Following his impressive last year’s performance of the Vilnius triptych Conversations with Light, composer and pianist Tomas Kutavičius returns to the festival with a new project, When Language Returns to Its Musical Memory, which explores the musical origins of language. His starting point was the poem Kamis by the poet Mindaugas Milašius-Montė and a philosophical insight by the renowned semiotician and writer Umberto Eco.

Milašius-Montė’s poems are akin to free jazz in poetry, captivating the reader with unexpected twists and turns and a juggling of the sound and meaning of letters. The ringing of the words creates a powerful sonic backdrop, which is sometimes no less important than the logical meaning of the poem. The protagonist in his poem Kamis is a mythical Japanese creature resembling a giant catfish. It was believed that when it stirred, it caused earthquakes.

In Kutavičius’ composition, the image of the Kamis becomes an auditory metaphor for an invisible force, whilst the dramatic axis of the composition is shaped by Umberto Eco’s insight: “If we combine <...> syllabification with a certain breathing technique, we can see how the adept may progress from syllabification to ecstasy and thence to the acquisition of magical powers, because the letters the mystic combines are the same sounds with which God created the world.”

“This insight raises a fundamental question: what lies behind a word before it takes on meaning? Here, language returns to its primordial state – to sound, breath, rhythm and vibration. Milašius-Montė’s text serves as a bridge between an archaic perception of language and contemporary improvisational music,” explained the composer, outlining the project’s concept.

To bring this idea to life, he brought together a group of musicians with a distinctive style, whose experience, freedom of improvisation and individual musical thinking have become an integral part of the piece.

Tomas Kutavičius has experience in both jazz and academic music. He received education in both fields at the National M.K. Čiurlionis School of Art, Vilnius Conservatoire and the LAMT. At the latter he studied composition.

As a composer, he combines elements of both jazz and academic music in an idiosyncratic way. As a performer he excels at keyboards and vocal. Together with various formations the musician has appeared at the most important jazz festivals in Lithuania, as well as toured in many European countries, USA and Japan.

On jazz scene Kutavičius has collaborated with Petras Vyšniauskas, Arkady Gotesman, Juozas Milašius, Eugenijus Kanevičius, Skirmantas Sasnauskas, Arūnas Šlaustas, Dalius Naujokaitis, Vytautas Labutis, Vladimir Tarasov, Vladimir Chekasin, Klaus Kugel, Theo Jörgensmann, Jacques Siron, Jana Koubkova and Anatoly Vapirov among many other celebrities.

Among his solo jazz projects noteworthy are Conversations With My Soul (1991), Magister Ludi (2001), Autumn Chant (2004) and Dialogue with the Father (2025).

Kutavičius’ academic opuses receive critical acclaim and draw interest from performers. His Concerto Divine Rampage for piano and symphony orchestra was voted to be The Best Work of 2013, the opera for children Dwarf Nose composed for Kaunas State Musical Theatre was awarded Kaunas city Fortuna prize, and his music for project A Journey for the theatre studio Ąžuolas – the Grand Prix at the International Theatre Festival in Grenoble.

Kutavičius has composed operas, a ballet, musicals for children, and incidental music for various theatre productions in Lithuania as well as the Tokyo Dora Theatre Company. His academic music, like jazz, is temperamental, filled with a flair of improvisation.

Kazimieras Jušinskas is one of the most creative saxophonists of the younger generation. He completed a master’s degree in contemporary music and improvisation at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, performs regularly at jazz festivals in Lithuania, takes part in interdisciplinary projects and the programmes of the Improdimensija orchestra, and is also involved in teaching.

With the bands Brave Noises and Džiazlaif, Jušinskas has won the Grand Prix at the Vilnius Jazz Young Power competition; with DJ Extended (Kristupas Gikas), he has performed in Lithuania, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria.

The saxophonist is taking part in director Karolis Kaupinis’ project Radvila Darius, Son of Vytautas, and plays in Dominykas Digimas and Kamilė Gudmonaitė’s opera Things I Didn’t Dare to Say, and Now It’s Too Late, as well as in director Žilvinas Vingelis’ theatre production Kafka Insomnia. In addition, he is a member of the free improvisation ensembles Illucid and Katarsis4.

Flutist Kristupas Gikas is active on contemporary, improvisational, and experimental music scene. He completed his master’s degree and earned a PhD in contemporary music and improvisation at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LAMT), having previously studied classical flute at the M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art and LAMT, and sonology at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The artist is interested in different musical traditions and styles, blurring their boundaries, combining acoustic and electronic sound in his work. He excels not only on various flutes, but also a saxophone, a computer, dambrelis (Jew’s harp) and even a turntable – he often spins records as DJ Extended.

Under this pseudonym, the improviser has been playing music with his fellow student, the saxophonist Kazimieras Jušinskas, for nine years now. Their duo has appeared not only in Lithuania, but also in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Kristupas is also a member of the improvisational music group Ferry Good Company (formerly Laivo troupe) and Fleitų 3, and plays in the Improdimensija orchestra.

Arkadij Gotesman is one of Lithuania’s most fascinating percussionists, as well as a composer, poet, theatre director, pedagogue, producer, Spiritus Movens of Vilnius Klezmer Orchestra and artistic director of Utena Percussion and Jazz Festival.

He composes, records and performs music for theatre, writes scenarios for musical performances and installations, is an enthusiast of silent movies, organises projects with dancers, writers, actors and visual artists, delivers personal shows. In 2025, he released the album Muzika įsivaizduojamam baletui (Music for an Imaginary Ballet).

Free jazz and improvised music is the element of this alchemist of sound. His work embraces poetry, magic, and unusual combinations of instruments.

Arkadij has improvised with the coryphées of various music trends. He also performs the latest in academic music and has premiered works by renowned Lithuanian composers.

Gotesman’s contributions to Lithuanian jazz have been recognized with awards from the Birštonas Jazz and the Vilnius Jazz.