Vytautas Germanavičius (b. 1969) is a Lithuanian composer who studied in Vilnius, Dartington, San Francisco, and Helsinki. He holds a DMA in composition from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (2022), and an MFA in electronic music from Mills College (2005, Fulbright Scholarship, USA).
Vytautas recently defended his doctoral thesis on the interval relations in Lithuanian folk songs and instrumental music. The study identified the typical/frequently repeated micro-intervals, or tones corresponding to harmonics and microtonal harmonics of the natural harmonic scale. The ongoing study was to integrate the results into a compositional system that would preserve or transform the original sonority of the archaic sutartinė scales. Consequently, a variety of integration techniques were used to develop the scale for each musical composition as a result of the overall compositional system. His research articles on Lithuanian folk tunes were presented in scientific journals “Lietuvos muzikologija Nr. 22” (LMTA), “Mikrotöne: Small is Beautiful”(Mackingerverlag, Austria, 2023), www.academia.edu
He was granted an annual Scholarship for his study results from the Research Council of Lithuania (2022). Vytautas Germanavičius' postdoc project (2024-2026) has won EU support from the Lithuanian Research Council and is currently being implemented at Kaunas University of Technology.
A notable variety of influences – new romanticism, minimalism, and microtonality is considered as a special feature of Germanavicius' music. The composer uses various means of musical expression, with particular attention to the timbral spectrum of sound.
In 2016, Vytautas was awarded the prize for the best composition of the year for bass saxophone and orchestra 'Underwater Geometry' at the annual competition of the Lithuanian Composers' Union.
Vytautas was a recipient of the UNESCO-Aschberg Bursary for Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada, 2000), he was a resident at the Visby International Composers Centre (Sweden, 2001), the Nida Arts Colony (2016), and the Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, 2019).
The composer's music has been performed by prominent orchestras, ensembles and soloists in many international contemporary music festivals throughout Europe, North America and Asia – ISCM World New Music Days (Vancouver, Vilnius, Stuttgart, Zagreb, Hong Kong, Yokohama); Gaudeamus Music Week; Vancouver New Music; Other-Minds (USA); Est-Ouest (France); Italian Composers Forum; L’art pour L’Aar (Switzerland); Foro International De Musica Nueva (Mexico); European Lead Forum (Berlin); Musicacoustica (Beijing); Asia-Europe (Vietnam); Gaida; Thomas Mann festival, MikroFest Vilnius 2021 among others. Germanavicius' music has been commissioned by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Lithuanian Philharmonic Society, Festivals of contemporary music, and performing ensembles in Lithuania and abroad.