Participants

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.

JAN SCHUMACHER (Conductor / Germany)

Jan Schumacher has been the professor and Music Director at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt since 2015 and has been teaching conducting at the Music Academy in Darmstadt since 2019. Until 2016, he was the professor for choral conducting at the College of Church Music in Rottenburg.

Having received his degree in School Music and German Studies from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Jan went on to study conducting with Wolfgang Schäfer at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Even as a child and young adult (musical education with the Limburg Cathedral Boys Choir and the State Youth Choir of Rhineland-Palatinate), he was fascinated with group singing, which has remained the main motivation for his manifold activities to this day.

Beside the choirs and orchestras of Frankfurt University and Darmstadt Academy, Jan is also the conductor of Camerata Musica Limburg. With Camerata Musica he appeared at IFCM WSCM and ACDA National Conference and won 1^st prizes in various international choral competitions. With his ensembles, he builds extensive repertoires from Gregorian chants to world premieres, from symphonic orchestra to Big Band music, and vocal or electronic improvisation.

Jan teaches courses for choirs, orchestras and conductors across all of Germany and has served as a jury member in the national choir competitions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He is the editor of various choral collections with some of the most important choral publishing houses (Helbing, Carus, Bärenreiter, Peters).

On the international level, he has worked with festivals such as America Cantat (Panama 2019), Europa Cantat (Slovenia 2021) and Choralies (2016, 2019, 2022), and given workshops and lectures at the American Choral Directors Association (National Conference 2013, 2023), the IFCM World Symposium (Argentina 2011, Barcelona 2017) and the Philippine Choral Directors Association (Manila 2019). He has been invited as a guest conductor by various choirs, including the Chamber Choir of Europe, the Taipei Philharmonic Choir (Mendelssohn: Elias, 2019) and the Coro Universitario de Mendoza (2022). Jan was invited to teach conducting masterclasses in Bulgaria, Iceland, Turkey, the USA, Venezuela, Argentina, China, the Philippines and Iran.

From 2009 to 2018, Jan was a board member and later vice-president and chair of the Music Commission of the European Choral Association Europa Cantat. He is currently a member of the artistic committee of the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany, in 2019 he was appointed as artistic director of the prestigious German Choir Competition and in 2020, the – vice-president of the IFCM (International Federation for Choral Music).

BASS-4 DOUBLE BASS QUARTET (Lithuania)

Bass_4 double bass quartet is a project by four young musicians: Dainius Rudvalis, Donatas Butkevičius, Augustinas Treznickas and Aušvydas Kriščiūnas that seeks to obscure the boundaries between classical, tango and pop music.

The quartet came together in 2022 and is Lithuania’s only ensemble that performs music with four double basses. The ensemble was inspired by the idea of rewriting standards as well as popularising the double bass as an instrument and demonstrating its uniqueness. The double bass is not just an orchestral instrument, it can also be a wonderful solo instrument with a wide-ranging palette of sounds, a rich timbre and virtuosic possibilities to offer.

The members of Bass_4 are winners of international competitions, solo musicians and ensemble players, participants of various projects and performers of symphonic as well as chamber music both on Lithuanian stages and abroad. Not only have they been playing together for a long time as part of the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, they are also bound by strong ties of friendship. This long-standing relationship helps the young musicians have a perfect understanding of each other in the creative activity of their quartet.

BALTIC SOLO CHOIR (Lithuania)

Artistic Director and Conductor Egidijus Kaveckas

The Baltic Solo Choir is a young and driven professional ensemble from Lithuania that brings together current students of vocal performance with its graduates, which means that every member of the ensemble contributes a unique combination of timbral qualities. The ensemble seeks to bring the inspiring experience of choral music to as wide and varied an audience as possible, demonstrating its power, beauty and serenity and inviting listeners to pause and rethink what they value.

The ensemble’s vision is to become a leader of vocal music performance in Europe and change established perceptions of choral music as cold, boring and uninteresting.

