Choir festival-competition “Our songs”: concert of state chamber choir “Polifonija” in Vievi

Audronė Stepankevičiūtė, manager of the project “Choir Festival – competition “Our Songs”.

As every year in May, Vievis welcomes a large group of guests from various regions of Lithuania – there will be a traditional choir festival – the competition “Our Songs”, which is financed by the Lithuanian Culture Council and the Municipality of Elektrėnai, the main events: children’s and adult choir competitions, joint choir concerts.

However, the project activities take place for more than half a year and are supplemented with new events every year. One of them is a concert by a professional choir, with the aim of introducing our community to professional choral performance, choral works by Lithuanian authors. April 11 The Šiauliai state chamber choir “Polifonija” (artistic director and chief conductor Linas Balandis, conductors Mindaugas Žalalis and Inga Petrauskienė, concertmaster Andrius Bartulis) visited Vievi. In the colorful program – Lithuanian composers Gediminas Kalinas, Donatos Zakars, Vaclovas Augustinos, Gintautas Abariaus, Linas Adamsworks for choirs by Darius Polikaitis, Kęstutis Daugirdas, Juozas Gudavičius. The audience marveled at the professional performance based on each individual’s subtle and unique interpretation.

2024 was also played at the concert. The songs of the Lithuanian song festival “Kad giria žaliuautsi” performed together with “Polifonija” and the chamber choir “Con moto” of the Vievios culture center.

As has become common during choral concerts held in Vievi, everyone sang the final song together – both the choirs and the audience.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————Šiauliai State Choir “Polifonija” (source: https://www.polifonija.lt/).

A choir, like a person, has its stages of life. As the age of the choir approaches its 50th birthday, it is possible to mark the main stages of its age.

in 1974 – early childhood, when the Old Music Ensemble formed by choirmasters Danutė and Sigitas Vaičiulionis in Šiauliai on December 31. performed his first concert, which featured music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

Later, the activities of the ensemble expanded, the number of concerts increased, and after 5 years, the collective was given the name of the choir “Polifonija” and the status of a folk collective.

The choir’s performance culture, repertoire and abundance of concerts led “Polifonija” to new creative achievements. in 1986 the choir outgrows its teenage amateur t-shirts and becomes a professional collective – the Lithuanian State Philharmonic Chamber Mixed Choir of Šiauliai.

in 1998 the choir separates from the Lithuanian National Philharmonic and becomes the mature state chamber choir of Šiauliai “Polifonija”. Since then, the status of the choir has not changed, only the repertoire has changed, the repertoire based on the works of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, which have become the tradition of “Poliphony”, is supplemented with works by composers of various eras and countries, paying great attention to the dissemination of Lithuanian choral music in Lithuania and the world.

Choir “Polifonija” regularly performs in various countries of the world. Concert tours in the biography – Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, France under the direction of great Lithuanian conductors, such as Saulius Sondeckis, Juozas Domarkas, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Vytautas Miškinis, Vaclovas Augustinas, Modestas Pitrėnas, Robertas Šerveniks, and to the masters of many European countries and the USA.

“Polifonija” actively performs concerts with Lithuanian and foreign professionals: orchestras, ensembles, instrumentalists and soloists. Every year, the choir participates in various music festivals in Lithuania and abroad, thus spreading the charm of Lithuanian choral music.

The most recently earned recognitions: in 2021, the 1st place was won in the International Orthodox Competition in the sacred music competition “Hajnowka”, participating in the category of professional choirs. in 2023 competing in the categories of sacred and academic music, won the 1st place and the Grand Prix at the international choral music competition “Golden Voices of Montserrat”, in Spain.