Vykintas Baltakas, Emilio Pomàrico, Marcus Weiss (sax), Teodoro Anzellotti (acc) and the WDR SO Köln at the world première of Saxordionphonics on 28 April 2013 in Witten.

The world première of Saxordionphonics for saxophone, accordion and chamber orchestra takes place today in Witten.

Vykintas Baltakas on this work:

Saxordionphonics is founded on two structural principles. The first is a strictly rhythmical construct of two to three permuting notes which paces through the entire piece, forming a structural basis, with temporal distensions and condensations, dynamic and colorific variations. The other is a freer level which reacts musically to the first. It is especially scored for solo instruments; it is here where the musical development takes place, the relationship between the levels playing a dramaturgical part. They influence each other, the stronger one transforming the weaker one, when they are not actually rivalling.

For me, it was as if I were observing a shadow-play in space; depending on the time of day, the direction and strength of the light, perception of the space changes, as if the walls and the strict architectonic structure were mobile.

Vykintas Baltakas: Saxordionphonics (2013)
for saxophon, accordion and chamber orchestra | 15’
2 2 3 2 – 2 1 1 0 – perc, str
world prem. 28/4/2013, Witten; Marcus Weiss, sax; Teodoro Anzellotti, acc
WDR SO Köln, cond. Emilio Pomàrico

Georg Friedrich Haas, Vykintas Baltakas, Mauricio Sotelo and Luke Bedford after the amazing performance of in vain under Sir Simon Rattle.

Today the RBB Kulturradio broadcasts a recording of Vykintas Baltakas’ Cantio from the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin on 17 January 2013.

The stream starts at 21:04 (CET) and is available on the RBB Kulturradio homepage:

The Lithuanian Ensemble Network (LEN) is a professional ensemble connecting Baltic musicians dedicated to contemporary music. Its primary concern is to establish contacts with the main figures of the contemporary music world, involving them into the Baltic music scene and creating a creative platform for emerging composers. LEN is also acting internationally, having performed at the WDR Cologne, the RUHR.2010 – Capital of Culture, and the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin.

The ensemble started its own concert series – “Composers of our time” – in Vilnius in 2010. The next concert of “Composers of our time” on 4 April is dedicated to Luciano Berio, representing a broad spectrum of works, written between 1952 and 1999:

Sequenza III (1968), Air (aus “Opera” 1969/1970), Naturale (1985), El mar la mar (1952/1969), O King (1968), Lied (1983), Différences (1958–1959) and Altra voce (1999).

This concert is a cooperation between the LEN and the festival Jauna Muzika. Vykintas Baltakas will be conducting, with soprano Rita Balta and mezzosoprano Rita Mačiliūnaitė.

The “Composers of our time” will be continued in the season 2013/2014, focusing on Wolfgang Rihm and Matthias Pintscher.

With the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and the Goethe Institut Vilnius.

Luciano Berio (1925-2003)
in cooperation with the festival of electronic music “Jauna muzika”
4 April 2013, Vilnius (LT)

Giedrius Gelgotas, fl; Andrius Žiūra, cl; Andrius Žiūra, cl; Karolis Kolakauskas, cl; Rima Chačaturian, pno; Raimondas Sviackevičius, acc; Tomas Kulikauskas, perc; Vilija Gencevičiūtė, harp; Ieva Sipaitytė, vno; Robertas Bliškevičius, vla; Vita Šiugždinienė, vc; Danielius Rubinas, cb

Rita Balta, s; Rita Mačiliūnaitė, ms

Vykintas Baltakas, cond.

Ensemble 2e2m gives the French premiere of Vykintas Baltakas‘ Lift to Dubai this Thursday at their concert in Paris.

Read more on the 2e2m website.

Vykintas Baltakas’ music theatre work Cantio will be performed at the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin in January 2013.

Cornelia Heger will direct the stage production, and the composer himself will conduct the Lithuanian Ensemble Network. The production is a cooperation between K&K Kulturmanagement & Kommunikation Berlin, Ultraschall and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Read more on the composer’s website and download a PDF file of our brochure.

Vykintas Baltakas’ new website is live.

Find information on the composer, his works, texts, photos and performances at www.baltakas.net.

Follow Baltakas also on Twitter @baltakas and Posterous.

Before we disappear amongst the Christmas wrapping, here are a few tips for your listening pleasure over the holidays.

Pierre Boulez’ Notations are on Radio SWR2 tonight (Friday) at 8pm German time.

David Sawer’s Stramm Gedichte will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:45pm London time.

Arvo Pärt’s Magnificat is sung by the NDR choir tomorrow (Saturday 24th) at 7pm German time on Radio NDR Kultur.

Once the new year kicks off, listen to the Arditti Quartet performing Vykintas Baltakas’ string quartet b(ell tree) on SWR2 on Wednesday 4th January at 11pm German time.

French speakers might like to listen to France Culture’s Villes Mondes Vienne episode, which was first broadcast on 13th November and contains an interview with Friedrich Cerha.

Merry Christmas!

Vykintas Baltakas features at the SONiC Festival at the Miller Theatre in New York this Sunday.

The JACK Quartet gives the US première of his string quartet b(ell tree).

Read more and listen to an excerpt here.

Vykintas Baltakas’ Commentum for cello and piano receives its German premiere tonight at the Usedom Music Festival.

Artist in Residence David Geringas is accompanied by Ian Fountain.

See the full score of Commentum and listen to an excerpt on this page.

Here is Vykintas Baltakas’ blog. His Twitter feed is here.

We’ve just received the recording of the world première of Vykintas Baltakas’ new work for cello and piano, Commentum.

David Geringas and Ian Fountain gave the first performance at the Vilnius Festival. Their next performance will be in October at the Usedomer Musikfest in Germany.

Listen to an excerpt and view the full score of the work

Our new catalogue of works by Vykintas Baltakas is here.

Carolin Widmann performs Wolfgang Rihm’s Über die Linie VII, Morton Feldman’s For Aaron Copland and Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VIII at the Konzerthaus in Vienna tonight.

Vykintas Baltakas’ (co)ro(na) is performed in Düsseldorf by the notabu.ensemble (15 June)

Ernst Krenek’s Das Geheime Königreich opens in Athens at the Greek National Opera.

The world première of Luke Bedford’s opera Seven Angels is on Friday 17 June.

The world première of Johannes Maria Staud’s Par ici is given by Ensemble intercontemporain, also on Friday.

Richard Rodney Bennett’s All the King’s Men can be heard in a new production in Cambridge on Saturday.

The list goes on … see all forthcoming concerts in our online performance calendar.

Our week of world premières continues, following yesterday’s new work by Vykintas Baltakas.

On Saturday, Georg Friedrich Haas’ new work for chamber orchestra, chants oubliés, is part of a portrait concert given by the Munich Chamber Orchestra, which is joined by Teodoro Anzelotti and Kelvin Hawthorne.

Johannes Maria Staud’s new monodrama for narrator and ensemble, Der Riß durch den Tag, is given its world première in Dresden by Bruno Ganz and the Staatskapelle Dresden.

In other news, the Dutch Radio’s famous ZaterdagMatinee series presents the Dutch première of Wolfgang Rihm’s QUID EST DEUS? The concert is broadcast live on Dutch Radio (14:15, Sat 4 June CEST).

Vykintas Baltakas’ new work for cello and piano, Commentum, premières at the Vilnius Festival tonight. The soloists are David Geringas (cello) and Ian Fountain (piano).

Read our news item.

View the full score of Commentum here:

View on Issuu.com