The ensemble’s mission is to present choral music to listeners at the highest artistic level and create performances that are unique experiences that arouse an understanding of music from the perspective of sound, image and philosophy.

ELENA DAUNYTĖ (Cello / Lithuania)

Elena Daunytė is the winner of many international competitions and main prizes, a member of the Čiurlionis Quartet and the family ensemble of sisters Regnum Musicale. She has travelled the world far and wide as a soloist and interpreter of chamber music – from Europe to Asia and North America. Elena has participated in masterclasses led by G. Sollima, D. Gering, F. Helmerson, T. Svane, K. Georgian and others. The cellist actively collaborates with various musicians and ensembles and is frequently invited to perform virtuosic cello parts at prestigious festivals and projects.

MOTIEJUS BAZARAS (Piano / Lithuania)

Motiejus Bazaras has participated in more than 20 international and national competitions, winning or placing in most of them. Always expanding his range of musical interests and competencies and being a universal pianist, he plays in jazz and rock bands as well as collectives that represent other genres, participates in festivals and musical projects, arranging and creating compositions. The experience he has accumulated, he shares with his students in his educational work at the Juozas Gruodis Conservatory in Kaunas and the Kaunas University of Technology. In 2017, Motiejus received a doctoral degree in the arts from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

GIAMPAOLO DI ROSA (Organ / Italy)

Dr. Giampaolo Di Rosa is a pianist, organist and harpsichordist. Having completed his musical studies in Italy, Germany, France and Portugal under the tutorship of world famous professors, he holds several academic diplomas including a Ph.D. in music analysis.

Giampaolo Di Rosa performs a large repertoire of music from every historical period up to the present day, including the complete works of J.S. Bach, C. Franck and O. Messiaen.

Arrangements and improvisations are always part of his concert programmes.

Away from the concert stage he is an educator, a researcher and art director, having founded a number of international organ festivals.

Based in Rome, he has been an organist of many churches and cathedrals in Europe. Currently he is the titular organist and music director of the Portuguese National Church, hosting one of the largest organ series in Europe.

He enjoys an international career, giving concerts and masterclasses in Europe, Russia, the USA, Latin America, Middle East, Hong-Kong, Macao, Singapore and Australia.

CIAROSCURO EARLY MUSIC ENSEMBLE (Lithuania-Switzerland)

The Ciaroscuro Ensemble was founded in 2014, even though its members had known each other long before that point. All three members of the ensemble, Ieva Baublytė (recorder, Gothic harp), Rūta Vosyliūtė (Baroque vocals) and Vilimas Norkūnas (harpsichord, organ), completed their specialised study of early music in different countries (Switzerland, Italy and Austria). The members were drawn together by their desire to develop the knowledge and experience of early music they gained in Western Europe in their home country, Lithuania. This programme will feature a well-known guest musician, the guitarist Saulius Lipčius (liuto forte and Baroque guitar).

The name Chiaroscuro means light and dark in Italian. The portrayal of strong feelings, emotions and contrasting moods through light and dark is characteristic of all art of the Baroque epoch: from Caravaggio’s paintings to recitar cantare style vocals in the music of Caccini, Monteverdi and others.

Rūta Vox (Vosyliūtė) is a singer of Baroque music and laureate of the international competitions Fatima Terzo (Vicenza, 2011 – first place) and Francesco Provenzale (Naples, 2009 – second place). She completed her master’s studies of Renaissance and Baroque vocals with honours at the Vicenza Pedrollo Conservatory under the tutelage of Patrizia Vaccari and Gloria Banditelli. She studied vocals under Professor Sigutė Stonytė at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (2005–2009), and successfully defended her doctoral thesis in the arts there in 2018. She performs on various stages and early music festivals in Europe and has worked with many notable conductors: Claudio Cavina, Sigiswald Kuijken, Paolo Faldi, Marco Mencoboni, Walter Testolin and Wolfgang Katschner.

