This year’s Sounds New festival in Canterbury invites as a guest composers Arvo Pärt, a leading composer in the Baltic region. However, his music is only the tip of an iceberg in a region of incredible invention and energy. According to the artistic leader of the festival Paul Max Edlin, “Baltic composers are having a profound effect on the music world, but while many Baltic composers are influencing others, we, in the UK, are not always lucky to hear this music live and in context. The year’s festival BALTIC+ addresses this and presents this extraordinary new work in concerts given by leading British performers as well as by Baltic musicians.”
The UK’s premiere contemporary classical music ensemble London Sinfonietta will go on a journey around the Baltic during the first night of the festival on 20th May at the Augustine Hall. The concert will include Möbius-Strip Canon by the composer of the austere soundscapes Rytis Mažulis.
The festival will feature one of the numerous brilliant quartets in Lithuania – Kaunas String Quartet, a flexible and eloquent team of players, which has brought to life more than 250 new works. Their concert on Monday, 23rd of May at the St. Methodist Church in Canterbury, will combine highlights of their extensive repertoire: Justė Janulytė’s Aria will steer the listeners through a quirky maze of melodies; Zita Bružaitė’s Mosaic will uncover delicate interplay of various moods and images; exceptional emotional code of Vidmantas Bartulis’ (iconic composer in the quartet’s repertoire) music will reveal the uniqueness and fragility of human nature. The concert starts with the Bruckner’s String Quartet in C minor, a work which, despite its age, remains deeply unfamiliar.
A day earlier, on Sunday, 22nd May the festival’s audience will have the opportunity to enjoy the artistry of the winner of this year’s Lithuania's Got Talent! competition accordion player Martynas Levickis, who currently studies with the Head of Accordion Professor Owen Murray at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
On Thursday, 26th of May, the festival will give a glimpse into the world of Lithuania’s documentary filmmaker Audrius Stonys. One of the best known Lithuanian directors, his work has highlighted the tiny country of Lithuania on the map of international cinema. He believes that “a documentary is born out of wonder and a desire to share, with the discovery of the possibility to stop time and contemplate the miracle of the world”. This gives his films an almost lyrical quality which is enhanced by silence, rather than dialogue, and the director is known for his delicate relationship with music in film. The screening at the Department of Media, Powell Building, Christ Church University, will include “The Baltic Way” (1990), “Earth of the Blind” (1992) and “Flight Over Lithuania or 510 Seconds of Silence” (2000).
The 10 day festival will end with the YES!, which is a strong cross-art performance including 3D visuals, dance, poetry and new music. The performance has been choreographed by Raimonda Gudavičiūtė and Mantas Stabačinskas, music composed by Egidija Medekšaitė, one of Lithuania’s most exciting young composers, who will bring this multi-art performance installation at the close of the festival.
During the festival an international conference Baltic Musics and Musicologies on the music of the Baltic Sea region will be hosted by the Department of Music at Canterbury Christ Church University, from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 May. Building on the festival theme, the conference will provide an overview of the latest scholarly work on music, music-making and musicology in the Baltic States and will include Lithuanian sessions on Lithuanian classical music composer Mikalojus Konstantintas Čiurlionis and Lithuanian contemporary composers.
Lithuania related events at the festival
Friday 20th May, 7.30pm, Augustine Hall
An Overture to BALTIC+
London Sinfonietta
Rytis Mažulis. Möbius-Strip Canon
More information and online tickets
Saturday 21st May, 11am-4pm, Whitefriars, Canterbury City Centre
Baltic Fair
Sunday 22nd May, 1pm, St Gregory’s Centre for Music
Feel the Squeeze!
With accordionists Ksenija Siderova, Servane Le Moller, Martynas Levickis, Rafal Luc
More information and online tickets
Sunday 22nd May, 9.30pm, The Ballroom
Lithuania’s got talent!
With accordionists Ksenija Siderova, Servane Le Moller, Martynas Levickis, Rafal Luc
More information and online tickets
Monday 23rd May, 7.30pm, St Peter’s Methodist Church
Kaunas String Quartet
Karolina Beinarytė (violin), Dalia Terminaitė (violin), Eglė Karžinauskaitė (viola), Saulius Bartulis (cello)
Works by Anton Bruckner, Zita Bružaitė, Justė Janulytė and Vidmantas Bartulis
More information and online tickets
Thursday 26th May, 11am, Powell Building, Christ Church University
The Baltic Way: Lithuania
A glimpse into the work of Lithuania‘s documentary film maker Audrius Stonys
- Baltic Way, Lithuania, 1990, 10 min, black&white
- Earth of the Blind, Lithuania, 1992, 24 min, black&white, Studio Kinema
- Flight Over Lithuania or 510 Seconds of Silence, 2000, 8 min, colour, Studio Nominum
Thursday 26th May, 2.45-4.15pm, Laud Building (room 26), Christ Church University
Conference “Baltic Musics and Musicologies”
M. K. Čiurlionis and Beyond, a musicological session
Friday, 27th May, 9-10.30am, Laud Building (room 26), Christ Church University
Conference “Baltic Musics and Musicologies”
Contemporary Lithuanian Composers, a musicological session
Friday, 27th May, 11-12am, Laud Building (room 26), Christ Church University
Conference “Baltic Musics and Musicologies”
Baltic Opera, a musicological session
Saturday 28th May, 9-10.30am, Laud Building (room 16), Christ Church University
Conference “Baltic Musics and Musicologies”
Baltic Musicologies, a musicological session
Saturday 28th May, 11am, Marlow Arcade, Whitefriars, Christ Church University
Light Through Prism, curious curator project
Vykintas Baltakas. Varga-Lied
More information
Sunday, 29th May, 7.45pm, The Gulbenkian Theatre
YES!
Cross-arts dance performance by Raimonda Gudavičiūtė, Mantas Stabačinskas, Snieguolė Mikalauskienė and Egidija Medekšaitė
More information and online tickets
Leaflet of the festival
Lithuanian Embassy in London inf.
