About the event - Trakų fanfarinė savaitė

„Trakai Fanfare Week“

Project description: „Trakai Fanfare Week“ (the music courses and the music festival ) – is an artistic educational project which next year will take place in Trakai for the 21st time. The numbers of participants and spectators keep on growing together with the positive feedback from Lithuania and abroad.

Brief History
On August 29–31, 2003, we organized the international wind orchestra festival “We Greet Trakai”, which brought together orchestras from Lithuania, Germany, and Slovakia. Although the event left wonderful impressions and received excellent feedback, we realized that there were already many similar festivals in Lithuania. We wanted something distinctive, with a long-term impact on the project participants.

The idea was born to organize masterclasses alongside the festival for wind players, later for fanfare orchestra musicians, then for percussionists, and eventually professional development courses for specialists in the fields of education and culture. We found opportunities to attract top-level professionals: lecturers, soloists, and artistic ensembles. We explored various concert venues and expanded the diversity of genres. We decided to promote Lithuanian music by commissioning works from Lithuanian composers specifically for international fanfare orchestra. We extended the project’s duration to 7–8 days. In 2005, “Trakai Fanfare Week”was launched in the form we had envisioned.

Between 2005 and 2025, the project hosted 2,270 participants from Lithuania and abroad (Estonia, Latvia, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Slovenia, Colombia, Taiwan, France, Germany, Argentina, Norway, Belgium, Italy, and Japan). A total of 166 free concerts by professional performers and talented young musicians took place. The project engaged 135 lecturers — renowned specialists and performers in their fields, some of whom returned multiple times.

Instrument exhibitions were held by the Austrian mouthpiece manufacturer Breslmair and by Buffet Crampon, the world-renowned manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments representing prestigious brands. A photo album titled “We Greet Trakai” was published. Approximately 59,000 audience members attended the concerts.

Lithuanian professionals have recognized the project as a priority event within its genre, while international experts have described it as unique. In 2014, the website The Culture Trip, which highlights the best cultural events worldwide, listed ten cultural events in Lithuania that foreign visitors should not miss during the summer. One of them was the international music festival “Trakai Fanfare Week.”

Lecturers/Soloists Who Have Participated in the Project
Conductors: Bert Langeler (the Netherlands), Luc Vertommen (Belgium).
Saxophones: Liudas Mockūnas (Lithuania), Linda Arnoldus (the Netherlands), Johan van der Linden (the Netherlands), Jan Maksimovič (Lithuania), Vytautas Labutis (Lithuania), Liutauras Janušaitis(Lithuania), Rusnė Mikiškaitė (Lithuania), Liutauras Janušaitis (Lithuania), Kęstutis Vaiginis (Lithuania), Nathaniel Facey (Great Britain), Karolis Šarkus (Lithuania).
Horns: Jukka Harju (Finland), Annamia Larsson (Sweden),  Martin Schöpfer (Austria),  Manolo Pérez (Spain), René Pagen (Netherlands), Miklós Nagy (Hungary), Indrė Kuleševičienė (Lithuania), Natalie Brooke Higgins (USA), Frøydis Ree Wekre (Norway), Stefano Berluti (Italy).
Trumpets: Tomas Gricius (Finland), Frits Damrow (the Netherlands), Aki Välimäki (Finland), James Stretton (Great Britain), Wim Van Hasselt (Belgium), Per Ivarsson (Sweden), Valerijus Ramoška (Lithuania), Laurynas Lapė (Lithuania), Urban Agnas (Sweden), Tom Poulson (Great Britain), Max Sommerhalder (Switzerland), Carlos Benetó (Spain), Juanjo Serna (Spain), Klaus Bräker (Germany), Gabriele Cassone (Italy), Dominique Bodart (Belgium), Támas Palfalvi (Hungary), Dovas Lietuvninkas (USA), Miroslav Petkov (Bulgaria), James Thompson (USA), Adam Rapa (USA), Jonas Šilinskas (Lithuania), Jens Lindemann (Canada), Huw Morgan (Great Britain), Aretas Baranauskas (Lithuania), Uwe Köller (Germany), Andre Schoch (Germany), Eric Aubier (France).
Trombones:Marius Balčytis (Lithuania), Vygantas Šilinskas (Lithuania), Tobias Schiessler (Germany), Lars Ragnar Karlin (Sweden), Jonas Bylund (Sweden), Frederic Belli (Germany), Indalecio Bonet (Spain), Brandt Attema (Netherlands), Niels-Ole Bo Johansen (Denmark, Sebastiaan Kemner (Netherlands) Attila Sztán (Hungary), Peter Moore (Great Britain), Matyas Veer (Hungary), Ian Bousfield (Great Britain), Kris Garfitt (Great Britain), Miguel Garsia Casas (Spain), Uwe Füssel (Germany), Jievaras Jasinskis (Lithuania), Fritz Winter (Germany), Sándor Szabo (Hungary).
Euphonium: Steven Mead (Great Britain), Glenn Van Looy (Belgium), Bastien Baumet (France).
Tubas: Laimonas Masevičius (Lithuania), Sami Al Fakir (Sweden), Sergio Finca (Spain), Roland Szentpali (Hungary), Giedrius Steponaitis (Lithuania), József Bazsinka Jr. (Hungary), Sergijus Kirsenka (Lithuania), Stefan Ambrosius (Germany), Andreas Martin Hofmeir (Germany).
Percussions:Bo Håkanson (Sweden), Peter Vulperhorst (the Netherlands), Tomas Kulikauskas (Lithuania), Arūnas Banys (Lithuania), Mariusz Mocarski (Poland), Marijus Aleksa (Lithuania), Gediminas Mačiulskis (Lithuania), Antti Ohenoja (Finland).
jazz pianist Dmitrij Golovanov (Lithuania).
bass guitar Domas Aleksa (Lithuania).

The guests of the festival include such renowned ensembles as the Netherlands National Fanfare Youth Orchestra, Rivierenland Fanfare Orchestra (the Netherlands), “Kybartai” Orchestra (Lithuania), “Baroque Tallinn (Estonia), SoundInnBrass(Austria), Passborg ‘ Odessa 4‘ (Denmark), “Jugendkapelle der Stadt Aalen” (Germany), „Camerata Klaipėda“, „Vilnius Brass“, Sostinės Vario Quintet“, “Čiurlionis Quartet”, „Protuberus Brass“, ”Giunter Percussion” , „Traffic Quartet“, “Trombone Unit Hanover”(Germany), Liudas Mockūnas and Petras Geniušas (Lithuania), “Stockholm Chamber Brass”(Sweden), “A4 Brass Quartet”(Great Britain), “Morganfreeman”(Germany), “Made in 234” (Lithuania), “Spanish Brass”(Spain), “Brasspalvos” (Lithuania), “Amber Brass”(Lithuania), “CinAmono”(Lithuania), „Brasspalvos“ (Lithuania), „Purpura Pansa“ (Spain), „Philbrass“ (Lithuania), „Duo AttemaHaring“ (Netherlands), „Opera Brass“ (Lithuania), „Septura Brass“ (Great Britain), Budapest Festival Horn Quartet (Hungary), Miroslav Petkov and Bodurov trio (Bulgaria), Kestutis Vaiginis Quartet (Lithuania/Latvia), „Bruckner Quartet“ (Netherlands), „In Medias Brass“ (Hungary), Karlsruhe Trombone Quartet (Germany), „Vilnius JJAZZ Ensemble“, „German Brass“ (Germany), Augustinas Ališauskas (Lithuania), WARD no.4 (Lithuania), Gergely Lukács (Hungary), G. Stepanavičius Jazz Quintet (Lithuania).