On June 5, in Vilnius at Sapiegos Palace, the traditional annual awards ceremony for the Best Musicology Works, organized by the Lithuanian Composers’ Union (LKS), took place. During the event, the most outstanding musicology authors of 2024 were announced and honored with awards named after Vytautas Landsbergis, Ona Narbutienė, and LKS prizes. The ceremony featured welcoming speeches, specially prepared laudations read by colleagues for the laureates, and was hosted by Rima Povilionienė, Chair of the Musicologists’ Section of the LKS.

The Ona Narbutienė Prize was awarded posthumously to Rūta Žarskienė, a long-time researcher and former head of the Lithuanian Folklore Archive, for her book Wind Instrument Ensembles and Orchestras in Traditional Lithuanian Culture. After the author’s passing, the book was completed and prepared for publication by her longtime colleague, Austė Nakienė, who received the laureate’s diploma on her behalf.

In her laudation, ethnomusicologist Gaila Kirdienė remarked:
"This monumental monograph, the culmination of twenty years of scholarly work by the distinguished ethnomusicologist and long-time head of the Lithuanian Folklore Archive, Rūta Žarskienė (1964–2023), provides for the first time a comprehensive account of the historical development and cultural role of brass wind instrument ensembles and orchestras in traditional Lithuanian culture from the earliest sources to the present day. Most notably, the second part of the monograph focuses on the Samogitia region: from 2004, during field expeditions documenting long-standing musical traditions and their transformations, the author discovered and studied many new significant aspects of traditional brass playing, highlighting its role in folk religiosity."

The Lithuanian Folklore Archive warmly celebrates the recognition of its colleagues’ work. This award is an excellent testament to the inseparable connection between scholarship and tradition.

Photo by Austė Nakienė