In collaboration with Artis Opera, she created Bradamante’s role in the Vivaldi opera Orlando Furioso (2019) and Helena’s role in M. Vitale’s recreated opera The Abduction of Helena (2018). In Baroque Opera Theatre projects, she created the roles of Ina in Händel’s Semele (2017), the role of Abra in the Vivaldi oratorio Juditha Triumphans (2014) and Magdalena’s role in Händel’s oratorio The Resurrection (2014). During the international early music festival Banchetto Musicale, she performed the roles of Music and Hope in Monteverdi’s opera Orpheus (2015).

Ieva Baublytė studied Renaissance and Baroque Music at the Early Music Institute Schola Cantorum Basiliensis of the Basel Academy of Music, where she completed her master’s degree, studying the recorder under Professor Kathrin Bopp. She has performed with the ensemble Canto Fiorito, the Brevis Consort, the orchestra of the Baroque Opera Theatre and other performers as well as participating in the recording of various albums. She is actively involved in the musical-educational activity of the Palace of the Grand Dukes and organises early music seminars as well as the educational Early Music Festival of St. Cecilia. She has participated in masterclasses led by P. Memelsdorf, P. Hamon, M. Motomura and in an improvisation course led by Jean Tubery. She studied the Gothic harp under M. Fujimura and H. Rosenzweig.

Saulius S. Lipčius is a guitarist, educator and associate professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. He represents the fourth generation of musicians in his family. Having grown up in a musical environment, he became interested in the guitar when he was 12 years old. In 2008, he completed his master’s studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (under the tutelage of Associate Professor Julius Kurauskas). Currently, the musician plays not just classical and Baroque guitar, he is also one of the only musicians in Lithuania to play the liuto forte.

Lipčius has participated in various concert projects and is a member of several different ensembles. In 2004, along with several other guitarists of the younger generation, he founded the Baltic Guitar Quartet, which after several years has been recognised as one of the leading guitar ensembles in the Baltic states. A frequent guest at Lithuania’s principal festivals and concert halls, the quartet has had an intense concert life abroad as well, visiting more than 25 countries around the world and various prestigious concert venues, among which were the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the London Southbank Centre, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall and others. The ensemble has recorded three albums: “Live”, “Dancing with guitar” and “Tradición Nuevo”. The year 2011 saw the emergence of Saulius’ first solo album, “Guitar Temptations”. Since 2017, he has participated in various early music ensembles and projects and performed in festivals such as the The Baroque Spring in Biržai, Marco Scacchi and Banchetto Musicale.

From 2004, Saulius has also become an active educator, with his guitar students going on to become laureates of national and international competitions, while he himself is frequently invited to serve as a jury member for various international competitions. Saulius is an associate professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, teaching classical guitar and chamber ensemble music from 2008.

Vilimas Norkūnas first took an interest in early music in 2002 in Salzburg (Austria), as he studied the organ and sacred music at Mozarteum University (under Professor Heribert Metzger). There, he began to study period instruments: the harpsichord, clavichord, hammerklavier and basso continuo. In 2008, he resumed his studies at the Kunstuniversität Graz, where he earned a master’s degree in sacred music and organ performance in 2011 (under Prof. Ulrich Walther), and a master’s degree in choral conducting (under Prof. Johannes Prinz) in 2012. In 2014, he completed his studies of early music and the harpsichord with honours at the Kunstuniversität Graz, under the tutelage of Prof. Michael Hell.

Norkūnas has performed along with the Styrian Baroque orchestra Neue Hofkapelle Graz (Austria), the St. Christopher Orchestra and the Brevis Consort, and performed with choirs such as Jauna Muzika, Brevis and Aukuras as well as various other ensembles. He has also performed a series of concerts with the Baroque violin virtuoso Ūla Kinderytė (USA) and the Baroque violinist Vera Otasek (Austria). Vilimas is a co-founder and member of the early music ensemble Chiaroscuro and the international ensemble Cordaria. These ensembles have made frequent appearances at the Banchetto Musicale and Marco Scacchi festivals and toured around Latvia, performing at the Vivat Curlandia and the Riga Early Music festivals. From 2018 to 2019, he presented a solo programme for the harpsichord in Lithuania and Latvia (“Hortus musicus”), and in 2019, he toured Lithuania, Italy and Austria with the organ recital “Chroma”.

