Conductor Ariel Zuckermann, violinist Kolja Blacher among Telavi Music Festival headliners

Internationally acclaimed conductor Ariel Zuckermann, violinist and teacher Kolja Blacher and Georgia’s famed pianist Eliso Virsaladze will be among artists presented to listeners in this year’s Telavi International Music Festival in Georgia’s winemaking province Kakheti starting next week.

In the sunlit region known for long-stretched vineyards and eye-catching landscapes, classical music will be celebrated by performers through masterpieces by the likes of Antonin Dvorak, Robert Schumann and Alexander Scriabin.

Israel Chamber Orchestra director Zuckermann and Blacher will open the 2019 edition of the festival — led by Virsaladze — at the State Drama Theatre of the city of Telavi, where the duo and the festival orchestra will host their audience for Symphony No. 7 by Dvorak and the Violin Concerto by Benjamin Britten.

They will be followed the next day by the Gori Women’s Choir, an ensemble celebrated in recent appearances in Georgia and beyond, with a choral concert marking 80 years since the birth of composer Ioseb Kechakmadze.

Pianist Nicholas Namoradze will bring his prize-winning talent to festival stage on September 25:

The festival will then switch locations to bring young Georgian talent Nicolas Namoradze, winner of the prestigious 2018 International Honens Piano Competition and Festival, to the museum of 19th century Georgian nobleman Alexander Chavchavadze in Tsinandali, a popular destination for its historical chateau.

Namoradze, whose “remarkable clarity of execution, refinement and variety of tone” (Calgary Herald) was praised following his win at the contest, will perform works including the Eight Etudes by Scriabin at the venue.

Moving back to Telavi, the programme will be taken over by Virsaladze and the David Oistrakh Quartet, named after the acclaimed violinist, in a performance of the String Quartet No. 2 by Joseph Haydn and Piano Quartets No. 2 by Dvorak and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Telavi event will also showcase Fumiaki Miura, youngest winner of the Hannover International Violin Competition and Can Çakmur, laureate of the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition.

In the closing concert of the festival, Virsaladze will be joined by cellist Alexander Buzlov and the orchestra in a rendition of works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Schumann led by Zuckermann.

Beside the musical shows in the programme, the festival will also invite music enthusiasts for Talks on Music and offer master classes — led by Virsaladze, Blacher and violinist Deniz Tahberer — for young talent.

The Telavi International Music Festival is set to run between September 21-29.