Since 2020, the Vilnius Jazz festival has been presenting projects of the Improdimensija free movement. This time, the special programme Vilnius Fixations with Improdimensija and Vilnius Jazz is presented by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK). Its flagman is John Butcher, one of the most unique British saxophonists of today.

Vilnius Fixations dates back to 2021, when Butcher was commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and composed Fluid Fixations, a composition for 13 performers. The score of this composition leaves a lot to the musicians’ imagination and improvisation. It allows for the inclusion of guest musicians and for each performer to process the composer’s ideas through an individual filter. Butcher calls his method ‘psychological orchestration’ because of the freedom it gives the musicians to convey their own view of the composer’s intentions.

Vilnius Fixations is the first reincarnation of the Fluid Fixations programme. In it, Butcher himself will share the stage with part of the original group and some members of the Improdimensija Orchestra. The performance will feature saxophone sounds recorded with special microphones and transferred to vinyl records spun by Dieter Kovacic, known in experimental music circles as Dieb13.

Butcher will also be accompanied by Ståle Liavik Solberg, Norwegian percussionist and drum authority; Isabelle Duthois, representative of French jazz and improvised music, vocalist and clarinettist; Angharada Davies, Welsh violinist; and a solid assembly of members of the Improdimensija Orchestra: Salomėja Kalvelytė, Liudas Mockūnas, Mikas Kurtinaitis, Dominykas Norkūnas, Klaudija Indriliūnaitė, Gediminas Stepanavičius and Arnas Mikalkėnas.

John Butcher is one of the UK’s leading improvisers. Interestingly, the future star of improvised music studied Physics and even got a PhD in quantum chromodynamics but decided to switch his career from science to music.

This London-based artist is recognised and appreciated worldwide for his original compositions, his passion for experimentation, and his well-honed improvisational skills. Originality is his calling card. The hunger for new acoustic experiences sometimes takes this musician and composer to the distant corners of the country. For example, his original compositions for Resonant Spaces were recorded in remote areas of Scotland and the Orkney archipelago.

Butcher’s saxophone possibilities are inexhaustible. He finds the most bizarre techniques for his ideas, enriching the treasure trove of musical expression and culture accumulated over centuries. His experiments sometimes challenge his listeners but are always filled with poetry and testify to his good taste.

Butcher’s move from the elite of science to music has also made him elite in the world of music. This is reflected not only in his critically acclaimed work, but also in the names of his stage partners. He has collaborated with hundreds of artists, including true stage giants Derek Bailey, Eddie Prévost, Steve Beresford, Okkyung Lee, Andy Moore, Christian Marclay, Phil Minton, Rhodri Davies, Tony Buck, Magda Mayas and Matthew Shipp.

The saxophonist has also shared the stage with large ensembles such as Butch Morris’ London Skyscraper, Fred van Hove’s t’nonet, the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, and has played in duos with Joe McPhee, Keiji Haino, Akira Sakata, John Tilbury, Fred Frith, Otomo Yoshihide, and many other luminaries.

His biography already has links to Lithuania. In 2022, Lina Lapelytė’s The Mutes was presented at the Lafayette Anticipations gallery in Paris, where Butcher was also involved in the recording process, and last year he appeared in Vilnius at the Improdimensija concert with long-time Improdimensija friend S.L. Solberg.

Improdimensija Orchestra is probably the only improvised music big band in Lithuania. Having debuted on the Vilnius Jazz stage in 2020 and captivated the audience with its excitement, ingenuity, and unusual sounds, it has become a true phenomenon on the Lithuanian improvised music scene.

The orchestra was formed by Liudas Mockūnas and Arnas Mikalkėnas, two of the best-known names of the Lithuanian improvised and jazz music scene, from alumni and current students of the Contemporary Music/Improvised Music Master Program at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LAMT) as well as their associates.

All members of the orchestra are virtuosos of their instruments, have wide musical horizon and unbridled creative imagination, thus their music surprises even those who have heard it all. The programmes of the Improdimensija Orchestra are based exclusively on the ideas of its members, written in graphically and traditionally notated scores.

The members of the orchestra are also active in their own ensembles – Flute Trio, Laivo Troupe, Džiazlaif, Kanalizacija, Dj. Extended ft. K. Jušinskas, etc.

The orchestra has developed and presented programmes of original music by its leaders Mockūnas and Mikalkėnas, as well as compositions with the French guitarist Marc Ducret and the Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser. It has appeared at the Vilnius Jazz and Birštonas Jazz festivals, and online at the London Jazz.

Isabelle Duthois has studied clarinet and collaborated with many contemporary academic musicians, but she discovered her favourite universe in free improvisation. She has also been nurturing her unique vocal technique for many years. As a singer she participates in various art projects and is an experienced event organiser.

Duthois has collaborated with a number of stars of the international experimental music scene including Angelica Castello, Martin Tetreault, Franz Hautzinger, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, Phil Minton and others. She is a member of Hiatus, Système Friche, Where is the sun, Uruk, SunDog. She has appeared at festivals in Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Russia.

Salomėja Kalvelytė is a student of the Contemporary Music/Improvised Music Master Program at the LAMT, actively participating in improvised music projects with various performers and ensembles. She plays in Flute Trio, experiments in a duo with tuba virtuoso Mikas Kurtinaitis. The flautist’s musical language is influenced by classical music, jazz and free improvisation. In her improvisations, Salomėja combines different aesthetics and flute playing techniques, focusses on interplay of timbres, contrasts and acoustics.

Liudas Mockūnas, one of Europe’s most distinctive saxophonists, has been firmly in the ranks of the world’s jazz and improvised music elite for many years. He is constantly migrating through festivals and club scenes of different continents, sharing the stage with such greats as Agusti Fernandez, Marc Ducret, William Hooker, Samuel Blaser, Ryoji Hojito, Otomo Yoshihide, Kazutoki Umezu, Akira Sakata, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Barry Guy and others.

