GRIEŽYNĖ - 2016 September 7 - 11, 2016

Performers   Events   Photos   Recordings

Zdzisław Marczuk`s band, Poland Zdzisław Marczuk was born in a musically talented family, plays since his childhood. He was awarded with many prizes in the most important Polish festival „Festiwal Kapel i Śpiewaków Ludowych“ both as a solo performer and with his band, where he plays with his brother and sons. The artist is also a laureate of Oscar Kolberg Prize. He teaches those who want to playfiddle, harmonica, andreticulardrum. His activities are taken care of and supported by the cultural center of Konstantynow town municipal. He also gathered several folk music bands: „Kapela Sąsiedzka“, „Zespół Śpiewaczy“, „Kapela Rodzinna Zubkowiczów“ and „Leśniańskie Nutki“, who were already awarded in several festivals. In „Griežynė“ Z. Marczuk (harmonica, fiddle, reticulardrum) will perform with two of his students - Paulina Kwaśniewska (fiddle, reticular drum) and Karolina Szymula (fiddle, reticular drum).

Duo „Zezigrad“, Italy Novella and Mario, Italians who live in Lithuania, are performing together for a number of years already. Since 2015 they perform only Italian folk music: „It is still a little known music in Lithuania. Therefore, we want to take part in spreading Italian folk music and dances in this beautiful country! We are sure that the Lithuanians will love it. Moreover, we are emigrants so we do not want to forget our roots.“ While living in Lithuania these musicians rediscover the charm and originality of their own traditions, realize who they are, analyze the past of their motherland. Through this the duo tell about their land to the land they live in.

Instrumental trio of a folk ensemble „Paazerje“, Belarus The famous folk ensemble „Paazerje“ started their activities at Pastavy Anatoly Tyzenhauz School of Arts in 1991. It is believed that Pastavy is the only city in Belarus where the diatonic antique cymbals are still played at. The subtleties of this instrument can be learnt either in the school of arts or by joining the ensemble – the largest part of their instrumental music repertoire is dedicated to diatonic cymbals. The band also plays polkas, waltzes, krakowiaks and many other tunes. The members of this instrumental trio are AnatolijSobol (harmonica), Vanda Mackevich (cymbals) and Lyudmila Yanukovich (fiddle). The musicians are often performing not only in Belarus, but have also visited Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Moldova, Russia and other countries. They also became the laureates of many national and international competitions and festivals.

Áron Dóra and Orsolya András, Hungary Áron Dóra collects, plays and explores archaic Hungarian folk music and shepherd's songs and tunes, teaches in the art schools and camps, participates in national and international festivals, and works together with the puppet shows. The musician frequently performs as a soloist, sometimes accompanies singers, in special occasions plays with fiddlers or musicians that play gardon (Hungarian bass musical instrument). He has received the Junior Master of Folk Art award.

Orsolya András comes from Transylvania. She is a folk music singer and a gardon player, who teaches as a folk music teacher in schools and camps, shares the subtleties of instrumental music. She is a student at Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, where her main field of research is the "csíki székely" and "gyimesi csángó" (three small villages in a valley where a close Hungarian ethnical group lives) music and song tradition. As family heirlooms / heritage she cultivates the folklore tradition of her closer mother country "Csík" (a region in east of Romania inhabited mostly by Hungarians).

Folk Ensemble „Krasna Gorka“, Russia The musicians of „Krasna Gorka“ (en. „Beautiful hill“) Aidar Gilmutdinov, Sergei Kuznecov and Jurij Blagodatskikh came from Kirov region, Kilmez district, Russia. They all have won many awards in national and international competitions. The musicians perform the music of small nations of Russian Federation – Tatar, Mari, Udmurt and others, as well as singing the traditional Russian songs.

Lithuanian folk ensemble „Vydraga“, Lithuania Lithuanian folk ensemble „Vydraga“ was founded in 1988 and still directed by the composer, teacher, folklorist and musician Algirdas Klova. In 1996 the ensemble was re-organized into a multi-instrumentalists band. All of them are folk enthusiasts that learnt the art from its original source – the Lithuanian village musicians. The quintet plays Lithuanian and other country‘s music, experiments with the representatives of other genres. Their first CD was presented in NATO headquarters in Brussels, also played in Hanover, Milan, the Faroe Islands, Latvia, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, Poland, England, Switzerland, Ukraine, Spain, Italy. In 2008 folk ensemble „Vydraga“was awarded with the most important Lithuania folk music bands award „Aukso paukštė“ (en. „Golden Bird“). The band released these albums: „Vydraga“ (2001), „Piktžirnis“ (2004), „Per šilą jojau“ (2008), „Roger Watson & „Vydraga“ (2009), „Kudlius“ (2013).

