Atzalynas.ca

Many years ago, a number of Atzalynas dancers came together and created a musical ensemble to accompany the dances, as everyone knows live music is no comparison to pre-rocorded music! This ensemble travelled with Atzalynas in its early days to the Vancouver “Expo ‘86”, to Lithuania and elsewhere. However, over time the ensemble took a hiatus as its members become involved in other activities.

In 2008, Andrew Vaiciunas from the original music ensemble and Rimantas Budrys a current dancer (two musically talented individuals!) felt it was important to bring back the music accompaniment that once was. They called together a number of musicians from the community and another music group “Suduva”, performing for the first time in the 2008 fall concert “Karciama”. Though at first there were only about 7 musicians, the group, named “Judre” has now expanded to a contigent of about 20 musicians with whom this ensemble can work with, depending on the requirements of the program. Each musician has great mastery of their instrument, many have a deep musical background and have participated in a variety of shows and festivals in Canada and across the globe. “Judre” is also able to bring more modern musical elements to the traditional folk music.

The official “Judre” showcase performance was June 2009, during the an outdoor “Jonines” festival (a traditional celebration of the summer solstice), in which it played and also provided live music to the Atzalynas dancers in a open field under the sun.

The name “Judre” derives from the upbeat, joyful demeanor and youthful energy that the musicians feel and bring forth with their performances!

“Judre” is set out to strengthen and build this musical ensemble, having acquired studio space to not only rehearse but also record music. We welcome all interested musicians, singers, audio technicians, etc. that wish to participate in the upholding of Lithuanian music, culture and art to join our group!