Festival opening concert
Wednesday March 12th, 2025 12:33 PM
We will open the 8th International Juozas Naujalis Choir Festival with a concert by the Kaunas State Choir
On Friday, April 11, at 19:00, the opening concert of the International Juozas Naujalis Choir Festival will take place at the Kaunas St. Peter and Paul Cathedral Basilica (Vilniaus St. 1). The program will feature well-known sacred compositions by Juozas Naujalis, as well as works by M.K. Čiurlionis. Artistic director of the choir: Robertas Šervenikas. Conductor: Mindaugas Radzevičius. Organist: Povilas Padleckis
For over 50 years, the Kaunas State Choir has been one of the most prestigious Lithuanian vocal ensembles. Since 2021, the artistic director and chief conductor of the Choir has been Professor Robertas Šervenikas – the winner of the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize.
The last years have been extremely intense for the Choir. With 12 premieres of large-scale pieces in 2022 alone. Verdi‘s Requiem was prepared with Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria for the opening concert of new concert sezon in September and Mahler‘s 2-nd Symphony for 40th International Music Festival of the Canary Islands. Tour of four concerts with London symphony orchestra and Antonio Pappano performing G.Holst’s The Planets in Warsaw, Ljubljana, Gstaad and La Cote-Saint-Andre was held in August 2024. L.Auerbach’s Vesels of light in Berlin Konzerthaus and Joana Mallwitz was commissioned for the 70th anniversary of the International Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem.The year 2025 we started with ARTE TV concert in Kaunas archicatedral and A. Bocelli in Riga. In February B. Britten’s War Requiem was performed at Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana.
The history of the choir backs to 1969, when a 26-year-old graduate of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Petras Bingelis was entrusted with forming and directing a professional choir. Kaunas State Choir stepped up its international performing activity in 1992, when it started working with legendary conductor Lord Yehudi Menuhin, cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and composer Krzysztof Penderecki who referred to Kaunas State Choir as one of the most capable and professional ensembles they had worked with.