Niall McClean and Brendan Monaghan, Northern Ireland N.McClean (fiddle, tin whistle) is a musician from County Down, Northern Ireland. He performs and records music with many top artists, also won the all Ireland fiddle championship. For many years he performs together with B.Monaghan. B.Monaghan (vocals, guitar, Irish drum bodhrán) is a well-known songwriter and performer, country and folk music promoter from County Down, Northern Ireland. He has released seven solo albums, plays his own music and folk songs all over the world, records music with various artists and has won several music awards.

Band „Hāgenskalna muzikanti“, Latvia The band „Hāgenskalna muzikanti“ is a great folk dances ensemble from Riga. The ensemble was founded in 1998 by four folk music lovers who wanted to resurrect from the oblivion and demonstrate the music Latvia heard hundred or more years ago to the wide world. Therefore, the repertoire is composed by the traditional dance music, ancient folk songs written in the folklore expeditions songs of the start of the twentieth century. The band‘s music style is also based on folk music traditions. In concerts and festivals the musicians demonstrate the specific instruments from the nineteenth century which you cannot always hear nowadays, e.g. usual fiddle accompanied by a mandolin, zitherandarchaicaccordion, (harmonica) „Ieviņa“. The ensemble is loved by the audience of various age. „Hāgenskalna muzikanti“ also have many friends in Lithuania where they played in several festivals and a TV show „Gero ūpo“. The ensemble is lead by a well-known Latvian traditional culture specialist, ethnomusicologist lmārs Pumpurs – a great teacher and a master of folk instruments.

Leanne Barbo and Maarja Sarv, Estonia Leanne Barbo and Maarja Sarv are friends both in music and life. They enjoy all the wide variety of Estonian traditional music from singing and games to dances and dance music. Together they play many instruments (bagpipes, flutes, kannels (Estonian psaltery), violin, accordeon, jews harps etc). Their passion is to discover older mindset and sounds in singing and in dance music. It is kind of a search for some wildness in our musical roots and performing it in a very natural and logical way in this modern time.

 Events of festival:

September 7th, Wednesday, Vilnius

5 p.m. Opening of the expositions of Lithuanian folk music instruments made by Albertas Martinaitis, series of photographs “Būsiu muzikantu“(„I`ll be a musician“) by Antonas Šuminskis, and the concert of folk ensemble „Ratilėlis“(Kaunas, leaders AlvydaČesienė and Andrius Darčianovas) in Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum (Vilnius str. 41)

A.Martinaitis, a folk artist from Šiauliai, is primarily a blacksmith. In his hands the stone softens, iron bends and a wood becomes the zither. When the blacksmiths’ hands are working perfectly, the thoughts in his head lie neatly too. Albert believes that the strength comes from the past. Therefore, he wishes everyone would at least for a moment take a glance at the environment as a peasant, an unspoiled human being. However, he also likes to experiment. His latest idea – stone skudučiai, which you will see in the exposition together with the diatonic zither, lumsdelis, basedly, Jew‘s-harp, noisy instruments, etc.

Visaginas Culture Centre together with Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre annually invites everyone to the traditional music courses. Here you can learn how to play the cymbals, bagpipes, fiddle, accordion, and a drum, also to get to know the instruments from the people who play them, and take over the traditional music manner from the professional teachers. The mood that lingers in the these meeting was captured by a photographer Anton Šumskas. As a child he became interested in the photography, and took pictures with his father‘s film cameras. The main genre of his pictures is the cultural and social events in the reporting photography. He tried to capture the most memorable stories of Visaginas town. Moreover, together with his colleagues he records the online video blog.

You will hear the authentic sound of these folk instruments after the opening of the exhibition in the performance of Kaunas National Culture Centre children folklore ensemble „Ratilėlis“ who have celebrated the 25th anniversary this year. The ensemble was formed in St. Matt`s secondary school in Kaunas, and continued their activities in Kaunas National Culture Center. Currently the ensemble is led by Alvyda Česienė and Andrius Darčianovas. In this ensemble students sing, dance, play various instruments, fiddle, blow horns, bagpipes, play hammered dulcimer, concertinas, bandoneons, etc. The members of „Ratilėlis“ are regular participant in Song Festivals, laureates of many international and national competitions and festivals. They have also played in "Griežynė" two years ago.

6:30 p.m. Opening of the paintings exposition “Vydraga” by ZinasKazėnas. Guest performers – instrumental folk music band “Vydraga” (leader AlgirdasKlova) in Vilnius teachers` house salon (Vilnius str. 39)

The painting exposition is a new event in this festival. This is why the word „vydraga“ in often heard in it. The word consists of two parts – „vyda“ („vydėti“) and „rega“ („ability to see“). „Having

vyda“ or „vyda force“ means „to be able to see into the future, to feel the sequence of the events“. The word „regėti“ also has roots to the meaning of a word „witch“. So „vydraga“ is „a witch, a sorceress who is able to see into the future“... This word has similar associations to the author of this exposition: artist, photographer, journalist, traveler and Western culture lover Zinas Kazėnas.

Another occasion to demonstrate this exposition in this years festival is the participation of instrumental folk music band „Vydraga“. The band‘s CD covers are the works of Z.Kazėnas – the band and the artist have a long story together.

