Jānis Gipters, Nikolajs Zaharovs, Iveta Dukalska - Latvia

Jānis Gipters –lives in Daugavpils district, Vabole parish. He learned to play when he was seven years old from his father. He likes playing waltzes, polkas, foxtrots. He plays with other musicians from Vabole parish, participates in festivals, concerts, etc.

Nikolajs Zaharovs – lives in Riga, plays accordion since he was 14, learned from his father who was a folk musician from Latgale. Mostly he enjoys playing folk songs and dances, although sometimes he also plays newer music too. Nowadays he usually plays either alone or with the band in the dance parties.

Iveta Dukalska – professional ethnomusicologist, well-known for the traditional Latvian music and perfectly playing the drum. The folklorist says that the greatest value of such festivals is to show the audience the musicians who are still playing according to the old folk manner. Iveta not only performs well with various folk musicians, but also organizes festivals similar to Griežynė in Latvia.

Calum Brown (bagpipe) - Scotland

One of the best young Scottish bagpipers, a participant and winner of many competinions and championships of this instrument, a member of the National Youth Bagpipers orchestra.

This musician is being helped brought to us by UAB ROLMA

Folk band „Kolisniya“ - Belarus

Denis Suchi – bagpipe, violin.

Stanislav Chavus – bagpipe, violin.

Sergey Subotu – bagpipe, cymbals.

„Kolisnija“ has been playing together for over ten years, playing in a traditional manner, avoiding copying authentic recorded music pieces. They say: „We do not try to get into the heads of people that lived before us, return the past days or to create a romantic picture of the past. We believe that our music can be relevant and desired today as we try to make a traditional sound accessible to the modern world.

Li Zhang (guzheng)and Yijing Wu(guzheng) - China (PRC)

Li Zhang – instrument guzheng.

Henan Province, Guzheng Music Association Committee and Chinese Musicians Association member. Winner of the First Prize of Chinese Youth Culture and Arts festival in 2015.

Instrument guzheng, also called Chinese zither, with 2500-year history, would most likely remind us of kannel. It has a huge resonance box and usually twenty one string.

Yijing Wu– instrument guzheng.

A young musician who in 2010 got a Guzheng Grade 10 Certificate. In 2008 she won the third (bronze) prize at the Chinese Culture Festival, as a soloist in a children`s band, also in 2012 silver prize in the category of youth and „Jingle Cup“ at 2015.

Musicians are presented by Confucius Institute at Vilnius University

Tuule Kann (kannel) and Helin Pihlap (fiddle) - Estonia

Helin Pihlap is a young violinist who is currently studying classical music at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater but who has always had a deep love for traditional music as well. In addition to the violin she also plays the kannel and for the last two years she has been taught by Tuule Kann. Coming from Tartu, Helin is particularly interested in researching and introducing the folklore of Southern Estonia.

Tuule Kann (1964), musician, kannel teacher.
She studied the chromatic kannel in Tallinn Georg Ots Music College (teacher Els Roode), later in Lithuanian Music Academy (teacher Regina Tamošaitienė). Tuule has step-by-step self-educated herself in traditional kannel playing taking the other Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian kannel-players as example.

In her performance Tuule will introduce the Estonian kannel and its different playing styles on an archaic 10-string instrument and a diatonic village kannel.

CRETAN BRIOCHE - Greece

CRETAN BRIOCHE is a London-based Cretan folk music ensemble/collective. The band often collaborate with other friends and musicians to jam/perform/record together, forming a wider “Brioche circle” of Greek/Cretan music enthusiasts.
Their repertoire combines pieces composed in the mist of ancient times with modern compositions of the Cretan idiom. Their music is engaged in a dialogue between the past and the present, where fast and passionate dances succeed nostalgic and narrative songs that embrace all aspects of everyday life – from the joy of birth to mourning and loss of loved ones.

“Cretan music is like a tree. We are the branches and the leaves. We get to be blown back and forth by the wind of our times, but we always stay connected with the root. Because, without it, there are neither branches, nor leaves”.
-Giorgis Xylouris (Psarogiorgis)

Vassilis Chatzimakris: Cretan Lyra, Vocals, Miltos Boumis: Cretan Lute, Vocals, Simon Mercouris: Cretan Lute, Vocals, Christina Baltatzi: Percussion, Vocals

This band is being helped brought to us by Greek Society of Lithuania "Patrida".

Band Wojciechowska - Poland

Band was first formed in 1926. Later it was called “Wojciechowska“ as from the very beginning the band had musicians from the district of Wojciechow playing there. Of course, there were many more bands in that district, and the musicians were playing in many of them because the repertoire was very close. The instrumental composition of this area`s bands was usually as follows: violin, clarinet, trumpet, three-way accordion, trombone, tenor, saxophones, accordeon, drum with a plate.

In the repertoire of the band there are instrumental and vocal/instrumental compositions: regional – podróżniaki, obereks, polkas; other regions – kujawiak, mazurkas, marches and melodies; later – waltzes, foxtrots, tango.

The stylistically extensive repertoire of the band, as well as high-level musicians, have established a strong status in the local comunity. In the socialism period they were playing during state and folk festivals, agitational events, contests and elsewhere, where it was ordered.

Current band members are: Leszek Mirosław – clarinet (C), Andrzej Kędzierski – trumpet, Leszek Iwaniak – three-way accordion, Stanisław Mirosław – drum.

Dovydas (David) Pivoriunas - USA

D.Pivoriūnas Washington DC, USA, a traditional violinist of Lithuanian origin. Together with his wife, Violeta, founded the joint Baltic US group led by both of them. Most of all he likes the music of Eastern Lithuania, Tverečius region, from which his grandparents came from. They are also playing Latvian, Estonian, and US traditional music: old-time, bluegrass and others.

Traditional band „Duja“ - Lithuania

Band „Duja“ was founded in the summer of 1992. „Duja“ repertoire consists of traditional instrumental music from Aukštaitija, Žemaitija, Suvalkija and Dzūkija regions. The band actively participates in folk festivals, events, radio and TV shows, festivals in Lithuania and abroad. They have performed in Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Belgium, Greece, France, Russia, Finland, Turkey, Germany, Malta, Italy.

In 2005 the band was awarded with the „Golden bird“ for fostering traditional music.

Alfredas Mickus (violin), Ramūnas Čičinskas (basetle), Vaidas Mikutavičius (lamzdelis, percussion) and Arūnas Lunys (bandoneon) play in the band all the time.

DUJA - Lithuania