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The year 2025 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjaminas Gorbulskis, a renowned composer, genius of pop music, and unique figure in 20th-century Lithuanian culture. “He never served anyone but music. He composed it and lived off it. So, he was a free artist. In those days, that was a rarity. But he worked harder than anyone else. This was evidenced by his worn-out middle finger, which had been “harmed” while writing and rewriting hundreds of pages of notes,” wrote musicologist Irena Mikšytė, who wrote several lyrics for Gorbulskis’ first songs. The composer’s work is uninhibited, spontaneous, and free. Among the abundance of works in various genres (musicals, operettas, instrumental concertos, music for theatre, cinema, etc.), songs occupy a special place – there are over 600 of them! After the war, Gorbulskis was the first in Lithuania to start writing pop songs, which were performed as masterful works not only by pop stars of the time, but also by rising opera stars – Virgilijus Noreika, Eduardas Kaniava, Rimantas Siparis, Romanas Marijošius, Nijolė Ambrazaitytė, and others, often accompanied by choirs and symphony orchestras. “The composer himself has sung many of his songs on the radio, because he had an artistic streak,” wrote Mikšytė. Gorbulskis’ songs, popular for decades and performed by several generations of singers, remain timeless today. A person of exceptional charm and talent, Gorbulskis once expressed his intentions for writing songs as follows: “To make it easier, better, and happier for people to live on earth, so that they smile more often.”

Composer and performer Artūras Novikas and his jazz school’s vocal ensemble Jazz Island invite to honour Gorbulskis’ talent and, in the words of the evening’s hero, ‘smile.’ It is a professional group of young people, winners of various competitions, representing Lithuania around the world. Jazz Island sings music of various genres in polyphonic a cappella – from jazz and folk music of different nations to classical works and songs popular in Lithuania and around the world. The group has a long-standing friendship with the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, where the ensemble presents new and interesting programmes almost every year.