LNSO. Frozen in Time

The Contemporary Music Festival “Permainų muzika” invites you once again to embrace change and new experiences! Now in its 20th year, the festival presents the finest examples of 20th and 21st-century music that have influenced changes in music history, as well as the most modern forms of expression, and introduces interactions between various art forms. The festival’s program, which covers a broad context of contemporary culture, offers a rich variety of internationally significant projects, encouraging exploration of intriguing contemporary art territories and experiencing the joy of discovery.

The program “Frozen in Time” opens the festival “Permainų muzika”, organized by one of Lithuania’s most intriguing conductors, Vilmantas Kaliūnas, and performed by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. This program seems to contrast with the festival’s theme of change. Indeed, the evening, named after a work by the renowned contemporary Israeli-American composer Avner Dorman, will showcase various aspects of contemporary music, offering a fresh classical experience through time-tested pieces and their exceptional interpretations.

Two virtuoso soloists will perform with the orchestra. Fabian Ziegler, a distinguished Swiss percussionist renowned for his “visionary power” in percussion, will interpret Dorman’s “Frozen in Time” (2007). Ziegler is known for impressing audiences with his masterful performances at venues such as Berlin Philharmonie, Konzerthaus, New York’s Lincoln Center, and Zurich’s Tonhalle. The solo part of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (1987), a significant work by one of the leading figures in American minimalism, will be performed by the charismatic violinist Geraldas Bidva. Bidva, from his early career with the Kremerata Baltica to his current role as concertmaster of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, is recognized for exploring and performing new and compelling repertoire.

The LNSO will also perform “Exodus” by Feliksas Bajoras, a luminary in Lithuanian contemporary music who is celebrating his 90th birthday this year. The newest highlight of the program is Mindaugas Urbaitis’s “Bruckner Revisited,” composed in 2023 and performed with great success at the Vilnius Festival. 

The program is presented in collaboration with the Lithuanian National Philharmonic.