NAPULITANATA ENSEMBLE (Italy)

Napulitanata Ensemble is the musical collective of the association with the same name, whose main objective is the promotion of the classical Neapolitan song as a tourist-cultural attraction for the city of Naples, in Italy.

The ensemble’s performances animate the Napulitanata concert hall, managed by the group in the centre of Naples. Live performances in which the musicians are involved are given both in the city and outside the regional and national borders.

In the concert hall, the members of Napulitanata have repurposed an old municipal warehouse to make a small cultural lounge where they have been consistently performing concerts of Neapolitan songs since 2017, attracting about 50 thousand visitors so far. The cultural, musical, social and urban regeneration project involved the Universities of Naples, Rome and Liège (Belgium) and also in Mitaka (Japan).

The approach behind the performances is rigorous and respectful of the material being handled, with the intention of avoiding an oleographic representation of the Neapolitan repertoire.

Even outside the concert hall, the musicians of Napulitanata bring the arrangements typical of a Neapolitan cultural salon, with the elegance of the piano and the double bass, with the sound of an accordion or with the timbre of a beautiful Neapolitan voice.

The Neapolitan song is love, it is sociology, it is history, it is beauty, it is the representation of a slice of life history of the city of Naples: this is what emerges from the Napulitanata concerts.

Pasquale Pirolli is a singer, who in his artistic career has always considered his voice as an instrument for the diffusion of Neapolitan bel canto. He has been part of the Napulitanata ensemble since 2018, with which he recorded an album of Neapolitan songs.

Pasquale Cirillo is a classical pianist, graduated from the Naples Conservatory, with an exceptional piano technique. He is one of the founders of Napulitanata, promoting Neapolitan music around the world and is the author of a piano solo album released last year.

Giuseppe Arena is a bassist and double bass player, a graduated of jazz studies at the Salerno Conservatory. He makes his international sound available for the Neapolitan song, combining jazz and the classic sound of his instrument. It has been part of Napulitanata since its foundation.

Mimmo Matania is the founder of Napulitanata together with Pasquale Cirillo. He is a cultural manager and a musician, and a graduate of musicology with a thesis on Neapolitan song. He has played the accordion since he was a child, up to adulthood, carrying on his love of music through classical studies and jazz music.

KHMELNYTSKY ACADEMIC MUNICIPAL CHAMBER CHOIR (Ukraine)

Artistic director and chief conductor Ihor Tsmur

The choir was founded in April of 1998 by the honoured Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Polianski and Ukrainian folk artist Professor Vitali Hazinski, with the help of the city mayor, Mikhail Chekman. The choir was composed of teachers, graduates and students of the city’s schools of higher education.

In September of 1998, the role of choirmaster-in-chief fell to the recognised Ukrainian cultural figure Ihor Tsmur, who went on to become the leader and principal conductor of the ensemble in 2003, a role in which he serves to this day.

In 2012, the ensemble was granted the status of academic choir.

The choir’s repertoire consists of over 500 pieces of music – the best examples of Ukrainian and international choral music: arrangements of folk songs, spirituals, contemporary compositions, pieces with sound effects and dance performances.

The ensemble has won many prestigious Ukrainian and international awards and performed on the most prominent stages in Ukraine, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, France, Austria, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Greece and Germany.

The choir is the initiator and host of the open Singing Assembly festival of choral music, held in Khmelnytsky since 2008.

FAMILY CHOIR OF THE VILNIUS ARCHCATHEDRAL BASILICA (Lithuania)

Choir Directors – Eglė Čigriejūtė-Strolienė and Rita Nenėnaitė

In September of 1989, at the initiative of Monsignor Kazimieras Vasiliauskas, a children’s choir was established for singing during the Children’s Mass on Sundays and during liturgical festivities.

