The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

The 7th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival concludes on Sunday 11 October 2015, at The Shoe Factory, with the brilliant young pianist Robin Green performing the Cyprus premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s emblematic, The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is an hour’s length tour de force which is quite rarely performed live. The work has often been described as the Diabelli Variations of the 20th century. It consists of 36 variations on a theme, the popular song El pueblo unido jamás será vencido ("The people united will never be defeated"), which originated in the New Chilean Song movement of the 1960s. Written in 1975, the work was a direct protest against the Fascist coup two years earlier that overthrew the government of Salvador Allende while it represented a hopeful gesture of solidarity with those who continued the struggle against all odds. This is a profoundly expressive and soulful work and its extremely virtuosic piano writing is extraordinary covering a myriad of styles. The theme’s 36 variations are in the style of the avant-garde of the day including George Crumb, Philip Glass and Pierre Boulez but also of older masters such as Beethoven and Chopin. They all musically symbolize the different stages of a struggle – anger (modernism), melancholy (blues), planning (heavy polyphony), nostalgia (folk tunes), freedom (jazz).

ROBIN GREEN / piano

“A light touch and an engaging tone” The Strad magazine
“He is a highly gifted young musician… a born pianist… He played the piano solo in Poulenc’s Aubade so well, I cannot imagine it being played much better (frightfully difficult!)” Vladimir Ashkenazy

Robin Green enjoys a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor and ensemble pianist. His first CD, Dialog mit Mozart with the Austrian violinist Daniel Auner, released on the Gramola label, was 'Editors choice' in the December 2014 issue of the Strad Magazine. Robin has performed recitals in many of the world's most important concert venues including the Wigmore Hall and the Vienna Musikverein. He has appeared in important festivals such as Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, IMS 'Open Chamber' Festival at Prussia Cove, Festival de Radio France et Montpellier and Le Jardin Musicaux Festival. Recent concerto highlights include directing a performance of Poulenc´s Aubade from the piano with the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Martinu Double Concerto with Sinfonia Cymru and Camerata Nordica. Together with the pianist Antoine Françoise, Robin is part of the multi award winning Françoise-Green Piano Duo. A passionate chamber musician, Robin Green has collaborated with renowned soloists and ensembles such as the Cavalieri String Quartet, members of the Zehetmair quartet, the Rambert Dance Company and the Mercury Quartet, where he is a guest conductor. As an ensemble pianist, he has appeared with the Orchestre National de Radio France, the Aurora Orchestra and Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain. Robin Green has studied at the Royal College of Music in London and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and he is currently a piano professor at the Royal Academy of Music.

Information: Pharos Arts Foundation Tel. (+357) 22-663871 / www.pharosartsfoundation.org
Box Office: Directly from the Foundation’s website www.pharosartsfoundation.org/Tickets_online.htm or Tel. 9666-9003 (Monday - Friday 10:00am-3:00pm

The event is part of the 7th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival