Forum neuer Musik Köln 2004, recently held at the Deutschlandfunk Sendesaal in Cologne from March 12 to 14, included one evening devoted entirely to composers from the Baltic countries. On March 13, the concert, entitled Baltikum-Projekt, featured works by three Lithuanian composers: Bronius Kutavičius' Clocks of the Past I for guitar and string quartet, Osvaldas Balakauskas' Odyssey from B to C for flute, guitar and string quartet, and Raminta Šerkšnytė's Mirage for guitar solo. Performed by the frequent exponents and promoters of Lithuanian music, flutist Robert Aitken, Accordes String Quartet and guitarist Reinbert Evers, these works will be later broadcast on Deutschlandfunk. The Baltic composers and their work have also been introduced to the German public in a special publication written by Lutz Lesle, who served as a concert presenter.
After the premiere of Raminta Šerkšnytė's guitar solo piece Mirage, written on commission from the Deutschlandfunk, Reinbert Evers plans to include it in his coming CD. He has also invited her to the composition workshop in Münster, in the beginning of June, where she will deliver lectures and her works will be presented at a monographic concert. Raminta Šerkšnytė seems to be experiencing real creative uplift this year. On February 27 another premiere of her newly written piece, Sense Six, was performed during the final concert of the "Young Composers' Meeting" in Apeldoorn by the famous Dutch ensemble de ereprijs and vocal group from the Hague Conservatory under Wim Boerman.
Šerkšnytė: "I really enjoy playing with the timbres and various sound effects of voices and instruments, and 'swapping' their traditional roles. In this particular piece, I assigned the leading role to the brass, while the singers have no vocal lines whatsoever, except whispering and occasional reciting of the text."
Lithuanian Music Link No. 8