From 27th February to 3rd March the Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies hosted the events of the International week. We had lecturers from Latvia, Poland, France, Italy and Spain. The lecturers from different countries of the world gave lectures to the students and teachers of the faculty for a week, and various activities took part in craftsmanship workshops. The International Training Week has become a tradition and attracts more and more foreign teachers who willingly share their knowledge with VIKO students and exchange experience with the teachers and the administrative staff.
The students of the Department of Performing Arts: Paulina Labutytė, Saulena Kiškionytė, Barbora Sindaravičiūtė, Saulė Grumodaitė, Kamilė Smaidžiūnaitė, Vaiva Vilpišauskaitė and Jelizaveta Izmalkova presented musical works and created great mood to those gathered at the opening of the International Week. The concert featured the Lithuanian folk song “Ar aš nesakiau” (Haven’t I told you), arranged by P. Labutytė, the Ukrainian song “Dai, Boh” and the hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”.
The students of the Departments of Fashion Design, Performing Arts, Rhythmic Music, Cultural Management and Dance Pedagogy had the unique opportunity to participate in interesting theory lectures, craftsmanship and individual classes that met the personal needs of each student. Kaspars Kurdek, a well-known drummer, percussionist and composer in the jazz world, conducted a practical workshop on playing combined instruments for the students of Popular Music study programme. Marek Bogusz, a lecturer at the WSG University of Poland, and Head of the Department of International Relations, conducted practical sessions on “Voice Emission and Hygiene in Rock Music. A warm-up and a voice exercise workshop” for the students of Musical Theatre and Popular Music Study programme. During the classes, the main focus was on breathing, the acquired experience was especially valuable and necessary for the students.
A famous guitarist and producer Diego Cignitti from Italy shared his knowledge of the blues with the students of Popular Music study programme. During the lecture “Africa and the Blues”, the students learned many interesting facts about the wild melodies of Africa, which are still a terra incognita, reflecting human feelings, traditional rhythms, from which the blues – one of the oldest forms of African-American vocal and instrumental music – was formed.
In the lecture entitled “Music and AI (Artificial Intelligence)” by Gilbert Bartoloni of St. Louis College of Music in Rome, the students learned how artificial intelligence can be used in artistic activities such as music creation. Gilberto Bartoloni creates and arranges music for dance performances, concerts – from classical, contemporary, electronic, ancient music to pop, rock and jazz. As a composer and conductor, Gilberto participates in concerts held in the most famous Italian theatres.
An exceptional event of the International Week was the concert of the students of the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, who impressed the audience with professionally performed jazz music. Indrikis Veitners, Leader of the Latvian student group is head of the Jazz Music Department, a professor, a famous researcher of the Latvian jazz history, a doctor of arts, and a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. The students were especially happy about the opportunity to participate in creative workshops for the ensemble and practical classes “Sound, rhythm, focusing, and listening” by Frederic Borey, a famous saxophonist from Paris, well-known for the European jazz lovers as a member of various groups, a lecturer at the Didier Lockwood Music Centre and the Val Maubuée Music Conservatory. A lecturer from Spain Viktorija Pilatovič led practical workshops and lectures “Vocal Technique, the Repertoire” and “Jazz and Improvisation” for the students of Popular Music study programme. Viktorija is a Lithuanian jazz vocalist who graduated from LMTA and went to continue her studies at the Prins Claus Conservatory in the Netherlands. We rarely hear this jazz vocalist in our country, she creates and actively performs and teaches far outside Lithuania – at the prestigious Berkeley and San Sebastian universities in Spain. Marta Ipczynnska-Budziak, a guest of the International Week from Bydgoszcz University of Economics in Poland, met with students, teachers and faculty guests of the Department of Fashion Design. The teacher was pleased to see a great number of interested listeners in her lecture “A Masterpiece of Ancient Art as an Abstract Composition”.
The mood of the spring and of Italian fashion could be felt in the faculty when Indrė Matutytė-Cordella and Manuel Federico Cordella, lecturers from the Italian Cordella Institute Fashion School, invited the students of the Department of Fashion Design to a pattern making workshop. Indrė and Manuel Federico presented their Fashion School, and introduced the long-standing history of the Cordella family, told interesting stories about the ongoing activities and study programmes, then during the creative workshop the students drew jacket models based on the provided “Moodboard”, which they constructed according to the Cordella method.
The lecturers and the students of the Department of Rhythmic Music performed at the closing event of the International Training Week, which was held at the “Jazz Cellar11” Jazz Club in Vilnius. The lecturers Pranas Kentra, Richardas Banys, Ernest Germanovič and Augustas Baronas prepared a joint programme with the vocalist Viktorija Pilatovič. Richardas Banys performed his composition “Anikha” together with Indrikis Veitners, a lecturer from the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Music Academy.
Indrikis Veitners, Kaspars Kurdeko and Liudas Mockūnas prepared two Lithuanian and Latvian student ensembles and played together with the students. The teachers of the Department of Rhythmic Music Veronika Čičinskaitė-Golovanova and Dmitrij Golovanov, Diego Cignitti and Gilberto Bartoloni from Italy and Frederic Borey from France delighted the guests with their improvisations.
Meaningful and full of positive emotions, the International Week gave all the event participants the best emotions and left the warmest memories.
