Lina Rovaitė – vocals
Leonardas Bėkša – keys
Mindaugas Apulskis – sax

Event is free of charge

Cozy Sunday afternoon concerts at the Kaunas Synagogue are a long-standing Kaunas Jazz tradition, offering locals and visitors the chance to discover Lithuanian and international musical talent, symbolically step into the final day of the main festival weekend, and share their accumulated impressions in a more intimate setting.

Both jazz veterans and emerging musicians, Lithuanians and notable guests from abroad, have performed in this space. From experimental to traditional jazz, and even music with folk motifs, the festival archive shows that the Sunday concerts consistently become a vivid, music-loving highlight of Kaunas Jazz.

This year, the unconventional stage has been entrusted to Lina Rovaitė—a jazz singer and educator from Kaunas who boldly blends different musical worlds in her work.

Her musical spectrum is wide-ranging, spanning from traditional jazz to improvisational music. Lina’s various experiences converge into a coherent, subtle musical language that avoids rigid stylistic boundaries. As the singer herself explains, the most important things for her are sound and its exploration, sensitivity, depth of thought, and an authentic connection with the audience.

As a soloist and participant in various projects, Lina has performed on many Lithuanian popular music stages, in Improdimensijos projects, and at the international Tudengijazz festival in Estonia.

The project Hometown Melodies, in which Lina performs with two well-known Lithuanian jazz musicians, was born from a desire to reconnect with herself through music—to reflect on personal experiences and transform them into a shared, immersive journey for the listener.

Lina’s partners in this project are Leonardas Bėkša (piano) and Mindaugas Apulskis (saxophone), whose own compositions will also enrich the concert program.

Pianist, composer, and arranger Leonardas Bėkša is already well known to the Kaunas Jazz audience, having performed at the festival with various musicians and projects. Navigating freely between genres and styles, he performs classical and contemporary music, and as a jazz trumpeter and pianist, has collaborated with Petras and Dominykas Vyšniauskas, Vytautas Labutis, Neda Malūnavičiūtė, Eugenijus Kanevičius, Danielius Praspaliauskis, Tomas Botyrius, and other renowned Lithuanian jazz artists. He has also worked with international musicians including Bo Stief (Denmark), Gene Perla (USA), Herbie Kopf (Switzerland), Jeff Cascaro (Germany), Francesco Guaiana (Italy), and Tom Rudzinski (Latvia).

Mindaugas Apulskis is a saxophonist, composer, and educator who performs with the Klaipėda Jazz Orchestra, Vilnius JJAZZ Ensemble, the Šiauliai Big Band, and other ensembles across Lithuania. His music blends the colors of traditional jazz with the dynamism of avant-garde, showcasing the freedom of improvisation and a distinctive artistic voice.

The program we will hear on Sunday at Kaunas Jazz features original compositions expressing familiar emotions, doubts, searches, and inner transformations. It is conceptual music where free improvisation, jazz elements, and subtle emotional tones intertwine.

Under the vaulted ceilings of the Kaunas Synagogue, an open and vibrant musical experience awaits, inviting listeners not just to hear but to feel.