The group gave their first performance at this year’s VJYP competition auditions and surprised the audience with a concept never before seen on the festival stage – a synthesis of jazz improvisation and real-time painting. Ovalas’ original creative ideas were recognised by the jury with a special prize.

In the competition final round, the group will perform a collective composition entitled Meditation.

Whilst still a student at the Vilnius Conservatoire, pianist and trumpeter Antanas Vidra began to make a name for himself as an improviser and composer, and made a successful appearance at the national festival of original music, Nauja gaida. Last year, he performed in the finals of the VJYP competition with the band Freesesyjka Live.

Antanas is currently continuing his jazz studies at the Danish National Conservatoire (Syddansk Musikkonservatorium) in Odense. He performs with various ensembles in Denmark and Lithuania.

Guitarist Laurynas Motiekaitis first came to public attention as a teenager, when he appeared on the television music program The Voice of Lithuania: Children. He later turned his hand to experimental improvisation.

Having grown up in a family of musicians, Laurynas developed his own distinctive performing style, merging spontaneity with emotional depth, at an early age.

Gertrūda Lingaitytė is an interdisciplinary artist whose work combines visual art, experimental sound and the aesthetics of touch. She explores the boundaries between object and sound; by responding to musicians’ improvisations, she seems to transport painting into the dimensions of time and sound, transforming the canvas itself into a living, resonant instrument.

The artist completed a Master’s degree in painting at the Vilnius Academy of Arts and works as an exhibition consultant at the Contemporary Art Centre.

Ugnė Gabrielė Motiekaitytė is studying law at Vilnius University and possesses a rare gift for music. Her playing is characterised by a genuineness and a subtle sense of sound.