Andrew Webb-Mitchell’s Violin Concerto ‘Arin Mirkan’ received its world premiere in Cologne on 29th April, 2018.
The Concerto performed by Russian-American violinist Elisabeth Basoff-Darskaja and the New Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Volker Hartung.
Arin Mirkan was a commander in the YPJ who sacrificed herself during fighting in Kobane on October 5 2014.
When talking about the concerto, the composer said:“My concerto is not a requiem for Arin, but rather a celebration of life and humanity, the very things she was fighting to preserve. This is a European composer’s personal response to some of the darkest events in recent history. I respond with music, with light. The sounds of war are occasionally present in the concerto, particularly in the first movement, but they are merely distant echoes. The mood of the music is often heroic, sometimes playful, sometimes pensive; the melodies are lyrical and youthful.”