About the Performers:

Marius Šinkūnas is a professional vibraphonist, performer, and educator. He developed his unique vibraphone technique and explored the instrument’s solo potential while studying at Western Michigan University (U.S.). Upon returning to Lithuania, he established the first vibraphone class in the Baltic states and has been steadily expanding the instrument’s repertoire. Currently, Marius is a doctoral candidate in education at Vilnius University, researching the history of the vibraphone and its significance in the context of world music. He is a lecturer at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, where he teaches students specializing in percussion instruments. “Dialogues of Silence” is the musician’s first solo album.

Mindaugas Stumbras is a jazz guitarist and composer, a prominent jazz performer of his generation. He actively tours throughout Europe, performs at prestigious festivals (“Siena Jazz,” “Vilnius Mama Jazz,” “Kaunas Jazz,” “Jazz is Back,” and others), and plays with international musical virtuosos. He has released the albums Our Kingdom (2018), Inspirations (2021), and Among the Pines (2023), as well as Stung Out (2025, with Chris Ruebens) and The Spinner of Yarns (2025). His ensembles have won prizes at the Vilnius Jazz Young Power and Kaunas Jazz Competition, and he himself received the Young Artist Award from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture (2022). He is one of the founders of the group Brave Noises.

Arvydas Jankus is a performer on the contrabass and high birbynė who is actively involved in preserving the Lithuanian wind instrument tradition and its modern interpretations. For many years, he has played in Lithuanian birbynė ensembles, including the Vilnius Birbynė Quintet, with which he performs in concerts throughout Lithuania. In his projects, he combines traditional Lithuanian sounds with the aesthetics of contemporary music, opening up new interpretive possibilities for the instrument. In “Dialogues of Silence,” the contrabass birbynė becomes a conceptual symbol of Lithuanian identity—a rare, archaic instrument with a uniquely distinctive timbre.