Documentary fantasy: voice messages for sofija

Performers: EMILĖ ELENA DAČINSKAITĖ (soprano) EGLĖ RUDOKAITĖ (organ) VAIDAS BARTUŠAS (countertenor) BOŽENA BUROKIENĖ (actress) Voice-over performers: Paulius klangauskas, jevgenijus kovalčukas Composer, librettist – JURGIS KUBILIUS Creative team: Sound director – DEIVIDAS JAKAVIČIUS Video artist – AURĖJA JUCEVIČIŪTĖ

The traditional autumn event, the contemporary music festival "Iš Arti", presents six events from November 10th to 21st, revealing the field of contemporary music – from reflections on the modernist tradition to new stage forms, which will allow listeners to experience the diverse world of contemporary music.

In the festival's closing concert, in collaboration with the Vocal Art Network, the interdisciplinary project "Voice Messages to Sofija – A Documentary Fantasy About the Čiurlionis Still Living Within Us" is presented.

What would happen if one of Lithuania's most prominent cultural geniuses had not died at the age of just 35? What would the continuation of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis's life look like if his treatment at the sanatorium had been successful and the fateful cold had not developed into fatal pneumonia? "Voice Messages to Sofija" is an interdisciplinary work that combines documentary material, interview fragments, electronic music, vocal art, and the dramaturgy of imagination. Composer Jurgis Kubilius's score is based on the correspondence between M. K. Čiurlionis and Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė, which is transformed into an internal diary of voice messages in modern language. The work invites us to look at M. K. Čiurlionis's life through the prism of today's human experience – not as an idealized image of a myth, but as a sensitive personality full of contradictions and decisions. Between love and self-denial, between creative fanaticism and social reality – in this narrative, M. K. Čiurlionis becomes close, familiar, and even a reflection of ourselves.

The creative team conducted expeditions through the most important places in M. K. Čiurlionis's biography – from Druskininkai to Palanga – recording the memories, knowledge or lack thereof, and emotional relationship of today's people with the name of M. K. Čiurlionis. These contemporary reflections became dramaturgical segments that expand and transform the historical narrative, revealing the layers of cultural memory and its transience.

"Voice Messages to Sofija" is a work that invites us to rethink our relationship with cultural icons, their heritage, and how much of ourselves we have inscribed in that myth. It is a story about what would happen if everything had turned out differently – and what that says about our own life choices.