The saxophonist’ skills have been recognised with prizes at jazz competitions in Lithuania, Latvia and France, Vilnius Jazz and Birštonas Jazz awards for his contribution to Lithuanian jazz, and the Lithuanian Musicians’ Union’s Golden Disc. He was honoured with the Lithuanian Theatre Award Golden Stage Cross for the best music for a theatre production. Mockūnas has also composed music for the Copenhagen Art Ensemble, the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra and the Chordos String Quartet.

He is also appreciated as a performer of contemporary academic music, is a member of the contemporary music ensembles Gaida, Konvoj Art and the Lithuanian Ensemble Network, performs with symphony and chamber orchestras. He has toured with various ensembles in many European countries, the USA, China, Japan and Israel.

His discography amounts to about 70 albums. In 2008, the record label NoBusiness Records, founded by Liudas together with his two associates – Valerijus Anosovas, the owner of the music company Thelonious, and Danas Mikailionis, a jazz enthusiast – became the winner of the 2020 Vilnius Jazz Prize For Contributions to Lithuanian Jazz.

Mockūnas is an associate professor at the Jazz Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the creator of the Contemporary Music/Improvised Music Master Program (together with composer Vykintas Baltakas). The disciples of this program have established themselves in the vanguard of the Improdimensija movement and have become the ‘spiritus movens’ of Vilnius’ underground life.

Mikas Kurtinaitis has appeared in several programmes of the Improdimensija Orchestra, and last year he was the winner of the Vilnius Jazz Young Power (VJYP) competition as well as the best instrumentalist, presenting an original solo programme.

After graduating from the LAMT, the musician began to actively explore the sonorous possibilities of the tuba and has already shared his discoveries in the Improdimensija concert series. The tuba player also plays in the Klezmer and Balkan music collective Rakija Klezmer Orkestar and is interested in the musical heritage of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Angharad Davies studied classical violin but has made a name for herself as an improviser and expert of the prepared violin. She performs in duos with Tisha Mukarji, Dominic Lash and Lina Lapelytė, and has been involved in projects with Tarek Atoui, Tony Conrad, Richard Dawson, Roberta Jean, Jack McNamara, Rie Nakajima, Tim Parkinson and other talented musicians. She also takes part in Common Objects, Cranc and Skogen.

Dominykas Norkūnas studied at the LAMT and the Amsterdam University of the Arts. During 20 years of music making, the guitarist has accumulated a rich creative experience: he has appeared at festivals such as Granatos Live, Karklė, Galapagai, Visagino Country, as a jazz and contemporary experimental music performer he performed at Vilnius Jazz, Vilnius Mama Jazz, Peronas Noise/Punk/Jazz, Jauna muzika, Druskomanija, and has taken part in theatre projects. Currently, he is a member of Kanalizacija, Ferry Good Company, etc.

Klaudija Indriliūnaitė is a student of the Contemporary Music/Improvised Music Master Program at the LAMT, hons her skills in various masterclasses. The guitarist collaborates with improvised music masters Juozas Milašius and Arnas Mikalkėnas, and has played with LAMT students in the improvised music ensemble formed by Mats Gustafsson. She has appeared at Jauna muzika, Kultūros naktis (Culture Night), Muziejų naktis (Museums’ Night) and Master of Calms festivals. This year saw the release of her debut EP aidi-aidi, as a duo with guitarist Ina Kovaliova.

Gediminas Stepanavičius studied classical tuba, contemporary and improvised music at the LAMT, jazz double bass and live electronics at the Amsterdam Conservatoire in the Netherlands. He is an expert of trumpet and sousaphone. He plays a wide range of music, from academic classical to free improvisation, and appears in Improdimensija Orchestra projects, the Improdimensija concert series, and solo programmes. He can also be heard in world, ethnic and popular music projects.

dieb13 has been active in the electronic, improvised and noise music scenes in Vienna since the 1990s, as well as in popular and contemporary music and free jazz projects. He is known for his unique style, unlike that of a traditional DJ.

dieb13 has toured more than 30 countries on four continents as a soloist and member of various ensembles. He has long-standing partnerships with Billy Roisz, Phil Minton, Mats Gustafsson and many other luminaries. dieb13 has formed several ensembles, composed music for theatre-, film-, video- projects, installations and exhibitions. He also gives masterclasses, curates festivals and concerts.

Ståle Liavik Solberg is a central figure in Oslo’s improvised music scene and curator of the legendary Blow Out concert series. He has established himself in Norway and abroad as a master of free improvisation, able to voice-out all kinds of things. The percussionist frequently collaborates with John Butcher, Frode Gjerstad, Lene Grenager, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Lotte Anker and Phil Minton, gives solo performances.

Arnas Mikalkėnas is one of the most active performers of free improvisation and jazz in Lithuania, a pianist, percussionist, composer, pedagogue, and group leader. He has collaborated with many well-known masters of improvised music, including Yumiko Yoshimoto, Michael Moore, Santiago Quintans, Kresten Osgood, Anto Pett, Kenny Wollesen, Lasse Lindgren, Jerome Fourrier, Ken McCann, Francesco Angiuli, Nuria Andorrà, Mikolaj Trzaska, David Stacken, and Kirke Karja. He has given concerts in many European countries.

His very frequent partner is Liudas Mockūnas, with whom Arnas founded the Improdimensija Orchestra and initiated the Improdimensija concert series, in which he also performs in various ensembles. His discography includes over 20 albums. Mikalkėnas teaches at the LAMT, Juozas Gruodis Conservatoire in Kaunas and the Jazz Academy he founded with his colleague.