The rhythm of the contemporary capital of Kaunas does not succumb to the traditional limits of seasons. Launched in May, the Kaunas 2022 Summer Stage, located in Town Hall Square, continues its marathon of concerts with ten evenings planned for September. The repertoire includes performances by the Lithuanian ambassadors of the European Capital of Culture and their international counterparts and concerts by two unique orchestras.
Highlights of the Summer Festivals
After memorable festival tours, the Kaunas Town Hall Square will be home to many of the brightest stars of the Lithuanian alternative music scene in September. On 2 September, Flash Voyage will be hitting their home turf. After the band’s spectacular performance at the Audra festival in July, the Kaunas-based psychedelic rockers promise to tell more than one guitar-based fairy tale heard in the woods or dreamt up by the lake.
You won’t have to wait long for the next chance to sing along – on 3 September, Golden Parazyth will climb on the Kaunas 2022 Summer Stage and invite the crowd to search for the light. The evening’s programme will include the most memorable sunsets, beautiful tree shades, fragrant plants and the wildest animal noises.
Another European Capital of Culture ambassador, who paints even the greyest skies pink during her performances, is also on her way to Kaunas. Rūta MUR, the Klaipėda-based electronic music artist, will throw a concert in Town Hall Square on 16 September. That evening, GISCHT, or Ursula Winterauer from Vienna, will share the stage with Rūta. In her creations, the Austrian artist explores the grey areas between ambient music and slow techno.
The last highlight of the Kaunas 2022 summer stage on 17 September will be sparked by Abudu, whose latest album ‘Gaisras (Fire)’ is still smouldering in the players of the fans of alternative sound. ‘Between lyricism and rebellion’ is not only the motto of Abudu but also that of the Swiss band Tim Freitag, who will be closing the open-air concert venue together with Lithuanians. This band is sure to make you cry. The only question is: from joy or sadness?
Two Unique Orchestras
Orchestra concerts have already become a tradition on the Kaunas 2022 Summer Stage. The last month of the extended season has two special guests. On the afternoon of 4 September, the refreshing sounds of strings and brass instruments will fill the Old Town of Kaunas, as the Lithuanian Joint Klezmer Orchestra will deliver a special programme. The Rakija Klezmer Orkestar, percussionist Arkadijus Gotesmanas and violinist Boris Kirzneris will come together, especially for this year’s CityTelling festival. The orchestra will invite you to bring back the tradition of klezmer, or Jewish folk, which almost disappeared after the Second World War.
The following exceptional guests on the Kaunas 2022 summer stage will arrive on 15 September from a Kaunas’ partner city in Poland. The Toruń Improvisers Orchestra couldn’t have chosen a better venue for their programme dedicated to the poet Adam Mickiewicz. After all, it was at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Town Hall Square where he once taught! The essence of the orchestra’s project ‘Local Landscape: Ballads and Romances’ is to show the universality and cosmos of meanings of Mickiewicz’s ‘Ballads and Romances’ in relation to contemporary times, culture and contemporary art. This year, the book turns 200 and 2022 in Poland is the Year of Polish Romanticism.
Costume Workshop and Rehearsal Before the Fluxus Festival
One of the most anticipated events at the beginning of Autumn in Kaunas, when Parodos Hill will be closed to cars after dark and opened to the motley crowd of dressers, is the Fluxus Festival. On 10 September, this event will take place for the fifth time, so every Kaunas resident living in Fluxus’s spirit must dress accordingly. Those who are yet to create their own Fluxus alter ego are welcome on 9 September from 5 pm at the Town Hall Square. ‘You will find the necessary tools in the workshop, but if you want to bring glitter, ribbons, wigs, boxes and other tools that are sleeping in the cupboards, you are welcome to do so and turn them into the craziest costume,’ the organisers say.
Tomorrow’s Music in the Heart of Lithuania
What’s Next In Music, a showcase festival and conference traditionally held in the capital in September, will also visit Kaunas this year. On 10 September, the bright stars of tomorrow will take to the stage of the European Capital of Culture.
The programme will feature the Kaunas-based French singer Clara Giambino, the Vilnius post-punk band Local Blood, the Italy-based Albanian electronic music duo Shkodra Elektronike and the Estonian Andres Kõpper who will introduce himself as NOËP.
The European Capital of Culture programme in Kaunas and the Kaunas region continues throughout the year, with hundreds of traditional and debut events planned for 2022, including exhibitions, festivals, performances and other activities created by local and international artists and Kaunas communities. For the complete Kaunas 2022 programme, please visit www.kaunas2022.eu or the mobile app.