Mystery of sunset and water

In the Small Hall

Performers: JULIJA STANKEVIČIŪTĖ (mezzo-soprano) DAINIUS KEPEŽINSKAS (piano)

Program: OTTORINO RESPIGHI – vocal miniatures: “Il Tramonto” (“The Sunset”) “La Notte” (“The Night”) “La Pioggia” (“The Rain”) “Nel Contrasto” (“In Contrast”) “Le Nebbie” (“The Mists”) CLAUDE DEBUSSY – pieces from Suite pour le piano: Sarabande Toccata GABRIEL FAURÉ – Three Melodies, Op. 23 “Les berceaux” (“The Cradles”) “Notre amour” (“Our Love”) “Les Secrets” (“The Secrets”) SAMUEL BARBER – Four Songs, Op. 13 “A nun takes a veil” “The secrets of old” “Sure on this shining night” Nocturne

This concert invites you to experience music as a transition. As a pause between inhalation and exhalation, as a sigh that allows one to let go and be reborn. Here, sound turns into feeling, and feeling into a quiet premonition of a promise. This experience will be presented to the audience by mezzo-soprano Julija Stankevičiūtė and pianist Dainius Kepežinskas.

“Ancient alchemists said that light arises from darkness. It does not create darkness, but quietly disperses it, while darkness allows light to gain depth and spread. This is a process in which transformation is born. Night immerses a person in silence, the infinite water of existence. Here, contours vanish, the mind falls silent, and feelings begin to speak. Water guards memory and what lies beneath the surface – not yet named, but already felt. Sunset becomes the 'between': between day and night, between what has been and what is yet to come. It is a fragile pause when time slows down and a quiet reconciliation is born within,” state the performers, introducing their joint concert program inspired by these transformations.

A laureate of many international competitions, J. STANKEVIČIŪTĖ has continuously refined her skills in various masterclasses in Lithuania and abroad, working with renowned conductors, directors, and vocal pedagogues. After her studies at the Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy, she interned at the Licinio Refice Conservatory in Italy under the famous Italian soprano Silvia Ranalli. Today, the performer gives concerts throughout Lithuania, as well as in Italy, Germany, and Austria, and creates diverse roles on the opera stage.

D. KEPEŽINSKAS has successfully combined concert activity with pedagogical work for many years. During his internship at the University of Washington in Seattle (USA) with Prof. Robin McCabe, he worked as a coach for the University of Washington Opera, as well as a concertmaster in the vocal classes of acclaimed opera singers Carol Vaness, Vinson Cole, and Jane Eaglen. Later, the pianist played the organ during Holy Mass at St. Peter and Paul Basilica in the Vatican, taught piano at the “Amadeus” Music Study Center in Reggio Calabria (Italy), and worked as the music director at the Redeemer Lutheran Church in the USA. The performer has given concerts in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland (USA), Scandinavian countries, Germany, Austria, Croatia, and others, participated in various festivals, and with violinist Raimonda Ruginyte founded the duo “Duo Baltico,” with whom he held numerous concerts throughout Italy. Currently, D. Kepežinskas continues his pedagogical work at the Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy, where he works as a lecturer in the Piano Department, and also conducts annual masterclasses for pianists in Italy, constantly participating in musical festivals and projects in that country. In 2020, the publishing house “DIELLE Records” released his CD “Concerto dei Solisti e Ensemble”.