BRASS FIESTA | KLAIPĖDA BRASS QUINTET AND PETRAS VYŠNIAUSKAS

Sigitas Petrulis (artistic director, trumpet)

Tadas Česnauskas (trumpet)

Monika Miliauskienė (horn)

Arvydas Stakvilevičius (trombone)

Vidmantas Liasis (tuba)

Concert guest – Petras Vyšniauskas (saxophone)

The program will feature works by A. Piazolla, L. Anderson, J. Forde, R. Giedraitis and other composers.

Founded in 1986 by LMTA professor Vilmantas Bružas, the Klaipėda Brass Quintet is a brass ensemble and the first professional artistic collective of its kind in Klaipėda. Since 2016, trumpeter Sigitas Petrulis has served as the quintet’s artistic director.

Belonging to the Klaipėda Concert Hall, the ensemble performs more than 30 concert programs annually on the most renowned stages in Lithuania and abroad. The Klaipėda Brass Quintet is acclaimed not only by Lithuanian but also by international music critics for the persuasiveness, versatility, and innovation of its performance technique.

The quintet regularly tours stages in Lithuania and abroad. Audiences in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Poland, and the Czech Republic have heard the Klaipėda Brass Quintet. Notable performances include the European Chamber Ensemble Competition in Alsace, France; the “Probaltika” Classical Music Festival in Toruń (Poland); the international “Philips Jones” Competition in Hungary; and others.

Petras Vyšniauskas is one of the most prominent and distinctive creators of Lithuanian jazz, a creative musician and virtuoso saxophonist. His soprano saxophone can speak, sing, shout, cry, and chirp. His deeply ethnic music often succumbs to the flow of spontaneous improvisations. Petras Vyšniauskas is the most awarded Lithuanian saxophonist, awarded the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, the National Prize, recognized as a National Value in 2005, and in 2011 awarded the Vilnius Jazz Festival Prize for Merit to Lithuanian Jazz. Among the partners of the saxophonist, who is open to experimentation, are not only jazz, but also performers of folklore, classical, and contemporary academic music. Recently, he has been playing mainly in international groups and participating in spontaneous projects. In addition to his concert activities, the saxophonist teaches at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, composes and records for theatre and cinema.

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Organizer: DKC | Festival Concept: Musicians’ Support Fund | Partners: MKČ Art School, Mineral SPA Draugystė | Information Partner: “Mano Druskininkai” | Patron: Vaidas Vaišvilas, Pastor of Druskininkai Church | The festival is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Druskininkai Municipality