"The Sea in the Forest" – a musical labyrinth where two wanderers, Liudas Mockūnas (saxophone) and Petras Geniušas (piano), meet at the same exits into the musical spaces of M. K. Čiurlionis.

The project "The Sea in the Forest" was born in 2011, marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Lithuania’s most famous composer and painter, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911). At that time, many attempts were made to use Čiurlionis' music for new works and cross-genre, interdisciplinary interpretations. Among all these attempts, the duet of Geniušas and Mockūnas stands out as the result of exceptional musical sensitivity and an original interpretative vision, elevating Čiurlionis' and other Lithuanian composers’ music to a new artistic level with impactful, unexpected recontextualizations of their musical quotes.

For musicians from different generations and genres, Čiurlionis' works became a source of inspiration and a stimulus to dive into the "sea" of individual experiences and subjective stylistic interpretations. "We are united by the 'Vilnius School,' which is difficult to fit into any format, characterized by a combination of anarchy and discipline. Furthermore, we share one common teacher – Vladimir Čekasin," says Geniušas, who became Mockūnas' creative partner for the first time.

The music created by the duo cannot be confined to one specific style – in their virtuoso conversation, you can hear fragments, comments, and entire solo revelations of romantic, impressionistic, contemporary music, jazz, and free improvisation, all tightly woven into a continuous flow of sonic events. It is like a labyrinth of music from the 19th century echoes, fragments of the 20th century (Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Feliksas Bajoras, Julius Andrejevas), and the 21st century (Mockūnas’ and Geniušas’ improvisations): both performers search for their way in it and find new, unexpected turns, discovering each other along the way. In other words, this is music not of search, but of discovery.

The XIII International M. K. Čiurlionis Music Festival is part of the anniversary program "Čiurlionis 150".

The festival is organized by the public institution "Klasika LT".

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