VILNIUS - Challenging? You bet. Accessible? Perhaps. Mainstream? No way. Musical figures from the very tiptop of avant-garde music's blurry heights will descend on Vilnius once again for the April 15-20 Jauna Muzika (Young Music) festival to give the city a briefing from the esoteric world of multimedia music.
While Jauna Muzika began its life in 1994 as a forum for new classical and jazz compositions, three years ago organizers decided to give the festival a different bent and re-christened it the Baltic states' sole event for artists combining electronic music, computer technology and visual experimentation.
The break from more staid forms of music to the ultracontemporary realm of multimedia was a bold move for the Lithuanian Composers' Union, which organizes the yearly event.
Visitors to the festival's events should expect to be confronted with highly experimental pieces that blend film or computer-generated images with walls of intense electronic and acoustic sound.
Clubbers looking for disco-style techno should find somewhere else to bust their moves.
"Most people have the impression that electronic media are all about club music-what we aim to present here is the academic branch of interdisciplinary media," said Vytautas Jurgutis, organizer of Jauna Muzika.
No longer in its infancy, Jauna Muzika will this year attract artists from five continents.
One of the festival's headliners will be the world-renowned intermedia artist Phil Niblock, paragon of the American minimalist music tradition that gave rise to the likes of Steve Reich and Philip Glass.
Niblock, who has been a leading force in multimedia for over 20 years and is known for his work with non-Western sound textures, will team up with Lithuanian cellist Mindaugas Backus and composer/musician Seth Josel on April 18.
Dutch artist Edwin van der Heide, who will appear on April 17, represents a younger generation of multimedia artists. In his concerts, Van der Heide attempts to "create a living organism" through light, images, and pure electronic sound.
Other names to grace Jauna Muzika's program include the European multimedia collective Farmersmanual on April 16 and Japanese cult art figure Merzbow on April 20. Local artists will also have a chance to present their work alongside their foreign counterparts. An April 15 performance entitled "eLit" will bring together musicians, poets and visual artists to show audiences that the Lithuanian avant-garde can hold its own in an international venue.
In spite of the imposing and experimental nature of the art celebrated in Jauna Muzika, participants have gained acclaim for their sincere efforts to explode the boundaries of genre and ensure the freshness and virility of music. Such plaudits have made Jauna Muzika one of the most anticipated artistic events on Vilnius' busy cultural calendar.
Contemporary Art Center
Vokieciu, Vilnius
All events held at 7 p.m.
Tickets: 10 litas
(3 euros) - 20 litas
More info: +370 5 213611
