This improvisational music ensemble was formed by the winners of Grand Prix of last year’s VJYP competition – pianist Paula Bagotyriūtė and guitarist Deividas Skridaila, performing on prepared instruments as the duo Moose Tick. They were brought together by their shared pursuit of an original sound and unconventional ways of producing sound.

The duo continues to enjoy success. It has performed at the Kintai and ContemPLAY music festivals; collaborates with composers and performers from Lithuania and abroad. Young composers, Asja Kadic from Bosnia and Ethan Blackburn from the US, have dedicated their works Proto Fin and Listening(As) to this ensemble.

The collective, formed on the initiative of Moose Tick, will bring the final of the VJYP to a close with an improvisation featuring elements of composition, dedicated to the Vilnius Jazz festival. This is a musical experiment created live – it will unfold in real time, here and now. Working within pre-established guidelines, the performers will react to the sounds they produce and use them to build a composition.

All members of this ensemble share a similar creative aesthetic and an openness to experimentation.

The flutist and multidisciplinary artist Salomėja Kalvelytė completed her Master’s degree in contemporary and improvisational music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Currently, she focuses on composing and performing on the contemporary, experimental and improvisational music scenes.

She plays in the Flute Trio also involving Mėta Gabrielė Pelegrimaitė-Kaupinė and Kristupas Gikas. The trio takes part in contemporary music festivals and other events. Salomėja recently recorded and released the album Need for Flute, which she developed whilst on international tours. In addition, the performer explores acoustic contrasts and the unconventional possibilities of instruments in a duo with tuba player Mikas Kurtinaitis. In 2022, this duo won a special prize at the VJYP competition for the best interpretation of a standard.

Salomėja also takes part in Dalius Naujokaitis’ projects and the Improdimensija orchestra’s programs alongside the most prominent improvisers from Lithuania and abroad, and has appeared in the production company Operomanija’s project Alphabet.

Mikas Kurtinaitis is a Lithuanian tuba player of the younger generation and a performer of contemporary and improvisational music. He is renowned for his innovative solo performances.

After completing his master’s degree in contemporary music and free improvisation at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, this virtuoso began to take an active interest in the possibilities for expanding the sound of the tuba, started appearing as the soloist on the contemporary and improvisational music scene and experimenting with unconventional methods of sound production and breathing techniques.

In 2023, he won the Vilnius Jazz Young Power competition and was named the best instrumentalist.

For over a decade, Mikas has been a member of the Balkan and klezmer music collective Rakija Klezmer Orkestar; he also works with The Honkin’ Dudes Brass Band, the Improdimensija orchestra, and experiments in a duo with flautist S. Kalvelytė and with the experimental music group Moose Tick Ensemble.

Pianist Paula Bagotyriūtė completed a Bachelor’s degree in classical piano and a Master’s degree in contemporary and improvisational music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She takes part in projects involving contemporary, improvisational and experimental music.

This artist regards the piano as an ecosystem of sounds, treating its components – the instrument’s strings, metal, wood and keys – as equal elements of musical creation. Using bamboo sticks, magnets, fabric strips and other external objects, she produces electronic timbres, imitations of church bells, sounds reminiscent of wind instruments and other sonic effects usually not associated with the piano, layering them to create an array of sound characteristic of an orchestra.

The pianist has performed in China with the London Mahler Orchestra, in Switzerland with the Lucerne Improvisers’ Orchestra, and has appeared at the Into the Open festival in Berlin, the Improdimensija concert series, and the Lithuanian festivals ContemPLAY, Muzikos ruduo, Muzika erdvėje, the Thomas Mann Festival and others. In 2024, she was the winner of the Experimental Electronic Music and Sound Art Competition organised by the SODAS2123 cultural complex.

Bassist and guitarist Deividas Skridaila completed his Master’s degree in contemporary and improvisational music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LAMT) last year, during which he explored the possibilities of the prepared guitar in improvisational music.

The performer delves into the aesthetics of free jazz, conceptual and experimental music, and experiments with the prepared guitar. He performs in various jazz ensembles and projects with Lithuania’s jazz masters and has been improvising in a duo with pianist Paula Bagotyriūtė since his student days. In 2025, their duo won the VJYP competition.

Drummer and percussionist Pranas Germanavičius completed a Bachelor’s degree in rhythmic music at the University of Applied Sciences and is currently pursuing Master’s degree in percussion in Contemporary and Improvisational Music program at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LAMT).

The performer combines his studies with concert performances and takes part in academic art projects alongside his fellow students.