Balta tamsa - new album released

On the evening of September 3, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, part of Vilnius’s Missionary Monastery Ensemble and only rarely open to visitors, was opened to the public. For the first time, the music album of the interdisciplinary art project White Darkness was presented live here. The album was created by composer Dominykas Digimas and performed by violinist Lora Kmieliauskaitė.

“We decided to present the music where it was inspired, first performed and recorded – together with all the sounds of the place and the city,” says project initiator Rėda Brandišauskienė.

The music was created and recorded within the Missionary Ensemble in response to the church’s architecture, its acoustics and the surrounding soundscape. On the evening of September 3, it returned to the same space – performed live and without additional amplification, allowing listeners to experience the church’s natural acoustics.

White Darkness began with an artistic research project by Rėda Brandišauskienė and a fog installation created on the Hill of the Saviour in 2025. The project reflects on the changing landscape of Vilnius Old Town, cultural memory, and our relationship with the city’s spaces.

“The surroundings of the Missionary Ensemble are particularly striking, but they are just one of the city’s scars, bearing witness to the way cultural heritage and oblivion collide and intertwine in Vilnius, as do centuries-old values and the thirst for new beginnings,” says R. Brandišauskienė.

The project’s musical component was created by composer Dominykas Digimas. “In the garden, insects hum beside the flowerbeds; if you listen closely, you can also hear the Vilnelė River flowing at the foot of the hill. (...) I wanted to allow the place itself to become part of the music,” the composer says.

The album’s music is performed by violinist and Doctor of Arts Lora Kmieliauskaitė. In the project, the sound of her violin becomes a link between the history embedded in the Baroque architecture and the city of today. Performers Monika Kiknadzė and Anna Luiza Aleksandrow-Bertash also appeared at the launch concert.

The digital album White Darkness was released on September 3. In mid-September, the album will also be released on vinyl and will be available for purchase through Music Lithuania or Bandcamp.

2026 September 3