Violinist Liana Isakadze to lead international artists for 'Night Serenades' festival

World-famous Georgian violinist Liana Isakadze will be flanked by classical artists from Georgia, Europe and Israel for the upcoming International Festival ‘Night Serenades’ in the coastal city of Batumi and the capital, Tbilisi.

Hosting the festival for its ninth edition, Isakadze will also heavily feature in the program that is due to launch on Saturday at the Batumi Sheraton Hotel Concert Hall.

Isakadze, who arrived in Georgia on Friday, will be on stage for the opening show with conductor David Mukeria.

See Liana Isakadze perform with Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra in 2014 below:

An orchestral arrangement of the string sextet Souvenir de Florence, composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 1890, is on the program for the show.

Other pieces to be played to the audience include works by Antonio Vivaldi and Camille Saint-Saens.

During the following evening of performance at the concert hall, Isakadze will team up with an Israeli duo of clarinetists Alex and Daniel Gurfinkel.

A rendition of the piece Jewish Soul Fantasy by composer and pianist Yuri Povolotsky as well as the work Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens will be on the agenda.

The Georgian violinist will next join German conductor Justus Frantz in the two concluding events of the festival.

The Israeli duo of clarinetists Alex and Daniel Gurfinkel. Photo: www.duogurfinkel.com.

In the closing concert in Tbilisi, concertos and smaller works by Vivaldi, Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky will be played for the audience on August 31.

The participating artists will take to the Grand Stage of the Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theatre for the event.

The festival is also due to feature artists including the World Chamber Orchestra ‘Virtuosi’ and Israeli conductor Michael Gurfinkel.

Liana Isakadze first established the festival in the 1980s in the resort town Bichvinta in Abkhazia, now Georgia’s north-west breakaway region.

The event was suspended during the civil war and economic crisis of the 1990s in Georgia but saw a relaunch in 2009 in the seaside Adjara region.

German conductor Justus Frantz will lead some of the performances of the festival. Photo: slippedisc.com.

Isakadze’s initiative has also featured charity cause, with the 2015 edition of the event held to support cancer-related treatment for children patients.

Born in Tbilisi, Isakadze played her first solo violin concert at age 10 in 1956.

Her career was heavily influenced with support and advice from the famed Soviet violinist David Oistrakh, with the emerging artist working as his assistant for two years.

The recipient of the 1965 Grand Prix from the Marguerite Long and Jacques Thibaud International Competition in Paris, Isakadze was also awarded first place at the 1970 Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki.

A violinist and conductor, Isakadze has been distinguished for her performing career with the titles including People's Artist of the Soviet Union and the Order of Honour of Georgia.