On May 7 in Vilnius, at the National Gallery of Art, this year’s Vilnius Spring Festival will open with the exceptional concert ArtDeCounterPoint — bringing together brothers Motiejus, Mykolas, and Benediktas Bazaras on stage with the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra and conductor Modestas Barkauskas.

ArtDeCounterPoint is a concert where different creative principles meet: precisely structured composition and a living, unpredictable musical flow. New works are being created especially for this programme, born out of an intense creative process, with the stage becoming the place where they take their true form. “In our view, a piece is not finished until it is brought to the stage or released in the form of sheet music or a recording,” say the Bazaras brothers. “It is on stage that music meets the listener, and something happens that allows it to fully come into being.”

Structure and freedom – not opposites, but partners

A key element of the concert will be the balance between control and spontaneity. Much of the music will be carefully shaped, yet live performance will open space for unpredictability and improvisation. “There is always a lot of risk. But risk is the main engine of creation. The works will contain a great deal of precisely defined material, yet there are episodes where prior knowledge is not desirable,” the creators explain.

According to them, the creative process constantly balances intuition and clear structure: “Intuition is extremely important, but it must always be nourished with a solid dose of structure. We understand each other intuitively, but we devote a lot of attention to the clarity of ideas.”

A living process on stage

In the Bazaras brothers’ music, the moment of performance itself is essential — the stage becomes not only a place of presentation, but of discovery. “The release begins on stage, regardless of whether everything is written in the score or only outlined. After all, it’s interesting to hear not only what is written in the notes,” they say. In this process, improvisation is understood not as randomness, but as a consciously controlled creative state: “We believe improvisation is freedom within discipline.”

A dialogue between different worlds

In ArtDeCounterPoint, not only the ideas of three musicians meet, but a broader artistic field — different musical languages, periods, and even disciplines. “It is a continuous dialogue not only between musical worlds, but also between different disciplines: architecture, historical periods, and narratives,” the creators explain. Working together with the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra expands their creative spectrum: “There is much more enthusiasm, colour, and possibility in the musical language.”

A brotherly bond as creative force

Their long-standing musical journey allows the brothers to function as a single organism, where creative tension and growth constantly occur. “Creation doesn’t have to be comfortable,” they say. “But our connection undoubtedly helps.”

Audiences can expect not only a musical programme, but an experience that invites them into the living process of creation. “We want listeners to take away not just sound, but a thought — that Art Deco today reflects our state of being, expressed in many forms, including music,” say the Bazaras brothers.

The opening concert of Vilnius Spring Festival, ArtDeCounterPoint, invites you not only to listen, but to become part of the creative process — where music is still being born. More information: springfestival.lt