Resurrectio

Concert dedicated to the 70th birth anniversary of Faustas Latėnas and the 60th birthday of Zita Bružaitė

Performers: Kaunas city symphony orchestra Principal Conductor Constantine Orbelian (USA), Manager Algimantas Treikauskas Kaunas state choir Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Robertas Šervenikas Soloists: GUNTA GELGOTĖ (soprano) KAROLIS KAŠIUBA (tenor) MINDAUGAS BAČKUS (cello) Conductor ROBERTAS ŠERVENIKAS

Program: Part I FAUSTAS LATĖNAS "In Memoriam" for symphony orchestra "Agnus Dei" for choir and symphony orchestra Sonata for cello solo and symphony orchestra "Bolero" for chamber orchestra Part II ZITA BRUŽAITĖ – "Resurrectio" ("Resurrection") for soprano, tenor, choir, and orchestra (world premiere)

This year, one of the most famous Lithuanian composers, Faustas Latėnas, would have celebrated his honorable 70th jubilee. Unfortunately, his life's thread was cut short six years ago, before he could hear the premiere of his last composed work – "Bolero".

Energetic and lyrical Zita Bružaitė counts her years as if looking through her fingers, and she welcomes her 60th birthday without even glancing at her passport – looking at the future in a cheerful and uplifted manner.

Musicologist Daiva Parulskienė describes F. Latėnas' work as follows: "He belongs to a very prominent generation of Lithuanian composers, once labeled as the 'new romantics'. They all looked at the surrounding world with a certain distrust and pessimism; they all grew and matured in small circles of friends, united by a common worldview and attention to small but important things in life. Alongside his peers Algirdas Martinaitis or Vidmantas Bartulis, Faustas Latėnas was a true enfant terrible (French for 'unruly child'), who brought hypertrophied banality, irony, and musical hooliganism from the theater environment into academic music: 'The theater always seemed to me like a refreshing draft in my academic work. Like an island where it is permissible to realize the most radical, banal, and witty ideas, because theater music was always viewed more leniently.' This evening's concert will feature large-scale instrumental works by F. Latėnas and the composer's unheard 'Bolero'."

Z. Bružaitė's seven-part premiere work for soprano, tenor, choir, and symphony orchestra was born inspired by frescoes depicting the Resurrection of Christ. Impression, emotional impact, reflections, and visual memory are translated into a narrative of sounds, conveying traditional religious iconography in a musical language that features both rich and heavy sound maps associated with trials and overcoming difficulties, as well as brighter tones of hope and renewal. The work combines the symbolism of the past with the experience of modern man: the motif of resurrection becomes not only a reflection of religious truth but also a symbol of new beginnings, inner rebirth, and the strength of life in everyday existence.