Sunday 1 December 2024, 7.30pm

Lithuanian Contemporary Music Series at CAFE OTO: Eye Gymnastics + Liudas Mockūnas

No Longer Available

In Partnership with Lithuanian Cultural Institute

Eye Gymnastics

Eye Gymnastics is a sound performance duo consisting of Viktorija Damerell and Gaile Griciute.

Urine Stalagmite is a piece created as a dripping collage—a fragmented and reassembled blend of duo songs. In this performance, voices seek to align words and tunes with spontaneously arising fragments, where errors and unexpected turns are welcome. Much like rat urine, which, under certain conditions, crystallizes into amberat stalagmites.

https://gailegriciute.com/eye-gymnastics/

Liudas Mockūnas

Liudas Mockūnas is a multi-reeds player and composer, whose name stands for masterly performance and intriguing compositions. His 'natural' idiom is an explosive mixture of free jazz, lyricism and expressionism combined with highly unconventional performance techniques. His in-depth exploration of the properties of sound lead to an innovative and personal approach to wind playing techniques. This allowed him to escape from stylistic conventions and form an entirely original style, distinguished for multiphonics, expressive discharges of sound, overbends and unusual sound effects. Trained as a jazz and classical musician, Liudas Mockūnas has a deep understanding and practical knowledge of both fields, the boundaries of which he traverses back and forth in his own compositions solo and in his numerous international collaborations. During the years he‘s been collaborating with leading European, Japanese and American artists such as Marc Ducret, Agusti Fernandez, Mats Gustafsson Barry Guy, Andrew Hill, Otomo Yoshihide,, Mikko Innanen and others.

Mockūnas is one of the founders of Lithuanian Jazz Federation, highly acclaimed record label „NoBusiness Records“ and improvised music program at Lithuanian Music Academy. For several years has been been curating a concert series and independent record label in Vilnius dedicated to improvised music „Improdimensija“ and “Improdimensija orchestra”.

Besides improvised and avantgarde music Mockunas performs new academic music as a soloist and chamber ensemble musician.

https://www.mic.lt/en/database/jazz/composers-artists/mockunas/