The choir’s repertoire includes Lithuanian and international sacred music from various epochs. The greater part of the repertoire consists of missal cycles and hymns composed by contemporary Lithuanian composers: V. Augustinas, L. Abarius, A. Klova, R. Martinkėnas, V. Miškinis, L. Povilaitis, A. Remesa, K. Vasiliauskaitė, G. Venislovas, and R. Zurbaitė.

The choir has participated in the international contemporary music festival Gaida, recorded music for Lithuania’s national radio and television broadcaster, participated in every J. Naujalis competition for new religious music, sung in most Lithuanian churches, toured Spain in 1994, Poland in 2000, participated in the 2nd global Lithuanian song festival in 1998 in Vilnius, the hymn festival Lithuania Sings for Christ in 2000, participated in the Taizé meetings in Munich in 1993, in Paris in 1994, in Vilnius in 2009, as well as participating in the events and liturgical celebrations hosted by the Archcathedral Basilica and other churches in Vilnius. On more than one occasion, the choir has performed in various children’s homes across Vilnius, the Šeškinė Daycare Centre for the Disabled in Vilnius, Christmas and Easter events at the Vilnius Lukiškės Prison, and collaborated with the Alma Adamkienė Charity Foundation.

In 2019, mothers and fathers joined the children’s choir, and it became a family choir, bringing together the voices of several different generations in harmony. The singing did not stop during the pandemic either – rehearsals and fun socialisation continued via Zoom. Currently, the choir is back singing at the Archcathedral during Children’s Mass and bringing together its members in serene communal prayer.

The choir is headed by Eglė Čigriejūtė-Strolienė and Rita Nenėnaitė. It is accompanied by the organist Vida Prekerytė.

LANGAS CHOIR (Lithuania)

Artistic Director and Conductor Rita Kraucevičiūtė

The choir was founded in 1990 by its current head, Rita Kraucevičiūtė. Up until 1995, the ensemble belonged to various artistic institutions: The Contemporary Art Centre, the Langas gallery and the Lithuanian Artists’ Association.

In 1995, Langas was invited to sing at the reconsecrated Church of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Bernard. The opportunity opened up to establish a singing school and begin teaching children from the age of four. Today, Langas is part of the singing school of the Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard. This school focuses a lot of attention on vocal development. Every choir member has the opportunity to individually develop their vocal skills and sing at invitational vocal concerts.

The Langas choir performs in towns across Lithuania, sings during Sunday Mass, all religious celebrations and feast days, participates in choir competitions, Lithuanian song celebrations, collaborates with other Lithuanian and international choirs, various musical ensembles and performers, gives concert performances (10–15 performances a year) and participates in festivals in Lithuania and abroad. On more than one occasion, the choir has performed in Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Malta, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, South Korea, Slovakia, Hungary, Switzerland, Sardinia, Macedonia, Russia, Norway and Israel, honourably representing Lithuanian culture and presenting Lithuanian music to the world.

For many years now, the Langas choir has worked with the Swedish Embassy. It has participated in the embassy-hosted St. Lucia’s day events and in the springtime celebrations of Walpurgis Night. It also participates in the annual Christmas and Easter concerts hosted at the Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard in Vilnius, which are broadcast live by the Culture Programme of the national radio and television broadcaster LRT.

 The Langas choir has participated in various prestigious Lithuanian festivals, including Pax et Bonum, Vilnius Festival, Alma Mater Musicalis and others.

CANTATE DOMINO CHOIR OF THE CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (VYTAUTAS MAGNUS) IN KAUNAS (Lithuania)

Conductor Rolandas Daugėla

Cantate Domino was established in the spring of 1992 at the initiative of the conductor Rolandas Daugėla. The choir boasts many international achievements, the most important of which are three Grand Prizes and many 1^st places. In Marktoberdorf (Germany, 1996), the choir was awarded the certificate of Internationally Very Good Level Choir and the women’s choir was recognised with the certificate of a Good Level Choir. In the competitions of Lithuanian adult choirs Cantate Domino is often awarded the highest category A (I) diplomas.

