“The world of classical music is too serious and strict – it’s time to change that” – this is how the string quartet “PaGAGnini” introduces itself, coming to Lithuania for the first time, and will organize a hilarious show of humor and classical music in Kaunas on December 15.

In its performances, the “PaGAGnini” quartet performs works by composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Pachelbel, Frederic Chopin, Manuel de Falla, Pablo de Sarasate or Nicolo Paganini, as well as other music genres such as rock or folk rock, and combines everything with a witty humorous performance that immediately draws the audience in.

The show was created by the famous comedy theater “Yllana”, founded in 1991, and one of the most talented violinists of his generation, Ara Malikian, while the “PaGAGnini” string quartet at that time consisted of the talented Thomas Potiron, Fernando Clemente, Gueorgii Fournadjiev and Eduardo Ortega.

The performance was inspired by the work of the most famous violin virtuoso of that time and one of the pioneers of modern violin technique, the Italian composer Nicolo Paganini, and the desire to convey classical music in an attractive and non-standard way, thus attracting a younger audience to it.

“Paganini is the world’s first rock star – he popularized this music genre and performed for huge crowds of spectators, so he is very important to us,” say the members of “PaGAGnini”. – “We have fun on stage and share it with the audience, and humor plays perhaps the most important role.”

“Combining humor and classical music is one way to show the audience that enjoying it doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t really need to be an expert in this genre. The world of classical music is too serious and strict, which is why young people often don’t understand it. It’s time to change that and let them hear how wonderful classical music really is,” the quartet members add.

The originality of “PaGAGnini” has earned the quartet several awards: the show was recognized as Classical Music Show of the Year (Spain, 2009), beat out as many as 1,300 other shows in the election for the best show at “The Fringe” (United Kingdom, 2009), became the Audience Choice at the Chiclana Theatre Festival (Spain, 2008) and won the “Moerser Comedy Prize” (Germany, 2008).

“When I saw PaGAGNini for the first time, I laughed until I cried, so I immediately realized that we had to invite them to Lithuania. We have never had a show like this before, they break the stereotypes of a classical music concert with their performance, so it is not surprising that tickets to their show are usually sold out. I have no doubt that the audience will be impressed,” says Tomas Inčikas, the head of the event organizer Seven Live.

The hilarious performances of humor and classical music by the string quartet PaGAGNini will take place of this year on December 15 at the Kaunas Žalgirio Arena. Tickets for the event are distributed by Bilietai.lt.