Kulgrinda - is a secret, stone-hewn path under water, through a swamp or lake, a secret path into a castle. Kulgrinda is also considered to be a sacral path - a path of initiation.

The ritual folk group Kulgrinda first came together in 1990, at the time of Lithuanian national rebirth. The founders - Inia and Jonas Trinkunas remain the leaders of this group. In 1997, Jonas Trinkunas has received the national J. Basanavičius award for the fostering of traditional Lithuanian culture. During the Soviet period, he was one of the main participants of the Ramuva cultural movement, as well as one of the founders of the Vilnius University Ramuva folk culture movement. He is the author and editor of the book "Of Gods and Holidays, The Baltic heritage", Vilnius, 1999. He works at the Lithuanian Institute for Social Sciences, and is a member of the Council for the preservation of ethnic culture to the Lithuanian Parliament. He has experience of directing various folk ensembles - the Žiūrai village ensemble (which has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary), the Sadauja ensemble, the Vilnius Institute of Art ensemble, and others.

The sound of young voices saturates Kulgrinda. Most of the members of the group are girls and boys between 17 and 25 years of age, wearing clothes of the 10-12 century Lithuania, as reconstructed form archeological finds, common features are - brass jewelry, sashes woven with traditional symbols.

Kulgrinda performs wedding, christening and other family and calendar holiday ceremonies according to Lithuanian tradition. The ceremonies are usually performed in Vilnius, on the Duke Gediminas burial hill, in the Verkiai park by the Lizdeika altar, in Kernavė, and on other castle-mounds and sacral hills, in nature and indoors. Kulgrinda is invited to various national ceremonies in Vilnius and in other cities. As Kulgrinda specializes in traditional rituals and ceremonies, it has participated in state events. Notable is the group's participation in consecrating the Lithuanian President's flag in 1993.

When selecting its repertoire, the Kulgrinda ritual folk group orients itself towards the most archaic layer in folklore, dating back to middle ages and beyond, to the heritage of ancient Europe. The repertoire consists mostly of sutartinės, songs characteristic of round polyphony - with singing, dancing and instrumental accompaniment of playing of zither, drums, panpipes and violin.

Kulgrinda performs the Rite of Fire - the fire is lit and honored with songs, dances, etc.. The rite of fire is performed when starting big events, holidays, festivals, consecrations of flags and the like. The rite of fire has been presented at the Viking and archeology festival in Poland, in Germany, at the Arcana Europa festival in Segobriga, Spain, at the "Days of living archeology" festival in Kernavė, Trakai and in Palūšė. In 2001, the annual Vilnius folklore festival "Skamba skamba kankliai" was opened with this ritual, as well as other events. The rite of fire has been rendred on in audio recording (see below). The newest propgram prepared by Kulgrinda is the Songs of Perkunas (the Thunderer) - performed at the Menuo Juodaragis ("Balck-horned Moon") neo-folk and avant-garde festival in Sudeikiai, 2001. This program will be the basis for the next Kūlgrinda album.

Discography:

1994, MC "Old Lithuanian secret path":

2001, "Žalvarinis" project with the heavy metal band "Ugnėlakis":

2002, CD and MC "Rite of Fire":

2003, CD "Perkūno giesmės", Dangus Records:

2003, CD "Sotvaras" project with Donis, Dangus Records:

2005, CD "Prussian Chants", Aurea studio:

You can order all of these albums directly from Kūlgrinda.

Kulgrinda has a new, modern outlook on folklore, continuing the old traditions and adapting them to our everyday lives in the modern world. With an original sound and youthful enthusiasm, the ensemble has the power to convey the beauty of Lithuanian folklore to a non-folklore inclined audience, while maintaining the authenticity of the Lithuanian folk song. Apart from traditional family and calendar holidays, Kulgrinda also performs at neo-folk, rock and avant-garde concerts, bringing in the spirit of Lithuanian tradition, reaching out and touching countless people with the power of the Lithuanian folk song.

