Press Release.
October 16, 2017.

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius took first place at the final of the Lithuanian National Choral Competition, retaining the title of the best volunteer choir in Lithuania for the next four years. An international panel of judges awarded Bel Canto Choir Vilnius 98 points – the highest among all choirs in Lithuania. Bel Canto Choir Vilnius also won the competition’s Grand Prix. 30 Category I choirs took part in the final of Lithuania’s premier national choral competition, which ended on October 15, 2017.

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius’ artistic director Dr Egidijus Kaveckas noted that the choir was dedicated and worked exceptionally hard so the results were not too unexpected.

“My team is the best and most motivated in Lithuania. That became clear to me the moment I was offered the role of artistic director at the beginning of the year. The most important thing is that our singers have a very clear vision and ambition – to keep changing, learning and improving. That’s very rare in the Lithuanian choir scene,” noted Egidijus Kaveckas. “I’d like to say a big thank you to our singers, my choirmasters Milda Zapolskaitė and Raminta Gocentienė and our fantastic vocal coach Liudas Norvaišas. We all played an equal part in this achievement. We will continue learning, getting better, and changing the face of choral music in Lithuania.”

An international panel of judges selected the winners at the final of the Lithuanian National Choral Competition: Lithuanian composer, conductor, and academic Vaclovas Augustinas, Latvian composer Rihards Dubra, Polish composer Pawel Lukaszewski, Lithuanian composer Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė, Lithuanian composer Algirdas Martinaitis, and choir conductor, academic and soloist Dainius Puišys, also from Lithuania.

The Lithuanian National Choral Competition takes place every four years and is jointly organised by the Lithuanian Choral Union and the Lithuanian National Culture Center. Its goal is to asses the artistic level of the Lithuanian choirs and select the best ones in the country. In the 2013 edition of the competition, Bel Canto Choir Vilnius also won the first place (92.2 points).