GAIDA Festival

The GAIDA Festival that takes place in Vilnius since 1991 is the main, the largest and most prominent festival of contemporary music in Lithuania and Baltic countries. This is one of the most important music forums in Central and Eastern Europe. Events of the GAIDA Festival are always associated with strong artistic ambitions, innovations, highest quality of performers, creativity of composers and other artists what produces great works of nowadays.

During last 15 years the GAIDA festival has become the prestigious event for international and Lithuanian audiences that numerously attend concerts of the festival. Strong increase of the festival’s audiences was recorded in the last decade when programs of the festival involved large number of greatest musicians, internationally acclaimed performers and most famous composers attended to GAIDA festival, such as Philip Glass & The Philip Glass Ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, Gavin Bryars Ensemble, Michael Nyman Band, Terry Riley, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Magnus Lindberg, Luca Francesconi, Kaija Saariaho, Georg Friedrich Haas, Francesco Filidei, Liza Lim, Rebecca Saunders, James Dillon, Yannis Kyriakides, Heiner Goebbels with theatre performances “Max Black” & “Eraritjaritjaka”, such prominent ensembles as London Sinfonietta, Kronos Quartet, The Hilliard Ensemble, Ensemble Modern, musikFabrik, Theatre of Voices & Paul Hillier, Quatuor Diotima, Les Percussion de Strasbourg, Slagwerk Den Haag, Mantra Percussion & SŌ Percussion from New York, such top-class soloists as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Markus Stockhausen, Kari Kriikku, Francesco Dillon, Domenico Nordio, Gavriel Lipkind, Manuel Blanco, such electronic music artists as Autechre, Squarepusher, Alva Noto, Ryoji Ikeda, Robert Henke, Mouse On Mars, Byetone, Kangding Ray, and many others.

GAIDA festival is open to music and innovative art of all different traditions and all geographical sources. The festival reflects and presents a broad sweep of the latest creative processes and newest musical tendencies in Europe and the world. GAIDA introduces international and Vilnius audiences to the finest achievements of world contemporary music, the most famous musicians are invited to the festival and the most distinguished works are performed. GAIDA presents creations from many different genres, from symphonic orchestra concerts to electronic music, innovative multimedia projects, music theatre, sound installations and club events.

For high achievements in the international new music scene GAIDA Festival in 2005 was invited to join prestigious European network Réseau Varèse which involves most important festivals and biggest music institutions of contemporary music from Paris, Berlin, London, Warsaw, Oslo, Helsinki, Porto, Vienna, Amsterdam and other cities. In 2008 GAIDA festival was awarded the title of ISCM World Music Days, meaning an especial appreciation of the international music community all over the world and providing the right to organize a festival on exceptional scale.

The events of GAIDA Festival take place in the main concert halls of Vilnius: the National Philharmonic, National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Congress Concert Hall, National Drama Theatre, Arts Printing House, Contemporary Art Centre, National Art Gallery a. o.