Spatial audio in Lithuania – loudspeaker installations and concerts 2013–2026

Since I came to Vilnius as an ERASMUS student in 2012, I have set up loudspeaker domes and spatial audio systems in all kinds of places in Lithuania – from a historic observatory to the National Philharmonic Hall. A look back, from my talk at Raum und Klang 2026.

2013 – a sphere for the music academy

During my ERASMUS year at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA), the plan for the new Music Innovation Studies Centre was already there: EU funding for a spatial audio and recording room – the sphere – plus a mixing room, a lecture room and a co-working space. Building it took some time.

Room at the music academy before the conversion — The room before

Scaffolding during construction — Construction

Plan of the loudspeaker layout — Loudspeaker plan

November 2013 – ICT 2013 and the observatory

While waiting for the room at the academy to be finished, we used the loudspeakers at the EU’s ICT 2013 conference at Litexpo – where our exhibit won the award for best art exhibit – and for a student concert under the dome of the Vilnius University observatory (concert, the students’ pieces).

Loudspeakers on trusses in the Litexpo hall — ICT 2013, Litexpo

The observatory building in the park — Vilnius University observatory

Inside the observatory dome — Inside the dome

Loudspeaker arrangement in the observatory — Loudspeaker arrangement

May 2014 – the sphere is finished

The loudspeaker installation at the music academy was finished in May 2014 – a 23.2 dome that has been in use ever since.

The finished sphere studio — The sphere at LMTA

The team in front of the new installation — Done!

April 2017 – live electronics workshop, Club Pelėda

Yearly workshops for music students from the Nordic and Baltic countries: ten days of making pieces and performing them. By then I was already working in Germany.

Mixing desk and laptop during the performance

September 2020 & 2021 – Culture Night, Small Theatre of Vilnius

Loudspeakers on stands in the theatre foyer — Setup

Ensemble performing surrounded by loudspeakers — Concert

September 2021 – LMTA main hall

Loudspeakers set up in the academy's main hall

Concert in the dark main hall with projections

November 2022 – permanent installation, Ideas Block gallery

Mounting loudspeakers with a laser level — Installing

The gallery room with loudspeakers — The gallery

December 2022 – Chordos & Sheep Effect, Loftas Vilnius

April 2023 – Sodas 2123, Vilnius

Chairs set up within the loudspeaker array

April 2024 – Live Spaces workshop and spatial improvisation

The Live Spaces workshop at Sodas 2123, with Dirty Deal Audio from Riga, and a spatial improvisation session with Natasha Barrett, Mantautas Krukauskas and Anders Tveit at the Arts Printing House.

Geodesic dome frame with loudspeakers — Live Spaces, Sodas 2123

Audience inside the dome in red light — Live Spaces, Sodas 2123

Black box with loudspeakers at the Arts Printing House — Arts Printing House

Three musicians at a table in spotlights — Spatial improv session

January 2025 – Lithuanian National Philharmonic

A traditional concert hall – and it turns out a bunch of Genelecs and a 15″ DIY home-cinema subwoofer can be sufficient.

Loudspeakers set up in the empty Philharmonic hall — Setup

April 2025 – Live Spaces, Plokštelinė and the new academy campus

Already the second time that Kristaps Pūķītis from Dirty Deal Audio came from Riga with his zip-tie dome and twenty-something Genelecs, this time to the Plokštelinė studio. The same week the academy’s new black box was used for spatial audio.

Zip-tie dome with loudspeakers and audience — Zip-tie dome, Plokštelinė

Loudspeakers in the black box of the new campus — LMTA black box, new campus

Concert in the dark black box with a projection — Concert in the black box

April 2026 – Live Spaces, LMTA film studio

View from above into the film studio with loudspeakers — New campus film studio