Rasa Daukas
When I was eight years old, I dreamed of having a pen pal in Australia. During my summer vacation, I traced maps, colored pictures, and dreamed of seeing kangaroos. Three decades later, I finally found my pen pal: Rasa Daukus.
Rasa and I met on Twitter and was one of my first “friends”. Through social media, we followed each other’s careers, but one day she sent me Glistenality and this social- media-pen-pal became a true friend.
The work was inspired by a story her father told her:
“When my dad was a little boy, his family was forced to escape Lithuania from Russian military occupation in WWII. They travelled 1000km on road by horse and wagon, obviously leaving everything behind and only taking as much as they could carry in a few suitcases... During that difficult journey, my dad celebrated his birthday - the gift that his older sister gave him was a star that she made from a potato.”
What I see in that childhood gesture is sweetness, simplicity, an untarnished shine, a little big of magic, something unrestrained. All in a star-shaped potato.
The beauty of this piece and this story is absolutely transformative, which is why I find myself performing it again and again. It is a genuine favorite with audiences.
Through Zoom, Rasa and I were able to connect “face-to-face” even with a 16-hour time difference! New pieces are being sketched and I look forward to performing more of Rasa’s compositions very soon!
Rasa Daukus is an award-winning composer, pianist and sound artist. Her practice explores eclectic approaches to minimalist, postclassical, ambient and soundscape genres, integrating music and sound with visual art, film, installation, dance and theatre.
A keen collaborator, Rasa’s work regularly involves blending art forms and artist exchange. She is thrilled to be a part of CO.LAB, a cross-disciplinary performance practice directed by Alison Plevey of the Australian Dance Party, which began in 2017 as a playground for interaction, ideas and skills expansion.
As part of modern classical duo Tess Said So with percussionist and producer Will Larsen, she has released three albums - Piaf's Boyfriend (2019), Scramble + Fate (2016), and I Did That Tomorrow (2014) - with record label Preserved Sound. In 2017, they won both the Weekly Award and BankSA Award (Overall Outstanding Event) for Best Interactive, Film & Digital at the Adelaide Fringe Festival for their original live soundtrack production and performance to Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.
In 2018, with photomedia artist Genevieve Swifte and mezzo soprano AJ America, Rasa established Ampleya, an interdisciplinary collaboration bringing together sound art, video installation and contemporary approaches to performance and audience interaction.
Rasa also writes extensively for solo piano. As with her other projects, collaborating remains at the heart of her work, currently working with American pianists Holly Roadfeldt and Erica Sipes and Danish Canadian pianist Sandra Mogensen.
Rasa's work has been performed in Australia, Asia, Europe, the UK and North America. She holds music degrees from the Australian National University School of Music (B.Mus.) and the University of Newcastle (M.Mus.(Distinction)).
Selected Performances of Glistenality:
Steinway Hall, Jacobs Music, West Chester, PA: June 2019
Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA: March 2019
Music by Women Festival, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, MS: March 2019
Second Sunday Concert Series, Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, PA: February 2019
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA: June 2018
Performing Artist Series, Methodist Country House, Wilmington, DE: May 2018
Jacobs Music Artist Recital Series, Steinway Hall, Jacobs Music, West Chester, PA: April 2018
Ward Virts Concert Series, College of Southern Maryland, Prince Frederick, MD: April 2018
Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Trinity College, Hartford, CT: April 2018
Guest Artist Recital, Kendal at Longwood, Kennett Square, PA: March 2018
Music by Women Festival, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, MS: March 2018
Andrea Clearfield's Salon Concerts (Private Event): February 2018
Lafayette College Faculty Recital, Williams Center for the Arts, Easton PA: October 2017
Press
Piano Recital Spotlights Contemporary Works Inspired by Popular Culture
October 18, 2017; The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA
"I always like to include something in my recitals that was written a hundred years ago, just to show where we were then. It makes for a really interesting balance, with the many pieces on the program written this year, and some just a couple of months ago," Roadfeldt says. Notably, there will be works by five female composers on the program: Clara Schumann, Joan Tower, Lili Boulanger, Rasa Daukus and Julia Seeholzer…Roadfeldt's program also includes the world premiere of Rasa Daukus' "Glistenality." Daukus, who lives in Australia, travels the world as the pianist in the piano/percussion duo Tess Said So, providing music for the classic 1922 vampire film "Nosferatu." "It's such a beautiful piece," says Roadfeldt. "I'm hoping to record it on my next CD.”
Holly Roadfeldt Piano Recital Blends Classics with New Commissions
January 29, 2019; The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA
“Roadfeldt met many of the composers she’s commissioned works from on social media sites such as Twitter. Such was the case with Australian Rasa Daukus, whose “Glistenality” Roadfeldt premiered at Lafayette College in 2017. “I’ve played it maybe 10 times, and every time people just love this piece,” she says.”
Pianist Holly Roadfeldt opens Muhlenberg Contemporary Music Festival
March 10, 2020; The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA
Listen to Glistenality