighted the interest and gratitude shown, as well as the German-Latvian nature of the project.
On 14 June, in the packed Heilandskirche in Sacrow on the banks of the Havel, Professor Henry Fairs gave a first-class concert to the delight of the audience, featuring works by H. Scheidemann, J.S. Bach, G. Müthel, J.U. Steigleder, G. Frescobaldi, A.Ph. Bach and Georg Muffat, much to the delight of the audience. The Latvian Ambassador’s welcoming address was delivered this time with great enthusiasm by her cultural attaché, Ms Magone Runka.
Sincere thanks are due to all the artists involved for their dedication and for performing without remuneration, as well as great appreciation for the quality of the performances. A big thank you is also due to the host parishes for their commitment and support: in Schönefeld, cantor Thomas Müller; in Pankow, Reverend Michael Hufen; and in Sacrow, lay preacher Reinhard Beyer. In them, we have found warm-hearted friends.
=> More about the concerts