Significant achievements include the following:

• 1^st place and a gold medal at Mundi Cantat in Olomouc (Czech Republic, 2007)
• 1^st place and a gold diploma in the 3^rd Cantate Domino Choir Competition (Lithuania, 2007)
• 2^nd place and a silver diploma at the International Festival of Sacred Choral Music in Námestovo (Slovakia, 2008)
• The choir staged a production of rock opera The Risen by Daniele Ricci (Kaunas, Lithuania, 2008)
• The prize of Authentic Music for the promotion of professional music (2008)
• In 2009, was awarded the Golden Bird prize in the category International Shining Star as the best amateur art group of 2008
• 1^st place and a gold diploma at the Fourth International Advent and Christmas Music Festival in Bratislava (Slovakia, 2009)
• Staged the production of Daniele Ricci’s musical The Awaited (Kaunas, Lithuania, 2009)
• 2^nd place at Cracow International Choir Festival and Competition (Poland, 2010)
• 2^nd place at the International Sacred Music Festival Silver Bells in Daugavpils (Latvia, 2011)
• 1^st place in Ohrid Choir Festival (Macedonia, 2012)
• 1^st degree diploma at the Lithuanian Choral Competition in Kaunas (Lithuania, 2013)
• Silver diploma (level 1) in the Rimini International Choral Competition (Italy, 2013)
• 1^st degree diploma in the Lithuanian Choral Competition 2013 in Vilnius (Lithuania)
• 3^rd place in the International Choir Festival Varsovia Cantat in Warsaw (Poland, 2014)
• 1^st place, a gold diploma and an additional prize for the best rendition of a compulsory piece and the Best Conductor prize in the Canti Veris International Choral Competition in Prague (Czech Republic, 2016)
• 1^st prize at the International Sacred Music Festival Silver Bells in Daugavpils (Latvia, 2017)
• The highest category A (I) diploma in the Cantate Domino competition for Lithuanian adult choirs (Lithuania, 2017)
• 1^st prize and a special prize at the International Sacred Music Festival Golden Ribbon of Šalčia (Lithuania, 2017)
• 1^st place, a gold medal and the Grand prize at the 7th Gdansk International Choral Music Festival (Poland, 2018)
• 1^st prize and the best choir award at the Bialystok International Choir Competition Cantu Gaudeamus (Poland, 2018)

CHOIR OF THE KLAIPĖDA STATE MUSICAL THEATRE (Lituania)

Chief Choirmaster and Conductor Vladimiras Konstantinovas

The Choir of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre was founded on 1 January 1987, when the minister of culture at the time signed an order with which the People’s Opera of Klaipėda was restructured into the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre. Before then, the choir had been the collective of the People’s Opera of Klaipėda, headed by Professor Kazimieras Kšanas.

Today the Choir of the Musical Theatre not only takes part in the theatre’s stage productions, but also performs concert programmes of its own along with the theatre’s symphony orchestra. The choir’s repertoire includes pieces that demand great professional mastery: Antonio Caldara’s Dies irae, Arthur Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake, Gioacchino Rossini’s Messa di Ravenna, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Gabriel Fauré’s, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s and Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem, Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater, Charles Gounod’s St. Cecilia’s Mass and others.

The different faces of the choir’s repertoire emphasise the ensemble’s universality: the repertoire of the collective as a dramatic choir includes operas, operettas, musicals and even dance drama, and the choir has an important role in shaping dramatic narrative. The choir participates in the staging of productions from different epochs and genres: operas and operettas such as Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, Emmerich Kálmán’s Mr. X, Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld; Ruggero Leoncavalli’s Pagliacci, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Juan, Gaetano Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman; musicals such as Jerry Bock’s The Fiddler on the Roof, Dan Goggin’s Nunsense, Frank Wildhorn’s Bonnie and Clyde, John Kander’s Chicago and many others.

