Rūta Vitkauskaitė

The New Music Incubator (NMI) is an international exchange program that brings together professional composers and performers for a week of creative collaboration, followed by a public performance at a music festival or concert hall. Initiated in 2008 by Martin Q Larsson and Patrick Carlsson, NMI has completed eight courses, involving a total of 152 composers, musicians, and sound artists from 26 countries. Although based in Sweden, NMI operates internationally.

In 2010, Rūta Vitkauskaitė joined NMI as a participant and was deeply inspired by the collaborative practice and artistic outcomes of the course. As a result, she soon became a co-facilitator and manager of the course.

The first course that Rūta managed and facilitated was held in 2014 at Nida Art Colony, Neringa, Lithuania, bringing together Nordic and Baltic new music practitioners. Due to the distance between the working spaces, the course was not only a creative but also a physical challenge. One group almost got lost on the wrong side of the Russian border. The participants then reunited in September in Oslo during the Ultima Festival to re-develop, rehearse, and perform some of the works for a public concert as part of the festival.

In October 2015, 18 new music practitioners from 15 countries gathered in the middle of the forest in Mrežnica, Croatia, welcomed by almost constant rain and frequent power outages. Despite these challenges, warmed and inspired by open fires, the international creativity of the group flourished. The participants reconvened in February 2016 at FOAM, Molenbeek, Brussels, to re-develop, rehearse, and perform some of the works for a public concert at Q-O2, in connection with the ECSA General Assembly.

During her time as facilitator, Rūta has contributed to the already very well-established course schedule by adding a final “recap” day to summarize the course activities and by creating an artistic schedule for the reunion, which was structured as a mini-form of the NMI schedule, resulting in newly born pieces to be performed live for an audience.

The full courses’ schedules and participants are available on NMI website: https://newmusicincubator.com

Photos: New Music Incubator