Kaunas Kantata 01 Oct 2022

The world premiere of a cantata specially composed for Kaunas by Philip Miller (South Africa)!

This composition, created over several years, is the result of a collaboration with artist Jenny Kagan (United Kingdom) and local musicians. The work is an inclusive musical experience, calling listeners to immerse themselves in a multi-ethnic city’s past and Kaunas’ complicated history.

The work was inspired by personal testimonials, memories, and a rich and multifaceted world of sound. Its creators ask: What does it mean to look into the face of “the other” and confront ourselves, and to look directly into the face of our own humanity? The music and songs featured in this project are a way to help us find commonality, discover shared bonds among painful stories, and build a new relationship with a controversial history.

“In Kaunas Kantata we hear a multitude of voices. We listen to songs in different tongues and in different spaces. And yet there are encounters, there are juxtapositions, there are moments of harmony and moments of discord, moments of cacophony and moments of silence, and moments when the sound becomes one,” the artists say.

Soloists Rafailas Karpis, Agnė Stančikaitė, Steponas Zonys, Tshegfatso Moeng (South Africa), Kaunas State Choir, choirs “Cantate Domino” and “Gintaras”, the Children’s Choir of the Sacred Music School, Naujalis Music School Pupils’ Choir, Folklore Collective “Ratilėlis”, Klezmer Ensemble of the Centre Borderland of Arts (Poland), Folklore Ensemble “Ainiai”, Kaunas Wind Orchestra “Ąžuolynas”, Babadag joined this musical journey.

Venue of the event: Žalgiris Arena, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 50

IMPORTANT. Paid event. More information soon.

Organizers: Kaunas 2022

Illiustration: © Jenny Kagan