A special place in the repertoire of the Musical Theatre and its choir is held by the works of Lithuanian composers. The theatre’s choir plays especially substantial roles in the performance of Vyacheslav Ganelin’s musical The Devil’s Bride, Giedrius Kuprevičius’ opera The Prussians, Eduardas Balsys’ Journey to Tilsit and Bronius Kutavičius’ Bear.

From the very foundation of the theatre in 1987, the choir has been headed by chief choirmaster, conductor and composer Vladimiras Konstantinovas.

SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA OF THE KLAIPĖDA STATE MUSICAL THEATRE (Lithuania)

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Tomas Ambrozaitis

The Symphonic Orchestra of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre is the largest professional orchestra not just in Klaipėda, but in the entire region of Western Lithuania. During the concert season, the orchestra participates in the theatre’s stage productions and premières, and when the season comes to a close, it lifts the spirits of those living in Klaipėda and its surrounding towns with magnificent concert programmes at summer festivals.

Now nearly 60 members strong, the KSMT orchestra grew out of the Orchestra of the People’s Theatre of Klaipėda, established in 1956, which was initially composed of just 13 musicians – the teachers and students of the Klaipėda Music School (now the Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatory) as well as several amateur musicians. For three decades, the theatre operated as an amateur collective – all performers rehearsed and performed in plays without payment under a long line of conductors including Aleksejus Pozdnejevas, Aleksandras Buzys, Augustinas Kepenis, Robertas Varnas, Algis Jonas Lukoševičius, Vladimiras Konstantinovas and Kazys Kšanas, who served the longest term (1966–1986).

In 1987, when the People’s Opera of Klaipėda had reached professional status, the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre was founded. Many Lithuanian and international guest conductors worked with the KSMT orchestra on stage productions and concerts, including Gintaras Rinkevičius (A. Žigaitytė’s opera Mažvydas, 1988), Dante Anzolini (G. Verdi’s Traviata, 1994), Jonas Aleksa (K. Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, 2001), Saulius Sondeckis, Juozas Domarkas, Modestas Pitrėnas, Martynas Staškus, Robertas Šervenikas, Vytautas Lukočius, Davidas Geringas, Modestas Barkauskas, Andris Veismanis, Normunds Vaicis, Imantas Resnis (Latvia), Martin Lutz (Germany), Josef Wallnig (Austria), Salvatore Cicero (Switzerland), Erki Pehk (Estonia), Stefan Soltész (Austria) and many others.

In 1993, when Stasys Domarkas became the principal conductor of the KSMT (serving as the head of the theatre up until 2004), the theatre’s repertoire grew to include oratorios, cantatas, other large-scale concert pieces for soloists, choirs and orchestras alongside the familiar operettas, musicals and operas. When preparing symphony music programmes and more large-scale pieces, guest musicians were often invited to reinforce the ranks of the theatre’s in-house orchestra. This expanded version of the KSMT orchestra grew into the Symphony Orchestra of Lithuania Minor, founded by Stasys Domarkas in 1993. It often performed in the opera and symphony music festival A Musical August by the Sea, initiated by Domarkas himself (hosted from 1998 to 2020). In 2019, in celebration of the conductor’s 80th birthday, Stasys Domarkas was awarded the title of Honorary Conductor by the theatre. In later years, the theatre’s orchestra was headed by Ilmaras H. Lapinis, Dainius Pavilionis (2010–2015) and Vladimir Ponkin (2016). Since 2017, Tomas Ambrozaitis has been serving as the theatre’s chief conductor. Over the past several years, the orchestra has been substantially rejuvenated and strengthened professionally.

The repertoire of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre Orchestra includes the most prominent classical masterpieces and the contemporary music of Lithuanian and international composers. The symphony orchestra of the KSMT has on more than one occasion inspired new ideas for composers from Klaipėda. The orchestra was the first to perform Alvidas Remesa’s Symphony No. 4 Ecce Homo (1999), dedicated to the 2,000th anniversary of Christianity (recorded and published as an album), The Legend of Memelburg (2022), dedicated to the 770th anniversary of Klaipėda’s foundation, as well as three other symphonies by the composer and Vladimiras Konstantinovas’ large-scale pieces.

