{"id":236207,"date":"2026-09-22T14:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T11:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vilnius-events.lt\/?post_type=event&p=236207"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:19:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T11:19:42","slug":"vilnius-jazz-2026-ward-no-4-lt-rob-mazurek-exploding-star-orchestra-usa","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.vilnius-events.lt\/en\/event\/vilnius-jazz-2026-ward-no-4-lt-rob-mazurek-exploding-star-orchestra-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"Vilnius Jazz 2026: Ward no.4 (LT), Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra (USA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ward no.4 <\/strong>
\nLithuania<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liudas Mock\u016bnas \u2013 saxes
\nSimonas Kaupinis \u2013 tba
\nMikas Kurtinaitis \u2013 tba
\nArnas Mikalk\u0117nas \u2013 dr, p<\/p>\n

\u201cWard no. 4\u201d is a quartet of Vilnius-based Lithuanian improvisers who made their debut at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2024. The band was formed at the initiative of saxophonist Liudas Mock\u016bnas.<\/p>\n

All four musicians first met around 2018 at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where Mock\u016bnas and Mikalk\u0117nas teach in the Contemporary and Improvised Music Master\u2019s programme, while Kurtinaitis and Kaupinis were studying with them. What began as a teacher\u2013student relationship naturally evolved into a partnership between colleagues who share a common musical language and aesthetic, rooted in deep listening and spontaneous interaction.<\/p>\n

Low-frequency vibrations generated by the two tubas, sometimes reinforced by the bass saxophone, intertwine with prepared piano and percussion, creating a distinctive sonic landscape. The music moves freely between fragile, almost meditative passages and highly energetic, unpredictable soundscapes.<\/p>\n

Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra (USA)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rob Mazurek – trumpets, sampler, flutes, bells, voice
\nHamid Drake – drums
\nMauricio Takara – percussion, electronics
\nGuilherme Granado – synths, keyboard, electronics, voice
\nThomas Roher – rabeca, saxophones
\nIngebrigt Haker Flatten – bass
\nPasquale Mirra – vibraphone
\nRodrigo Brand\u00e3o – voice<\/p>\n

Composer, cornetist, visual artist, musical director and a central figure in Chicago\u2019s avante-garde scene since the 1990s, Rob Mazurek gained huge notoriety with Chicago Underground, a group that metamorphosed from a duo to an orchestra. In Brazil, where he lived for several years, he trialled a similar project called S\u00e3o Paulo Underground, creating the seminal Exploding Star Orchestra when he returned to Chicago. Within this project launched in 2005, Mazurek created a vehicle that could encompass the disparate styles and ideologies of the wide range of free forms of expression and has explored the most avant-garde currents in the scene, incorporating musicians from post-rock, AACM and free improvisation. The only category it might fit is All-Stars \u2013 each and every one of the artists involved is a legend of avant-garde jazz, although some belong to the North-American territories of creative music while others have been known to favor the European heights of improvisation. Working with volatile energy and dedication, Rob Mazurek shines a light, bringing out the very best in the musicians he has patiently, precisely selected. Together they evoke B\u00e9la Bartok and Gil Evans, Morton Feldman and Bill Dixon, Sun Ra and The Art Ensemble of Chicago. The universe is a very big place. Rob Mazurek is doing his part to fill it with glorious sound.<\/p>\n

Exploding Star Orchestra is the ever-evolving large ensemble conceived by Abstractivist, electro-acoustic composer, trumpeter, and interdisciplinary artist Rob Mazurek. Since its inception, the orchestra has become one of the defining creative ensembles of the twenty-first century, bringing together exceptional improvisers from across the world to realize Mazurek\u2019s expansive compositional vision. Balancing intricate structures with collective improvisation, ritual, electronics, voice, and immersive sonic environments, Exploding Star Orchestra creates music that is simultaneously orchestral, intimate, ecstatic, and exploratory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For this special presentation of Holy Mountains, Mazurek leads an extraordinary international ensemble featuring Rodrigo Brand\u00e3o (voice, words), Pasquale Mirra (vibraphone), Mauricio Takara (drums, percussion, electronics), Guilherme Granado (synthesizers, samplers, voice, percussion), Thomas Rohrer (rabeca, saxophones, percussion), Ingebrigt H\u00e5ker Flaten (bass), and Hamid Drake (drums, percussion). Together they create a music of profound rhythmic energy, luminous orchestral color, and boundless imagination\u2014where composition and improvisation merge into a continually unfolding sonic landscape.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":236208,"template":"","categories":[6,4],"tags":[],"ticket-vendor":[21],"class_list":["post-236207","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-festivaliai","category-koncertai","ticket-vendor-bilietai-lt"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t