The opening months of the 2026–2027 season place composer, conductor, pianist, NICO Artistic Director Gediminas Gelgotas in an exceptionally intensive period of artistic activity, balancing an international performance schedule with performing, conducting, recording, composing, and teaching.
Throughout August and September, Gelgotas tours with the NICO Ensemble, performing in Lithuania on 15, 19, 20, 27, 28, and 30 August, followed by concerts in Jūrmala, Latvia (22 August) and Tallinn, Estonia (29 August). The tour continues in Lithuania on 4, 10, and 24 September, before Gelgotas and NICO makes their debut with the Warsaw Philharmonic on 27 September. (For more info: www.nicomusic.eu)
Alongside these engagements, Gelgotas appears in a chamber music collaboration with internationally renowned double bass virtuoso Roman Patkoló, giving performances in Lithuania (17 September) and Italy (19 September). On 13 September, he also returns to the piano stage for a solo recital “Recompositions” in Lithuania. (More info: https://www.vivaticket.com/it/ticket/suono-visionario-e-maestria-virtuosistica/309954)
August additionally brings an exciting recording project, as Gelgotas conducts a symphony orchestra for the forthcoming release by Lithuanian electronic music composer FUME, expanding his artistic activities into a collaboration that bridges the worlds of orchestral and electronic music. (More info: https://www.bilietai.lt/renginiai/SBOSWYFXDX/fume-matter-live-for-symphonic-orchestra-electronics)
The opening chapter of the season also includes two major appearances at GAIDA, the Baltic region’s leading contemporary music festival. Gelgotas will conduct the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra in a programme dedicated to the music of Steve Reich, before leading NICO Ensemble and the string orchestra in a concert devoted entirely to the music of Arvo Pärt. (More info: https://www.vilniusfestivals.lt/en/festival/gaida/)
Alongside an extensive performance schedule, Gelgotas continues work on a new large-scale composition for 27 cellos, scheduled to receive its world premiere in 2027, while also teaching at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where he continues to mentor the next generation of musicians.
Spanning concert halls, recording studios, and the composer’s desk, the first months of the season reflect Gelgotas’ artistic philosophy: a practice in which composing, conducting, performing, and teaching exist not as separate disciplines, but as interconnected expressions of a single creative vision.