The orchestra has also worked with well-known solo musicians and ensembles from Lithuania and abroad, among them the violinists Ingrida Armonaitė, Ingrida Rupaitė, Vilhelmas Čepinskis, the mouth organ virtuoso Gianluca Littera (Italy), the flute player Lukasz Długosz (Poland), the vocalists Mikhail Svetlov (USA), Almas Švilpa, Nomeda Kazlauskaitė-Kazlaus, Oscar Marín (Spain), Violeta Urmana and Alfredo Nigro (Italy), the Kaunas State Choir, the Šiauliai State Chamber Choir Polifonija, the State Choir Vilnius and the Vilnius City Mixed Choir Jauna Muzika. The orchestra has gone on tour in Russia, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

TOMAS AMBROZAITIS (Conductor / Lithuania)

Tomas Ambrozaitis, educator and the conductor of the choir and orchestra, studied choral conducting at the Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatory in his home town, later continuing his studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (1997–2001) and completing his master’s degree at the Klaipėda University Faculty of Arts (now the LAMT Faculty of Klaipėda) from 2001 to 2003. In 2000, he went on an academic exchange at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig and participated in a conducting course under the Baroque music specialist Rinaldo Alessandrini in Vilnius, organised by the Jauna Muzika choir. Later, he earned a Licentiate of Arts degree at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (2007) and completed his master’s degree in symphony and opera conducting under Professor Juozas Domarkas (2018).

From 2001, he has been working as an educator and conducting for various musical collectives in Klaipėda, Kretinga, Plungė and Šiauliai. He taught conducting at the Stasys Šimkus Conservatory (2001–2007) and, from 2015, at the Klaipėda University Academy of Music (now the LAMT Faculty of Klaipėda, serving as associate professor from 2016). From 2003 to 2009, he has served as the choirmaster of the Klaipėda Mixed Choir Aukuras, and from 2005 to 2009, as the conductor of the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. From 2008, he has led the String Orchestra of the Eduardas Balsys Arts Gymnasium in Klaipėda, and when this orchestra joined forces with the students of the Stasys Šimkus Conservatory, he became the conductor of the Klaipėda Joint Youth Orchestra in 2015.

An important stage of the conductor’s creative activity is linked to leading various choirs: in 2011–2015 and 2017–2019 he served as the head and chief conductor of the Šiauliai State Chamber Choir Polifonija, serving in the same role at the Klaipėda Boys and Youth Choir Gintarėlis from 2013. With Polifonija, he recorded and published the albums “Lietuviškas motetas”, Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė’s “Oi, ant kalno”, Donatas Zakaras’ “Nors žvaigžde tu pakiltum…”. When conducting for both choirs, he prepared several concert programmes with various orchestras and toured in Germany, Austria, Latvia and Croatia. Ambrozaitis has on more than one occasion served as the chief conductor for Song Day (2007, 2009, 2014). He has also served as the artistic director of the annual Šiauliai-based Resurrexit festival. From August of 2022, he has led the Klaipėda Choir Aukuras.

In 2012, Ambrozaitis debuted at the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre, conducting a concert dedicated to the anniversary of Eduardas Kaniava, becoming its orchestral conductor in 2016, and moving on to the role of principal conductor in 2017. Here, he prepared and conducted various operas (G. Puccini’s La Bohème, Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, R. Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, G. Rossini’s Barber of Seville, G. Kuprevičius’ The Prussians, E. Balsys’ Journey to Tilsit, A. Kučinskas’ Opera of Stars, A. Dvořák’s Mermaid), ballet productions (A. Adam’s Giselle, P. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker) and concert programmes.

For his contributions to education and culture in the city of Klaipėda, Ambrozaitis has been awarded with the Queen Louise Medal (2017).