Participants
_500_.jpg)
ŠIAULIAI POLIFONIJA STATE CHAMBER CHOIR (Lithuania)
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Linas Balandis
In 1974, choir conductors Danutė and Sigitas Vaičiulioniai formed the Early Music Ensemble, which performed its first concert on December 31 in the assembly hall of Šiauliai Pedagogical Institute, featuring Renaissance and Baroque music. This was not only the birth of a new music group, but also the tradition of inviting the citizens of Šiauliai to send off the old year with music on New Year's Eve. Later on, the ensemble's activities expanded, the number of concerts increased, and after five years the group has been given the name of the choir Polifonija and the status of the People's collective.
The culture of choir performance, repertoire and abundance of concerts led Polifonija towards new creative achievements. In 1986, the choir outgrew its teenage amateur shirt and became a professional team – Lithuanian State Philharmonic Chamber Mixed Choir of Šiauliai.
In 1998, the choir separated from the Lithuanian National Philharmonics and became a mature Šiauliai State Chamber Choir Polifonija. Since then, the choir's status has not changed, only the repertoire, the repertoire of Renaissance and Baroque works, which have become the Polifonija’s tradition, is being replaced by the works of composers of various epochs and countries, with great attention to the spread of Lithuanian choral music in Lithuania and the world.
The Choir Polifonija regularly performs in various countries of the world conducted by excellent national and foreign conductors, such as Saulius Sondeckis, Juozas Domarkas, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Vytautas Miškinis, Vaclovas Augustinas, Modestas Pitrėnas, Robertas Šervenikas, Ravil Martynov (Russia), Vladimir Begletsov (Russia), Karmina Šilec (Slovenia), Georg Mais (Germany), Mats Nilsson Sindenius (Sweden), Magnus Wassenius (Sweden), Ingo Ernst Reihl (Germany), Anthony Trecek-King (USA), Richard Bjella (USA), Dante Anzolini (Italy), Ferdinando Sulla (Italy), Gary Graden (Sweden), Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny (Poland), and others. The biography of concert tours includes Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, France, Latvia, Estonia.
The choir has performed with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, St. Christopher’s Orchestra, Klaipėda State Musical Theatre Orchestra, Lithuanian National and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hamburger Camerata, Lviv (Ukraine) Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg (Russia) Symphony Orchestra and other string and wind orchestras from different countries.
Every year the choir participates in various music festivals in Lithuania and abroad, thus spreading the charm of Lithuanian choral music.