Workshops & Seminars
Over the years, Rūta Vitkauskaitė has developed a portfolio of workshops and seminars suitable for professional musicians, composers, as well as non-professionals, and general audiences.
Workshops
Creating participatory environments has been an ongoing side of Rūta Vitkauskaitė’s practice over the years, and greatly explored during her PhD research at the Royal Academy of Music.
Rūta offers a range of workshops that vary from half-an-hour to whole-day activities. These workshops are based on her collaborative practice, analysis of compositional processes, and inspiration behind music creation.
She draws on her experience working on ‘Walking Opera’, ‘Aronia Overture’, and ‘Meditation Opera’, as well as participating in the Learning Traineeship Program at BCMG in 2012-2013, the Fellowship at the Open Academy of the Royal Academy of Music, serving as a Creative Befriender for people living with dementia through Westminster Arts, and from the hands-on leadership of CoMA Glasgow, NMI, and Composers+.
Rūta designs workshops with the same seriousness and attentiveness as writing music, using them as a way of delivering contemporary music compositions through workshop-based instructions, rather than a set score.
Her workshops welcome all-comers, although they are often tailored to musicians ranging from professional to amateur. The main aim is to provide an open and inclusive environment where participants can experience new, provocative, and unusual music.
In her artist statement, Rūta emphasizes her belief that new music can serve as inspiration and improvement of the quality of life in all socio-economic backgrounds, rather than just the refined audiences of musical intellectuals. Her work with non-standard formats for public presentations and participatory music projects and events helps her reach those who would not normally find themselves in concert halls.
As a passionate advocate of accessibility of contemporary music for wider audiences, Rūta has served on the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at the Musician’s Union (2020-2022) and is currently an EDI Trustee for CoMA Central Board, which reflects in her work with wider participation in music.
Rūta’s workshop designs include voice exploration (Q-O2 gallery, Brussels), visual inspiration, collaborative music creation (Composers+), vegetable orchestra creation and performances (SERDE Residency), deep listening (together with composer Emily Doolittle, Tramway, Human Threads exhibition), and many other tools that she uses in her creative practice.
Seminars
As part of her work, Rūta Vitkauskaitė has developed a number of seminars on topics exploring contemporary music from various angles, often presenting it as an approachable tool not only for academic composers, but also and especially for wider audiences.
In ‘Participation in New Music’, Rūta draws a comparison between “concert pieces” and “community projects” and shares her perspective on classical musical concerts, tribal music, and hands-on experience as MD of CoMA Glasgow whilst creating a new sub-genre which she calls “participatory classical music scores.” This seminar has been presented at the University of Idaho, University of Glasgow, Manchester University, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and WAEE event at the University of Cambridge.
‘Collaboration’ is based on Rūta’s PhD research and her experience at Composers+. This talk focuses on collaboration between classically trained composers and performers when creating new music compositions. It includes an analysis of the creative stages backed up by neuroscientific research and practical tools for those interested in entering the collaborative process. The talk is accompanied by a two-hour long workshop for those who want to step into the shoes of composers and performers and through an intense and speedy process develop a collaborative piece of music. This seminar and workshop have been developed and presented in various forms at the Composers+ Summer Academy and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
‘Creative Processes’ is another topic of Rūta’s Doctoral dissertation. Based on her experience as a composer and extensive research on creative processes ranging from creative writing to business building, Rūta explores the conscious and subconscious stages of creativity and how – and if – they can be controlled. This talk formed part of the seminars Rūta led at the Composers+ Summer Academy.
‘My 6 Biggest Mistakes as a Composer’ is a professional development seminar which lists her embarrassing failures as a composer and the lessons she learned from them. This seminar was presented at the Royal Academy of Music during the lockdown to inspire students to compose despite the challenging circumstances.
‘My Relationship with Scores’ takes the audience through Rūta’s compositional practice journey from her time as a student in post-Soviet Lithuania transitioning into the EU, the bursting scene of performative music, and the gradual separation of classical and experimental practice. It concludes with a discussion on whether a score is at all necessary to communicate her musical ideas. This seminar was presented at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Photos: Tomas Terekas, Composers Plus, Serde Residency, Mandeville School
