LUCY VORONOV PERFORMS A CONCERTO IN MINSK ACCOMPANIED BY THE BELARUSIAN PHILHARMONIC STATE ORCHESTRA

It’s not often that you get a composer to write a concerto specially for you, followed by an invitation to play it with the backing of a professional orchestra. But that’s what happened to Lucy Voronov recently.

On 27 th of April the SBO’s very own cimbalom virtuoso Lucy Voronov, backed by the Belarusian State Philharmonic Orchestra, played to a packed audience in her native Belarus, a concerto that had been specially written for her.

This concerto for cimbalom and orchestra was written by the celebrated Russian composer and student of Shostakovich, Alexander Zhurbin who dedicated the work to Lucy. It was the first time that this international composer has composed a cimbalom concerto especially for a Belarusian orchestra.

But the Minsk performance on 27 th April was not the premiere performance of this concerto. That happened at Lucy’s home in St Ives on Russian Orthodox Easter Sunday to a specially invited audi- ence. With the backing of pianist, Elen Rapoport, Lucy gave a spirited performance of her concerto with her usual flourish and flair, to rapturous applause.

The concerto was designed to showcase this distinctly Belarusian instrument, on which Lucy has established herself as an international virtuoso. And it was fitting that Lucy should be invited back to Belarus, which she hadn’t visited for over 20 years, to launch Alexander’s latest composition.

While the Zhurbin concerto has distinctly Belarusian themes, it also has some distinctly Australian moments. “When Alexander Zhurbin and I discussed the writing of this piece,” Lucy said, “I asked that it also reflect some elements of my life here in Australia as a Belarusian immigrant. I am after all an Australian citizen and if you listen very carefully, that Australian element is not hard to pick out!”

As yet there is no date set for this piece to be performed in Australia.