Percussionist

Anastasia Kobekina's heartfelt wish: to one day share the stage with dancers and let their energies flow together. Her summer at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival makes this dream come true. The dance company of the Rostock Volkstheater and the award-winner in residence are creating an evening together—and not only Anastasia's cello invites you to dance, but the percussion of festival award-winner Alexej Gerassimez also makes bodies fly.

Percussion, cello, dance!

Rostock Hall

Ernst-Barlach-Theater

It's about to get exciting! When piano-playing brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen join forces with top drummers Alexej Gerassimez and Emil Kuyumcuyan, musical sparks fly. All four already know each other from previous tours. Audiences can therefore look forward to a well-rehearsed team whose enthusiasm for experimentation, sense of rhythm, and outstanding virtuosity promise a veritable firework display on keys and drumsticks. In addition to original compositions for this unusual ensemble, including works by Steve Reich, the program also includes arrangements of repertoire classics such as the Symphonic Dances from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

EPSG:4326

Lucas & Arthur Jussen / Alexej Gerassimez / Emil Kuyumcuyan

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

The friendship between the drums and the viola begins a musical journey. The drums, with their powerful rhythms, and the viola, with its soft, melodic sounds, initially struggle to find a way to play together - the drums think the viola is too quiet and the viola thinks the drums are too loud. But through trial and error and mutual understanding, they slowly discover how their sounds can harmonise. In the end, they show that true friendship knows no prejudices and that it is possible to find common ground even across apparent differences.

Percussion meets Viola

Alte Oper

It's not easy to talk and play an instrument at the same time, it's easy to get stuck or out of rhythm. In jazz, musicians sometimes accompany individual passages with spoken vocals. The percussion concerto 'Speaking Drums' takes the opposite approach. The drummer first speaks rhythmic syllables, then passes the rhythm on to his instrument, teaching it to speak, until it finally speaks for itself. The first two movements of the piece are based on three poems by Sándor Weöres, while the third movement is inspired by a poem by Jayadeva. We can look forward to an unusual work by the Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös, who died only last year, and to Alexej Gerassimez, who will also appear as a museum soloist in our other concert series during the 2025/26 season.

Percussionist

Alexei Gerassimez

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 18, 2026

Lucas & Arthur Jussen / Alexej Gerassimez / Emil Kuyumcuyan · Elbphilharmonie

Apr 19, 2026

Percussion meets Viola · Alte Oper Frankfurt

19 - 20 Apr, 2026

Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra · Alte Oper Frankfurt

Past events

16 - 17 Jul, 2025

Percussion, cello, dance! · Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Future and recently performed repertoire

Drums in Speaking Drums by Eötvös

Alte Oper Frankfurt

About

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