7 p.m.  Presentation and concert of Žemyna Trinkūnaitė CD „Devynstygės kanklės – 21 kompozicija“ in Vilnius teachers` house salon (Vilnius str. 39)

Žemyna's acquaintance with the Lithuanian folk music began in her parents home, the famous Lithuanian folklore enthusiasts family. Shelearnthow to play kanklės (lithuaniankindofzither)asshestudiedin Balys Dvarionas Music School. Later onshemadecompositionsfordiatonic kanklės, sangintheensembles „VISI“, „Kūlgrinda“ and Art Academy folk ensemble. In 2013 she released a CD called „Nine-stringkanklės – 17 compositions“ whofellinto the list of 11 unexpected Lithuanian music albums. She performed to the audiences in Poland, Czech Republic, the USA, Sweden, Russia. Her original compositions are inspired by the Lithuanian harmonies, chords and intonations. Every time the melodies sound different, improvised as the author does not write the notes down – every time she plays them by heart. A new CD called „Nine-string kanklės – 21 compositions“ cameoutthis year, and it contains the musical compositions starting from 2013.

September 8th, Thursday, Vilnius

3 p.m. Afternoon with folk artist Jonas Bugailiškis (AušrosVartų str. 17-10)

The instruments made by the inventive wood carver, sculptor, and artist of folk instruments Jonas Bugailiškis are played with not only by the musicians in Lithuania but also by the ensembles and musicians from abroad. It is not the first time we will visit the workshop of folk artist Jonas Bugailiškis. It is a cozy place in Vilnius old town which is always nice to visit, and listen to a smooth speech of the artist, to admire his works. The festival guests and Lithuanian folklore enthusiasts will have a unique opportunity to see the birth of musical instruments in the hands of a skillful craftsman.

6 p.m. Concert of Lithuanian harmonica players “Du@i“in Vilnius teachers` house salon (Vilnius str. 39)

Each year the festival brings together the traditional musicians from different regions in Lithuania. This year‘sconcertisdedicated to theconcertina/harmonicaduetsasafterall it is more fun to play two by two. Apparently, for this same reason the players from Molėtai Kęstutis Kuzmickas and Algimantas Mieliauskas made the first competition of concertina/harmonica players „Du@i“.

They first took place in Molėtai back in 2011, and since then are held annually. This project will be presented to the audience of Griežynė too: you willseeevensevenduetsofharmonica, concertinaandbandoneon.

8 p.m. Performances of festival guests. It is a great opportunity to talk to the festival guests eye to eye, listen to the folk music and have dinner in a nice environment:

Beer bar „Šnekutis“ (St.Steponas str. 8) – “Vydraga” (Lithuania) and „Hāgenskalnamuzikanti“ (Latvia);
Užupis cafe (Užupio str. 2) – trio from Belarus „Paazerje“;
restaurant „Aula“ (Pilies str. 11) – „Zezigrad“ from Italy and - Zdzisław Marczuk`s band from Poland;
Restaurant “BerneliųUžeiga” (Gediminas Pr. 19) – guests from Russia „Krasna Gorka“ and also special guests from Azerbaijan;
"Burbulis Winery” (Rūdininkai str. 18) – Áron Dóra & Orsolya András from Hungary

September 9th, Friday, Vilnius

3 p.m. Folk workshop in Vilnius teachers` house salon (Vilnius str. 39)

In this traditional event of “Griežynė“ guests will present their instruments, tell about the production, musical traditions, demonstrate the manner of performing traditional repertoire with their instruments. Workshop hostess – ethnomusicologist Dr. Gaila Kirdienė.

6 p.m. The grand concert in Vilnius Teachers House Great Hall (Vilnius str. 39)

The main event of this festival where the guests and participants demonstrate their most beautiful and valuable works of their repertoire. It is a great opportunity to see all the festival musicians together. Moreover, the main concert always has pleasant surprises.

September 10th, Saturday, Panevėžys district

1 p.m. concert in Panevėžys district craftsmen festival “Language of weaving patterns” (Traditional Crafts Center, Upytė, Panevėžys district);

5 p.m. concert and participation in educational activities in Smilgiai ethnographic homestead (Panevėžio str. 21, Smilgiai, Panevėžys district);

It became a beautiful tradition to bring the festival in to different places in Lithuania. The villages still have the enthusiasts of folk music who will perform to the festival guests. While the guests will learn about the everyday life and music of rural people, taste the delicious Lithuanian dishes, and will demonstrate their art.

September 11th, Saturday, Varėna district

1 p.m. concert in Varėna Cultural Center`s Merkinė branch (Vilnius str.1, Merkinė);

5 p.m. final concert „Griežynė 2016“ in Cinema and Exhibition Hall of Varėna Cultural center (J. Basanavičius str. 2, Varėna);

Photos

   Authors Daiva Klovienė and Darius Lingė: