Petras Vyšniauskas

Petras Vyšniauskas is one of the most acclaimed and distinctive Lithuanian jazz artists, an ingenious musician and a virtuoso saxophonist. His soprano saxophone can speak, sing, scream, cry and warble. His profoundly ethnic music is often driven by the torrents of spontaneous improvisation. Petras Vyšniauskas is the most awarded Lithuanian saxophonist whose artistic distinctions include the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, the Lithuanian National Arts and Culture Prize, the National Pride Award, and the award of the Vilnius Jazz Festival (for his merits for development of Lithuanian jazz). Open to the most adventurous experimentation, he has partnered many performers of jazz, folk, classical and contemporary music. At the present, he is often seen performing with international ensembles and participating in projects of spontaneous improvisations. Apart from an intense concert schedule, he shares his time between teaching at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, composing and recording for theatre and film.

Jūratė Kučinskaitė