Accordion

Praised by The Times for his ‘mastery of an instrument once dismissed as a squeezebox’, accordionist Martynas Levickis has transformed the way we listen to the instrument, captivating audiences and critics alike with his musicality, charisma and dynamic performances.

At the age of just three, Levickis began to teach himself the traditional folk music of his home country, Lithuania. Aged eight, he began to learn formally at the Saulius Sondeckis School of the Arts in his hometown of Šiauliai, before going on to study with Owen Murray at the Royal Academy of Music, followed by postgraduate studies with Iñaki Alberdi at Musikene in Spain.

Levickis is the recipient of more than 30 international awards; in 2010, he won the Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships. As the first accordionist signed to the Universal Music Decca Classics label, his eponymous debut album went straight to the top of the UK Official Classical Artist Album Charts. In 2015, Levickis founded his chamber ensemble, Mikroorkéstra, and was named Preisträger in Residence of the 2020 Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – an honour he will have for a second time in 2023. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, several of his 26 concerts for the festival are now rescheduled to take place in 2023.

Over the years, Levickis has performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, St Petersburg Grand Philharmonic Hall and Auditorio Nacional in Mexico, and at festivals such as Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Thüringer Bachwochen and Edinburgh Jazz Festival. He has led residential courses and in 2014 founded the annual Composers+ Summer Academy to premiere new music for the accordion with chamber ensembles. He was also the Artistic Director of Vilnius Accordion Music Week for six years.

Levickis is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his distinguished contribution to music in his field and sits on the Advisory Board of the Lithuanian World Arts Council.

Photo by Miglė Golubickaitė

Praised as 'revelatory' (New York Times) with 'breathtaking virtuosity' (The Observer), Ksenija Sidorova is a major ambassador for the classical accordion and collaborates regularly with leading composers and musicians. Her repertoire spans from JS Bach to Astor Piazzolla, from Efrem Podgaits to George Bizet, as well as two new accordion concertos composed especially for her and a multitude of chamber projects.

Encouraged to take up the instrument by her grandmother, Sidorova started to play the accordion aged six under the guidance of Marija Gasele in her hometown of Riga. Her quest for more exposure to both classical and contemporary repertoire took her to London, where she became a prize-winning undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music.

In May 2012, she became the first international award winner of the Bryn Terfel Foundation and in October 2015 appeared at the Royal Albert Hall as part of Terfel’s 50th birthday celebrations. Released in June 2016, Sidorova’s debut album with Deutsche Grammophon is a fascinating take on Carmen and has delighted audiences across the world. Her latest album, Piazzolla Reflections, was released in 2021.

Ksenija works with leading orchestras including NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Kammerorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and prestigious conductors including Paavo Järvi, Thomas Hengelbrock, Vasily Petrenko, Kristjan Järvi, Michał Nesterowicz and Jan Willem de Vriend.

Sidorova is a recipient of both the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and Friends of the Philharmonia award, as well as the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal. Since 2016, she has been an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.