The opening concert of the Marijampolė Music Park Festival will be truly spectacular! The Poetry Park will feature music ranging from the music of tango revolutionary Astor Piazzola in jazz style, original compositions by Kęstutis Vaiginis to the most famous jazz greats - John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancook, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington - jazz standards arranged for saxophone and string quartet. Poetry Park 
CHURCH MUSIC | Jazz Portraits
Kęstutis Vaiginis (saxophones, compositions)
Mettis String Quartet
Kostas Tumosa (violin)
Bernardas Petrauskas (violin)
Tomas Petrikis (viola)
Rokas Vaitkevičius (cello)
Classical music performers - Mettis Quartet and saxophonist, In the opinion of Kęstutis Vaiginis, a jazz performer and composer, the essence of music cannot be squeezed into the frames of different genres - music, like life, is multifaceted. The performers have presented their programme in the most famous concert halls not only in Lithuania but also abroad, such as the Word Music Panama Festival (Panama), the Nine Gates Jazz Festival in Beijing, and the Changchun Jazz Festival (China). The programme will feature original compositions by Kęstutis Vaiginis, arranged for string quartet, as well as works for string quartet and saxophone arranged by the most famous jazz legends and greats, such as Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, and other leading composers and performers. The evening's intimate programme will also include the music of Astor Piazzolla, complemented by the colours of the Argentine tango and jazz improvisations. We will enjoy not only Chick Corea's "Spain" or the arrangement of the oriental melody "Misirlou" (from the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction"), whose version was created by the French string quartet Quatuor Ébène, but also ballads by John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter.
Kestutis Vaiginis is one of the most prolific jazz performers in Lithuania. An ambitious saxophonist who has played with top US jazz musicians such as Alex Sipiagin, Dave Kikoski, David Berkman and others, he is the inspiration and leader of many international projects. He has appeared as a bandleader and guest artist with various ensembles at the Nord Sea Jazz, Rotterdam, London, Ottawa, Cape Town, Tokyo, London, Istanbul, Hong Kong and other prestigious jazz festivals, and has toured the continents of Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa.
Lithuania tours Lithuania every year with guest artists from the United States and the finest jazz musicians in Europe. He collaborates with ensembles ranging from chamber symphony orchestras to big bands on solo programmes. 
Kęstučius Vaiginis was awarded the Europamusicale Prize by the European Foundation for Culture, which is given to a European musician each year. He has previously won numerous national and international competitions, and was awarded the Grand Prix of the Birštonas Jazz Festival (2010). His past and present collaborators include Barbara Dennerlein, Hernan Romero, Alex Sipiagin, Boris Kozlov, David Kikoski, Donald Edward, JD Walter, Ed Howard, Adam Cruz, Randal Corsen, Joonas Haavisto, David Allan, Denis Pashkevich, and the most famous musicians of Indonesia, Korea, Italy and Lithuania. His discography includes four albums, and his compositions have been included in several collections of Lithuanian music. "His vision is subtle and provocative, stemming from a respect for tradition, but always looking forward" - this is how the renowned American saxophonist Steve Wilson described Kęstutis's album Unexpected Choices, recorded with renowned New York musicians.
2022 Kęstutis Vaiginis performed at the Blue Note, the most prestigious jazz club in New York, where he performed with his jazz quartet members David Kikoski (piano), Boris Kozlov (double bass), Donald Edwards (percussion).

The string quartet Mettis was formed in 2012 in Vilnius. All members of the quartet are graduates of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and later studied at the ECMA (European Chamber Music Academy). The ensemble has quickly gained recognition, as evidenced by its achievements: in 2016, it won second place and a special prize at the 8th International Bordeaux String Quartet Competition in France, as well as the title of winners of the 9th International V.E. Rimbotti Quartet Competition in Italy in the same year. "Mettis has performed at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall (London), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Laeiszhalle (Hamburg), Washington Gallery of Arts (Washington, USA), Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon), Tel Aviv Museum of Art, YMCA (Jerusalem), Hotel des Invalides (Paris), and festivals: Montpellier Radio France, Aix-en-Provence, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Shanghai International Arts, Luberon, Vilnius and many others. Since 2017, the Mettis Quartet has given more than 100 concerts not only in various European countries, but also in China, Israel, Panama, USA and Canada. In 2015, the debut CD was released, featuring works by Beethoven and Shostakovich for string quartet. In 2018 and 2019, the quartet actively collaborated with Lithuanian pianist Mūza Rubackyte. A concert recording of Liszt's Malediction has been released on the CD "Great Lithuanian live recordings" by the Swiss label DORON. At the end of 2019, the French label Ligia released a CD of piano quintets by M Weinberg and D Shostakovich. The Quartet's immediate plans include a new CD dedicated to the year of L. van Beethoven.