Steve Reich's monumental work for choir and orchestra is more than just a piece of minimal music—it's an acoustic metaphor for what science calls "swarm behavior." Countless rhythmic and melodic phrases are interwoven to form a collective structure that is more than the sum of its parts. Reich employs the repetitive patterns typical of his music, which constantly shift in minute ways, causing the soundscape to move as if in slow motion. Not unlike a flock of birds, each individual acts independently, yet together they form a harmonious and structural whole. The Lithuanian composer Justė Janulytė is known for her minimalist, monochromatic soundscapes, which she pours into slow, ethereal processes with a keen sense of perfect dramaturgy. She plays with the merging of individual voices into a collective mass, making the transition almost invisible. Commissioned by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Justė Janulytė has been inspired to create a new work for large orchestra, which will have its world premiere at Forum N.

Desert Music

Hessischer Rundfunk

The UK premiere of Juste Janulyte’s Iridescence by the BBC Singers opens a portal into the expanding musical universe of symphonic electronics – “symphonic” in the ancient Greek meaning “harmonious”.

Total Immersion: Symphonic Electronics - Iridescence

Guildhall School of Music and Drama - Milton Court

Nina Šenk, laureate of the Erste Bank Composition Award 2024, is considered a key representative of Slovenia's up-and-coming international music scene. In her works, the 1982 born composer expands the possibilities of different soundscapes, questions the traditional structures of sound formations and creates a variety of harmonic timbres.

Following the world premiere of her opera Canvas as part of the Johann Joseph Fux Competition for Opera Composition 2023, Klangforum Wien is now collaborating with Nina Šenk again and will premiere her award winning piece November Night (2024) at Wien Modern 2024 on 21 November 2024 as part of the Erste Bank Composition Award, which is being presented for the 35th time this year.

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Erste Bank Composition Award: Nina Šenk

Wiener Konzerthaus

The Tower of Babel is a programme dedicated to recent works by composers from the region of the former Soviet Union. First performed at the Wiener Konzerthaus and Radialsystem Berlin in 2023, Klangforum Wien returns to Berlin with novel discoveries, putting new compositions from Central Asia into the spotlight.

This edition of the programme maps the new musical landscapes of today's post-Soviet societies, highlighting artistically uncompromising voices from Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine with due matter-of-factness.

VOICES Festival: The Tower of Babel

St. Elisabeth Church, Berlin

Thornton Edge, Thornton’s new music ensemble led by faculty member Donald Crockett, presents an evening of recent works by Lithuanian composers in celebration of the 700th anniversary of the founding of Vilnius.

California Festival: Thornton Edge

University of Southern California

Thornton Edge presents an evening of recent works by Lithuanian composers in celebration of the 700th anniversary of the founding of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.

Justė Janulytė

Events

Past events

Feb 7, 2026

Desert Music · Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

Feb 23, 2025

Total Immersion: Symphonic Electronics - Iridescence · BBC Symphony Orchestra

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