Martynas Bialobžeskis (b.1976) studied composition with Prof. Julius Juzeliūnas at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre from 1994 to 1999. As a chairperson of the Youth Section of the Lithuanian Composers' Union since 2000, he was engaged in diverse activities devoted to promoting young Lithuanian composers and their work, including the organization of the annual "Druskomanija" Festival (Youth Chamber Music Days in Druskininkai). He also organized new music festival "Bendras faktorius" held in Vilnius in 2000 and 2001. His works have been performed at the contemporary music festivals "Jauna muzika" (2002, 2003, 2008), "Kopa" (1998), "Gaida" (2007, 2009), "Permainų muzika" (2008), "Iš arti" (2008). From 2000 to 2006 Martynas Bialobžeskis worked as a sound engineer in the State Youth Theatre in Vilnius. Since 2008 he is a member of electronic music collective "Diissc Orchestra". Their debut album D.O., released in the same year and including pieces by five composers (Bialobžeskis' "CD in C(D)" for viola and electronics among them), was awarded the prize for the best electro-acoustic work at the composers' competition organized by the Lithuanian Composers' Union.
The music of Martynas Bialobžeskis seems to fall under four broad categories: academic, theatre, club music, and search for a specific sound, with none of them taking the lead. These different areas of composition often interact thus blurring the established boundaries of some particular genre or style. He made his debut as a theatre composer while 17 years old and since has been constantly collaborating with different Lithuanian theatre directors. Also he began fusing the academic and popular music in his academy years, collaborating, since 1997, as an author of music and lyrics with various Lithuanian pop and electronic music groups. Even when writing for chamber and symphony orchestra, he employs rhythms, modes, harmonies and emotional drive characteristic of contemporary dance music ("Separations", "Symphom", "As If Pressing Play", etc). Both fields are also integrated in compositions which combine acoustic and electronic sound ("Radio CMB", "Pro/Free", "As If Pressing Play", "e-Sax", and others). However, the most organic synthesis of academic and pop music is achieved in his incidental pieces for theatre which often assume the shape of stylistic collage (for instance, the juxtaposition of cabaret, club music and experimental electronics in the drama performance "The Cronicles of Livelong Days and Livelong Nights").
Martynas Bialobžeskis claims that he is definitely not one of those composers who like to 'calculate' their music. Instead, he seeks for the balance between the feeling and intellect, freedom and structure, music and text. In his works, he tries to retain the sense of a game which is often conveyed in the titles of his works, always implying a possibility of different reading.
Eglė Grigaliūnaitė
