Rūta Vitkauskaitė

The International Composers Plus Summer Academy was initiated by Martynas Levickis, a virtuoso accordion player, with the main goal of creating, performing, and publishing solo or chamber musical compositions for the accordion. Martynas served as the artistic director of the course and has played a significant role in shaping the initiatives that take place during the course.

Dr. Rūta Vitkauskaitė joined the academy as a tutor, and later the lead tutor. She has been instrumental in developing and facilitating the collaborative dimension of the project.

The International Composers’ Course in Palendriai was the first course held in 2014 at St. Benedict’s Monastery, a unique and isolated place in Lithuania surrounded by fields of rye, forests and lakes. The course was taught by Rūta Vitkauskaitė alongside composer Ben Lunn from the Scotland, UK.

In 2015, the course was co-led by Alasdair Nicolson, a composer, pianist, conductor, and artistic director of the St. Magnus Festival, alongside Rūta Vitkauskaitė. The course was packed with rehearsals, collaborative activities and spontaneous improvisational pieces and culminated in a 3-hour-long concert at St. Benedict’s Monastery, and a limited-edition book titled ‘The Collection of Accordion Works’, consisting of all the pieces that were composed during the course.

In 2016, the International Composers’ Course moved to the picturesque space of Raudondvaris Castle Arts Incubator and was co-led by composer and accordionist Gorka Hermosa and Rūta Vitkauskaitė. Rūta gave a special lecture on collaboration, led collaborative workshops, and facilitated whole-group composer-performer discussions. The creative work during the course resulted in a premier concert, professional recordings, and the publication of new works.

The 4th Composers+ Summer Academy took place in 2017, in the scenic space of Raudondvaris Castle Arts Incubator. The course was led by world-famous accordionist Iñaki Alberdi and Rūta Vitkauskaitė. Rūta continued to strengthen the collaborative aspects of the course through lectures and workshops. The end of the creative process culminated in a final concert of world premieres, and participants were awarded nominations for the best compositions.

The 5th Composers+ Summer Academy was held in 2018 in Druskininkai, south Lithuania, at an elite sanatorium called ‘Eglė’ and was led by Swedish composer Daniel Nelson, Polish accordionist and composer Mikołaj Majkusiak, and Dr. Rūta Vitkauskaitė. Rūta contributed to the course by giving lectures and workshops on collaboration and leading voice exploration and yoga sessions. During this course, the collaborative electro-acoustic opera ‘Confessions’ by the Spatial Opera Company (Rūta‘s collaboration with Asa Nordgren and Jens Hedman, produced by Operomanija) was performed for course participants. As in previous years, the course ended with a final concert, presenting world premieres of the pieces developed during the Academy.

The 6th, and last, edition was held in 2019 in Druskininkai and focused on bringing together composers and performers to instigate the creation of new compositions. It was led by Dr. Rūta Vitkauskaitė and Andreas Borregaard – one of the world‘s most exciting young accordionists. Martynas Levickis, the Founder and Artistic Director of C+, also joined as a tutor, as well as Maris Rozenfelds, an alumnus of Composers+. Rūta used her five-year experience on the course, to integrate collaborative dimensions into rehearsals and individual tutorials, and for the first time during the course a piece was composed where composer included performers names as co-authors.

The Composers+ Summer Academy aimed to create and showcase modern music for the broadest possible audience, presenting new music for accordion in accessible and interesting ways. Valuable technical skills and artistic insights were provided by tutors of international reputation and expertise. The participants were encouraged to continue developing new repertoire for accordion after leaving the Academy.

Due to various reasons which coincided with Covid-19 pandemic, the Academy has stopped its activities, leaving the legacy of substantial solo and chamber accordion repertoire, available as publications and recordings on the academy’s website.