Violinist Ben Sayevich has performed challenging programs in front of hundreds of audiences with only the slightest bouts of concert jitters.

But the Kansas University violin professor expects the pressure will be greater than usual next week when he returns to his home country with pianist and KU School of Fine Arts Dean Toni-Marie Montgomery to play at two Lithuanian music academies.

âÂÂFor me to go to the country that I was born, itâÂÂs always a little different than to go to just any other country,â Sayevich said. âÂÂIâÂÂve played many places, but it is maybe in some ways more stressful, I would say.âÂÂ

Sayevich and Montgomery will sweep through Europe Ãi¿½” theyâÂÂll also perform in Latvia and Poland Ãi¿½” from Nov. 16 to 26. During the duoâÂÂs stop at the Lithuanian Academy of Music, Montgomery will start to tie up the loose ends of an exchange program in the works between the academy and KUâÂÂs department of music and dance. In early December, one administrator and a faculty member from the Lithuanian academy will travel to KU to finalize the agreement.

Already, five Lithuanian music students are studying at KU in the areas of percussion, violin, cello, piano and clarinet.

The Lithuanian studentsâ work ethic is tremendous, Montgomery said, noting that the student studying violin practices six hours a day Ãi¿½” a practice load that far surpasses that of most violin students.

The Lithuanian exchange program will be an opportunity for enlightenment on both ends, Sayevich said.

âÂÂI think more and more in the last few years weâÂÂre getting people from Europe and Asia, and I think itâÂÂs a very, very positive blend,â he said. âÂÂWhen we get students from Europe or Asia, there is a very healthy fusion between them from a musical standpoint, also from just a cultural point of view. I think it adds a lot of color to our school.âÂÂ

Sayevich and Montgomery will be gone for 10 days Ãi¿½” a duration relatively unheard of for a dean. In fact, Montgomery is something of an anomaly. Few university deans who are performers continue to be as active as Montgomery after moving into administrative jobs. She routinely performs individual and group recitals in Lawrence and across the country.

âÂÂItâÂÂs been a priority for me since, truthfully, 1987, my second year of working in the profession,â she said. âÂÂI looked to the future and said as long as I can physically perform, that it was a priority for me.

âÂÂThrough the years, it continues to be a priority because when I am evaluating faculty and students and saying this is the level that you should achieve, they see that itâÂÂs something that I have first-hand knowledge about.âÂÂ

She and Sayevich have been practicing their difficult program since early October.

It includes Giuseppe TartiniâÂÂs âÂÂDevilâÂÂs Trill Sonata in G minor,â Sergie ProkofievâÂÂs âÂÂSonata No. 1 in F minor,â Richard Straussâ âÂÂSonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18â and Pablo de SarasateâÂÂs âÂÂZigeunerweisenâ (Gypsy Airs).

For Sayevich, it will be his first trip to Lithuania since 1995, when he performed there with an orchestra. Before that, he hadnâÂÂt been back since 1971, when he was 11 years old and his family immigrated to Israel.

âÂÂItâÂÂs a kind of spiritual experience,â he said.