“Ward no. 4” is a quartet of Vilnius-based Lithuanian improvisers who made their debut at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2024. The band was formed at the initiative of saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas.

All four musicians first met around 2018 at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where Mockūnas and Mikalkėnas teach in the Contemporary and Improvised Music Master’s programme, while Kurtinaitis and Kaupinis were studying with them. What began as a teacher–student relationship naturally evolved into a partnership between colleagues who share a common musical language and aesthetic, rooted in deep listening and spontaneous interaction.

Low-frequency vibrations generated by the two tubas, sometimes reinforced by the bass saxophone, intertwine with prepared piano and percussion, creating a distinctive sonic landscape. The music moves freely between fragile, almost meditative passages and highly energetic, unpredictable soundscapes.