When two cities share a soul, they find ways to let it sing. This May, a piece of Lithuania arrives in Madison and you don't want to miss it.
As president of Madison Vilnius Sister Cities, I have the privilege of being part of the organizing committee for the MVSC Annual Banquet and I am genuinely proud of this year’s program. Planning an evening like this takes months of work, and the moment we confirmed CinAmono Duo as our guest performers from Vilnius, I knew we had something truly special on our hands. May 2nd is an evening I believe every member of our community deserves to experience.
"Theatrical atmosphere and slightly magic, ceremonial, involving music."
— Press description of CinAmono Duo
Meet the Performers
CinAmono was born in Vilnius in the autumn of 2013, the creative vision of two artists who also happen to be life partners: vocalist Laura Budreckytė and double bassist Vytis Nivinskas. Over more than a decade, they have built something rare in contemporary jazz — a sound so distinctly their own that it resists easy categorization, landing somewhere between poetry, theatre, and improvisation.
Laura Budreckytė
Vocalist & Composer
Laura grew up in Birštonas, a town Lithuanians affectionately call the jazz mecca of Lithuania. It shows. Her voice carries the confidence of someone who has been singing competitively since childhood, winning national vocal contests before earning her degree in jazz voice at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has studied under masters including Bobby McFerrin, and in 2012 she won the international vocal competition Jazz Voices in Klaipėda. A year later she claimed the Grand Prix at the prestigious Riga Jazz Stage, an honor that opened doors to major European festival stages including Pori Jazz in Finland. Beyond performing, Laura is also a certified music therapist, a radio host on Lithuanian national radio, and the founder of a school of vocology. She is, in other words, a complete artist.
Vytis Nivinskas
Double Bassist, Composer & Doctor of Arts
Vytis once studied philosophy at Vilnius University before jazz intervened and changed the course of his life. He has since earned a master's degree from DePaul University in Chicago, a PhD from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and is currently a Baltic American Freedom Foundation visiting scholar at UC San Diego, researching innovative double bass techniques in solo improvisation. He has performed in over twenty countries, spent formative years on the Chicago and New York jazz scenes, and has served on the board of the Lithuanian Jazz Federation. He is an associate professor, a sought-after collaborator, and — when he picks up that double bass — something close to a conjurer.
Their latest album, CinAmono Duo (2024), is dedicated to the beauty of the archaic Lithuanian language, drawing on the poetry of seven Lithuanian poets set to original music for voice and bass alone. It is intimate and expansive at once — minimalist in instrumentation, vast in emotional reach. The duo has been featured several times in the Lithuanian Jazz Federation's Jazz from Lithuania collection. Critics describe their performances as combining "vibrant forms, special melodies, and broad spaces for improvisation" with each performance unfolding like a conversation between two deeply attuned minds.
“Good poetry that requires an exclusive sonic approach often becomes the pivot of their joint creative work”
Watching CinAmono live is reportedly a different experience than listening to a recording. The theatricality of their presence, the intimacy of two people communicating through a language of jazz and Lithuanian verse — audiences describe leaving their performances feeling as though they witnessed something they cannot quite name. That is, I think, the mark of art that genuinely matters.
The Full Evening
The performance is embedded in what promises to be a genuinely lovely event from start to finish. The Madison Club, one of the most elegant settings in the city, is the backdrop for an evening that moves from terrace cocktails to a three-course dinner to live music and dancing until 11 PM.
Cocktails & conversation on the Madison Club Terrace
MVSC Membership Business Meeting & Board Election
Three-course dinner, including šaltibarščiai (cold beet soup, a Lithuanian classic)
Live performance by CinAmono Duo
Lottery
Dancing
The dinner alone is worth noting: cold beet soup on a May evening at the Madison Club, as part of an evening honoring a sister city relationship that stretches across the Atlantic. There is something poetic about it that I appreciate. The vegetarian option is a dish for mushroom lovers, another Lithuanian attribute.
Event Details
Date: Saturday, May 2, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM, Doors open at 4:30 PM
Location: The Madison Club, 5 E Wilson St, Madison
Tickets: $95 / adult
Discounts: $65 for students and seniors, $30 children
Bring 3 or more friends and save 5%, use code GROUP5 at checkout
IMPORTANT: $30 of each adult ticket is tax-deductible and funds operations of the MVSC.
Why This One Matters
Madison and Vilnius have been sister cities since 1989. That relationship sustained across decades, across geopolitical shifts, across other changes is a quiet testament to the power of cultural connection. Events like this banquet are how that relationship stays alive and meaningful, not just as an entry on a government form somewhere, but as a genuine, felt bond between communities.
Bringing CinAmono Duo from Vilnius to Madison is not a small thing. It is an act of hospitality in both directions: toward the artists who travel here to share something precious, and toward an audience that deserves to experience music this beautiful. The MVSC Board has worked to keep tickets accessible even as costs have risen.
Go. Bring a friend. Sit with the music. Let the Lithuanian language wash over you even if — or especially if — you don't understand a word. That, too, is part of the experience.
“If we can speak, we can sing”
We will see you on the terrace.
