Kaunas Kantata
Audiences found themselves in a labyrinth of music and video images in the Žalgiris Arena, where the viewer was able to choose which sound or artist to listen to and which image to watch.
Kaunas Kantata premiered on 30th September and 1st October 2022 as part of Kaunas 2022 CityTelling Festival programme.
The work was inspired by personal testimonials, memories, and a rich and multifaceted world of sound. The 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?
Creative Team:
- Composer: Philip Miller
- Production Design: Jenny Kagan
- Musical Director: Karolis Variakojis
- Stage Director: Chris Baldwin
- Producer: Ina Pukelytė
- TV Director: Kornelijus Jaroševičius (Lithuanian TV)
Performed by:
- Soloists: Rafailas Karpis (tenor); Agnė Stančikaitė (soprano); Steponas Zonys (bariton); Tshegofatso Moeng (SAR) (tenor);
- Reciters: Bella Shirin and Violeta Rakauskaitė- Shtromas
- Kaunas music ensemble „Ainiai“
- Folklore group „Kadujo” (Laura Lukenskienė, Roberta Daugėlaitė, Ramunė Balčiūnienė)
- Kaunas city Symphony Orchestra (principal conductor Constantine Orbelian, director Algimantas Treikauskas)
- Kaunas State Choir (artistic director ir principal conductor Robertas Šervenikas)
- Kaunas brass orchestra „Ąžuolynas“ (principal conductor Giedrius Vaznys)
- Student String Quartor of Vytautas Magnus University
- Vytautas Magnus University choir „Vivere Cantus“ (conductor Rolandas Daugėla)
- Choir of the school of sacral music „Cantores David“ (conductor Mindaugas Radzevičius)
- Choir of Juozas Naujalis music high school (conductor Rolandas Daugėla)
- Choir „Cantate Domino“ (conductor Rolandas Daugėla)
- Choir „Gintaras“ (conductor Jovita Kulakauskienė)
- Sejny Theatre Klezmer Orchestra (Poland, director Michal Moniuszko)
Sound Designer: Kęstutis Dulinskas
Music arrangement, sound sampling: Jievaras Jasinskis
Projections: Tomas Brazys
Lighting: Lukas Zaveckas
Stage Management: Aistis Lansbergas, Linas Kazlauskas, Renata Krapikaitė
Show Caller: Klaudija Aleksandravičiūtė
Volunteer Coordinators: Marija Pulokaitė, Vitalija Lyska and Agnė Medėkšaitė
Curator of Memory Office: Daiva Price
Kaunas 2022: Virginija Vitkienė
Special thanks to David Wolfswinkel and Tshegofatso Moeng for additional orchestration.
Libretto Sources:
- The Procession - Words: Shmerke Kaczerginski’s Yid Du Partizaner
- Chorus of Unreliable Witnesses - Words: Regina Prudnikova; Natalija Gudonyt; Justina Kirvelaityte; Irena Veisaitė; Leah Goldberg
- The War Within Part I - Words: Norbertas Jokūbauskas
- The Face Speaks - Words: Laimonas Noreika
- How can you compare? - Words: Ada Ustjanauskas
- A Dance of Colliding Cultures - Words: Norbertas Jokūbauskas
- That which was Broken - Words: Danutė Pomerancaitė-Mazurkevich; Jekaterina Minkevičienė; Henny Fletcher Aronson; Irena Saulute Valaityte-Spakauskiene; Dalia Grinkevičiūtė; Gandrai, Gandrai – Children’s Song
- Lullaby for a lost Child - Words: Siegfried Gronau; Justinas Sajauskas
- The violence of words - Words: Aldona Žeibienė
- Songs of Exile and Return - Words: Sulamif Shreyber Zhabinskaya; Regina Prudnikova; Rytė Merkytė; Justinas Sajauskas; Antanina Garmutė; Nijole Lelkaite; Tomas Venclova
- Hard Truths - Words: Pranas Jurkus; Myra Sklarew; Juozas Mozūraitis; Marytė Tiesnienė
- A War Within Part II - Words: Bronius V Galinas; Gražina Pucevičiutė-Palonienė; Siegfried Gronau
- The Drawing and Undrawing of Lines - Words: Myra Sklarew; Irena Veisaite; Dov Levin
- Small Acts of Bravery: (Saviours) - Words: Margaret Kagan; Henny Fletcher Aronson; Juozas Mozūraitis; Norbertas Jokūbauskas
- Epilogue - Words: Emmanuel Levinas
Interview Sources:
- Kaunas 2022 Memory Office Interviews
- USHMM Oral Testimony Archive
- USC Shoah Foundation Archive
- Lietuvos Gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras - Whoever Saves One Life: The Efforts to Save Jews in Lithuania Between 1941 and 1944
- Journey into the Backwaters of the Heart – Laima Vince
- Narratives of Exile and Identity - Violeta Davoliūtė and Tomas Balkelis
- A Survivor Named Trauma – Myrra Skrelaw
- Unforgettable names of Lithuania - Justinas Sajauskas
- We Didn’t Keep Diaries, You Know: Memories of Trauma and Violence in the Narratives of Two Former Women Resistance Fighters - Dovilė Budrytė
- Siberian Exiles – Claudia Heinermann
- Lithuanians by the laptev sea: the siberian memoirs of dalia grinkevičiūtė
With thanks for additional images from:
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Claudia Heinermann from her book Siberian Exiles
- Marc Wilson from his book Wounded Landscapes
- Vilna Goan Museum
- Kaunas State Archives
Organizer: Kaunas 2022
