composer

Composer and cellist Arvydas Malcys was born in Kaunas in 1957. Malcys graduated from Juozas Gruodis Conservatoire in 1975. He graduated twice from the Lithuanian Academy of Music, receiving diplomas both in cello playing (under Prof. Domas Svirskis) in 1980, and composition (under Prof. Vytautas Laurušas) in 1989.
The works by Malcys have been showcased at the international festivals Ghent Contemporary Music Festival (Belgium), Ravenna Festival (Italy), International Review of Composers in Belgrade (Serbia), ISCM World Music Days in Ljubljana (Slovenia), Sinfonia Baltica in Riga (Latvia), Kremlin Christmas Music Festival, Moscow Autumn, Perspectives Festival in Yerevan (Armenia), Contemporary Music Festival Europe-Asia in Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia), Kiev Music Fest, Kiev Gogolfest and Two Days and Two Nights of New Music in Odessa (Ukraine), Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus (Austria), Euro-Mediterranean Music Expo (Cyprus), Schleswig-Holstein Festival (Germany), Silk Road Arts Festival in Xi‘an (China), Echternach Music Festival (Luxembourg), as well as music festivals in Ankara, Seoul, Berlin, Leipzig, Rotterdam, Haifa and Costa Rica. His works were performed in over thirty countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America, including the most prestigious concert halls - from New York‘s Carnegie Hall to Moscow‘s Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Hall and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, from the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris to the Shanghai Symphony Hall.
The composer is a winner of a number of international competitions. In 2004, he was awarded 3rd prize for the symphonic composition Only Heaven Above Us at the Sinfonia Baltica International Composers’ Competition in Riga; in 2005 – 1st prize for the Concerto for piano and chamber orchestra at the Juozas Karosas Composers’ Competition; in 2006 – the Conductor’s Prize for the composition In
memoriam for string orchestra at the composers’ competition “Mozart 250” in Moscow; in 2008 – 1st prize for the composition Saxchord for tenor saxophone and string quartet at the Juozas Karosas Composers’ Competition. Two of his opuses have earned a remarkable recognition: in 2007 his Cantus sirenum was selected as a recommended piece for the Competition in the Haifa International Flute Festival, and in 2009 his Narcissus was included in the obligatory program at the Max Rostal Viola Competition in Berlin.
Twenty CDs featuring Malcys works and thirteen portrait CDs have been released to date. The composer was also awarded the Government of the Republic of Lithuania Prize for significant works in Lithuanian culture and art. Instrumental music makes up the most significant part of Malcys’ creative output. In a number of his works for various instrumental settings, the tendencies of pure music fit well with nearly expressionistic imagery and sound poetry reminiscent of the impressionism; a feel for neoclassical forms with aleatorics and a penchant for colourful textures and specific sound effects. Having a discriminating ear, he takes special interest in timbre possibilities of different instruments in various registers of their range. Well familiar with peculiarities of instruments, especially strings, Malcys manipulates manifold expressional possibilities of individual instruments and their combinations, and thereby shapes them to serve as strongly-flavoured personifications, well-nigh “theatrical” characters. His music is permeated with contrast, grotesque and irony.

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