RE:TURN | Borderless Sounds
The program “Borderless Sounds” will be presented by bassoonist Andrius Puplauskis, oboist Ugnius Dičiūnas, and pianist Anastasija Bramo (Germany)!
The musicians will open the concert with Lithuanian highlights—Zita Bružaitė’s composition “Colors” and Balys Dvarionas’s elegant Variations. Robert Schumann’s Romances will usher in the romantic, tranquil half of the evening, which will then give way to the completely contrasting energy of André Previn’s trio.
In the second part, Camille Saint-Saëns’s sonata will reveal the beauty of the bassoon and its rarely heard lyricism. This instrument is often associated with humor or character roles, but in the sonata it speaks with sensitivity, nobility, and extraordinary melodiousness. Immediately afterward, Osvaldas Balakauskas’s “Globe Suite” will sketch out soundscapes from the four corners of the world. The highlight of the evening will be Francis Poulenc’s Trio—one of the most brilliant masterpieces of 20th-century chamber music. It embodies everything that makes this composer’s work so captivating: elegance, wit, gentle irony, lyricism, and an unwavering vitality.
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This performance is part of the RE:TURN project at the Magic of Music Club. The project is partly funded by the Vilnius City Municipality.
RE:TURN is a project by the Music Magic Club aimed at bringing young, professional Lithuanian musicians who currently live abroad or have recently returned to Lithuania into the cultural orbit of Vilnius. These are musicians who often have significant achievements in the international arena and are well known in other countries, but do not yet have enough opportunities to perform frequently in their homeland. This cycle aims to create conditions for them to take their rightful place among their colleagues in Lithuanian musical life and to gain recognition from music lovers in Vilnius.
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About the performers:
Andrius Puplauskis – principal bassoonist of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater; he performs actively as a soloist and chamber musician and collaborates with various ensembles. He performs a wide-ranging repertoire—from Baroque to contemporary music—and is also interested in electroacoustic music and improvisation. In 2017, at the “Jauna muzika” festival, he presented a program of electroacoustic bassoon music featuring works by Lithuanian composers. Since 2006, he has taught at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater and has led master classes in Lithuania and abroad.
Ugnius Dičiūnas is the concertmaster of the oboe section of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra; together with the trio “Colors,” he has been awarded a letter of appreciation from Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Since 2014, he has been a member of the St. Christopher Woodwind Quintet. With this ensemble, he released the CD Aerofonia in 2020, which features a retrospective of music by Lithuanian composers for woodwind quintet.
Anastasija Bramo is a pianist, an active concert soloist, and a member of chamber ensembles. Since 2022, she has been an associate professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts (Essen, Germany). She has performed in prestigious venues, including the Musikverein and the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Dortmund Konzerthaus, and others. She has participated in festivals in Lithuania and abroad, including the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades and the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Salzburg
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Concert program:
Zita Bružaitė – Trio “Colors” for oboe, bassoon, and piano
Balys Dvarionas – Variations for bassoon and piano, Op. 17
Robert Schumann – Romances for Oboe and Piano, Op. 94
André Previn – Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, Op. 49
-intermission-
Camille Saint-Saëns – Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, Op. 168
Osvaldas Balakauskas – “Globe Suite” for Oboe and Piano: East, South, West, North
Francis Poulenc – Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, FP 43
