ModComFest 2026 Brings Chamber Series to a Successful Close in Barcelona
Taking to the stage for the occasion was an international line-up comprising violinists Marc Bouchkov (Belgium), Lir Vaginsky (Israel), Miguel Colom (Spain), and María Florea (Spain); violists Joaquin Riquelme García (Spain) and Diemut Poppen (Germany); cellists Sebastian Klinger (Spain) and Alexander Chaushian (UK); pianists Giuliano Mazzoccante (Italy) and Sofia Raichenko (Belgium); and double bassist Yamila Pedrosa (Spain). Their combined forces allowed the evening to move between a variety of chamber formations, bringing a distinct character and scale to each work on the programme.
“Richter bridges classical tradition and modern sensibility so naturally that everyone feels welcome,” Colom observed, with Pedrosa adding that “his music speaks directly to the heart. It’s honest, intimate, and deeply human”
Indeed, the concert began with Dmitri Shostakovich’s 5 Pieces for 2 Violins and Piano, before the focus turned to this year’s dedicatee with Max Richter’s Mercy for violin and piano. One of the composer’s most intimate works, it was followed by another of his best-known compositions, On the Nature of Daylight, presented here in an arrangement for string quartet. The second part of the evening broadened the musical canvas further, with Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet, Sergei Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, and finally Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 1 bringing the festival’s third concert to its conclusion.
Speaking after the close of the evening, Mora praised the courage of ModComFest’s programming, arguing that “putting new music at the centre is a brave and necessary step for the future of our art.” This sentiment was shared by Colom, who noted that the festival “invites curious, younger audiences to discover classical music through the voices of today”, while Riquelme opined that “they create a natural dialogue between past and present, which ultimately enriches both!”
Meanwhile, Konstantin Ishkhanov, the President of ModComFest, shared his own reflection on the conclusion of the chamber series, declaring that “these first three concerts have allowed us to encounter Max Richter’s music from several different perspectives, and tonight felt like a wonderful culmination of that journey. One of our aims with ModComFest is to give audiences the time to really enter a composer’s world, rather than encountering just one work in isolation, and I think the concerts here at the Hospital de Sant Pau have achieved exactly that. I am enormously grateful to all of the artists who have helped bring this music to life, and now we look forward to opening an entirely new chapter of the festival with the orchestral concerts.”
In fact, with the chamber portion of ModComFest 2026 now complete, the festival is set to enter its second phase on 21st September, when proceedings move from the intimate surroundings of the Hospital de Sant Pau to the magnificent Palau de la Música Catalana. Three orchestral concerts will follow from the 21st to the 23rd of September, bringing Richter’s music within a larger symphonic context and giving audiences a glimpse of an entirely different side of the contemporary composer.