Kūlgrinda performs the Rite of Fire upon request at concerts, festivals, schools, etc.. You can invite Kūlgrinda to participate in your event. Also, if you would like Kūlgrinda to perform traditional rites at your wedding, christening (name-giving), or help escort a close one to the other side with appropriate songs or chants, contact:

KŪLGRINDA

A.Vivulskio 27-4

Vilnius 2009

Lithuania

Inia and Jonas Trinkūnas

tel.: +370-5-2162966

email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sutaras Folk Music Band

The Lithuanian Folk Music Band Sutaras is an independent, professional folklore group. You will find the whole range of Lithuanian instrumental folk music in its repertoire: from old rituals, to authentic shepherds' instruments dating to the end of the 19th Century, to the international and classical instruments that became increasingly more common in the villages of Lithuania by the beginning if the 20th Century. During a Sutaras concert you might hear a unique polyphonic sutartine (round) performed on daudytes (wooden horns), rageliai (horns), or skudučai (pan pipes). Or you might hear instrumental versions of songs or maybe even shepherd singing called raliavimas, which is performed with lumzdeliai (recorders) or rageliai (horns). Lively Lithuanian folk dances are played with violins, accordions, clarinets, cymbals, and a number of other instruments. The Band's musicians do not evade experimentation and constantly search for ways to catch the interest to their audience while showing off the unique nature of Lithuanian folk art. You will sense traditional village music coupled with the precision characteristic of professional musicians when you listen to the music of Sutaras. The artists do not only play instruments - they also sing, dance and often draw their audience into the whirlwind of their performances. Every musician is adept at playing several different instruments, which allows the Band to be very diverse and to express the characteristic instrumental composition of Lithuania's different regions. During the 17 years of existence, the Folk Music Band Sutaras has participated in over 4,500 performances, which ranged from concerts, dances, and television and radio programs to performances at festivals, exhibitions, and other festivities. The music of Sutaras has resounded in many Lithuanian cities and villages. Sutaras has often performed for the patron of Vilnius' Stikliai pub as well as the restaurant Bočiai. Thousands applauded Sutaras at the 1991 PORTA festival in the Czech Republic, at the well-known Skagen festival of Denmark in 1992 and again in 1995, at Rudolstat, Germany in 1994, and at Mistelbach, Austria in 1995. The citizens of Washington, DC swirled in the waves of dancers while Sutaras played at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998, as did the onlookers in Queensland, Australia during the 1998 Woodford Folk Festival. The kings of Malaysia and Spain have heard the bellowing of LIthuanian instruments. Scores of people attended the performances of Sutaras at Expo 1998 in Lisabon and at the 2000 Expo in Hanover. Lithuanian melodies were heard live over the radio (during two-hour performances) by the citizens of the Netherlands, Australia, and by listeners of Euroradio, among others. Fans of Sutaras exist in many countries of the world and you will find Sutaras recordings in many prominent radio stations. The creative laboratory of Sutaras started on December 30, 1988, during its first performance for the staff of the Vilnius Central Department Store, and it has extended to far-off Australia, where on the precise date of the group's 10 year anniversary Sutaras performed on Australia's largest Woodford Folk Festival's Folkloric stage. This long road has continued through the various events of the reinstatement of Lithuanian independence, where Sutaras represented Lithuania during the most important national holidays in the highest-ranking gatherings. Many musicians have played in the group over these years. For some this was an apprenticeship - a chance to work on their art and gain experience. Others were our teachers. This road has not been easy, full of searching, loss, and triumphs. However, this has been OUR journey and we are proud of having traveled this distance to receive the highest honor: the attention and applause of our audience. It is very symbolic that Sutaras' 10th anniversary performance happened half-way arround the globe in Australia. This shows Sutaras' wide scope in making the sound of Lithuanian traditional musical culture famous.

More info: www.sutaras.lt