- Venue
- St. Cecilia's Hall, The University of Edinburgh
- Starts
- Tuesday, October 22, 2019
- Ends
- Wednesday, October 23, 2019
- Address
- 50 Niddry Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LG
- Location
- Scotland
- Organiser
- Lithuanian Art and Culture in the UK
The Sea in the Forest
7:00 – 8:00 pm The opening concert
Renowned classical pianist Petras Geniušas and virtuoso multireedist Liudas Mockūnas will collaborate in performing a unique polystylistic project, The Sea in the Forest, taking us on a journey into the visionary world of one of the most celebrated and singular Lithuanian artists, painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911).
The two musicians will use Čiurlionis’ music as a source of inspiration, before diving into the ‘sea’ of their individual experiences and subjective stylistic interpretations. Fusing elements of Romanticism, Impressionism and Modernism with jazz and free improvisation, the musical dialogue will ebb and flow as one dynamic musical body.
The project’s title, The Sea in the Forest, serves both as a reference to Čiurlionis’ best known symphonic poems, and as a key with which to explore the layered symbols encountered throughout his work.
Multireedist, improviser and composer LIUDAS MOCKŪNAS (b. 1976) ranks among the leading personalities in Lithuanian avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. Often hailed as a new prophet of the Vilnius jazz school, he is one of Lithuania’s most extensively recorded jazz musicians; unconventional and explorative in performance, composition and technique, his international reputation continues to grow exponentially, commanding a daunting concert itinerary as well as an ever-expanding catalogue of stage partners and collaborators roaming from the Baltic countries to Scandinavia, France, Japan, and the US, and including premier improvisers such as Marc Ducret, Jaak Sooäär, Mats Gustafsson, Stefan Pasborg, Mikko Innanen, and Barry Guy.
https://www.mic.lt/en/database/jazz/composers-artists/mockunas/
Pianist PETRAS GENIUŠAS (b. 1961) is distinguished among Lithuanian classical musicians for his exceptional versatility and adventurousness in searching for new forms of artistic expression. He pursues a variety of musical interests that far exceed his background as a classical concert pianist; from folk and indigenous forms, to works by the 17th century English virginalists; from the avant-garde to jazz, electronica and dance. He is in constant demand as a recitalist with a number of Lithuanian symphony and chamber orchestras, and as a chamber musician, whose illustrious list of stage partners has included Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Raimundas Katilius, Alexander Kniazev, David Geringas, Virgilijus Noreika, and Vytautas Juozapaitis, among many others. Geniušas currently teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
This event has been organised by the Embassy and Cultural Attaché of Lithuania in the United Kingdom in partnership with St. Cecilia’s Hall.
Full programme of the Lithuanian Days in Scotland: https://www.facebook.com/events/755699074886092/
