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Always coming up with original and interesting programmes, this time the members of the Čiurlionis Quartet invite to experience how two different worlds and artistic ideologies meet in music – those of Johann Sebastian Bach and Philip Glass. Although centuries separate the two composers, it is interesting to note that their means of expression are similar – a development of moderate musical material, repetition, and transformation. The minimal musical material of Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), thanks to J. S. Bach’s boundless imagination, ingenuity, and mastery, has become one of the most universal and significant works ever written. The Fifth quartet by contemporary American minimalist Philip Glass takes the opposite direction – the composer even distances himself from the ideology of minimalism, drifting towards more conventional expression, while still using his usual technique of repetition. In both cases, brilliant musical works are born, free from both the applied function of Baroque music and the illustrative, vivid minimalism of Glass’s earlier quartets. The third common feature of the concert programme is the transcendental aspiration of both composers. Glass’ Annunciation is an expression of both Buddhism and Byzantine spirituality. But again, it is conveyed through sparse, limited, and simple material, as if from modest clay, which is transformed into something akin to the Holy Grail.

Pianist Rokas Valuntonis joins the Quartet for the programme’s highlight, the piano quintet Annunciation. The performer is a graduate of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (under Prof. A. Žvirblytė) and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He has honed his skills in Paris with renowned pianist Eugen Indjic and completed his studies under Peter Bithell at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Among his many successes in international competitions are first prize and a Bluthner piano at the Nordic Piano Competition in Malmö, second prize at the M. K. Čiurlionis Piano Competition in Vilnius, first prize at the Campillos Competition in Spain, and others. The performer gives concerts in prestigious concert halls and collaborates with renowned orchestras. In the 2026 season, the pianist will appear in a series of recitals in Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, and other countries.