Bel Canto Choir Vilnius: an intimate spring evening at St Catherine Church in Vilnius

A special premiere – Mass for chorus and classical guitar by Latvian composer and guitarist Kaspars Zemītis

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius, after its last year’s intensive Open to the World concert series, invited listeners to AcoustiCO, the choir’s first performance in 2019. On May 24, Bel Canto Choir Vilnius presented an intimate spring concert, mostly featuring music by contemporary composers from neighboring Latvia.

AcoustiCO also stared some of the choir’s good friends – guitarist Saulius Lipčius, one of the country’s best young cellists Augustas Gocentas, children’s percussion ensemble from the Vilnius Methodist Art Centre (director Saulius Auglys), and pianist Raminta Gocentienė.

The highlight of the concert was the Lithuanian premiere of mass for choir and classical guitar by Latvian composer and guitarist Kaspars Zemītis. This was performed by the choir together with the composer’s good friend Saulius Lipčius.

Mesa by Kaspars Zemītis is a unique and modern blend of the traditional Latin mass genre together with the sounds of the classical guitar. The contemporary re-imagining of the mass is especially calming, tender, and thought-provoking. The composition features a range of solo passages on the classical guitar, which elegantly intertwine with individual vocal parts of the choir.

The finale – Agnus Dei and Amen – stands out with its especially subtle and tender soprano solo, whose fluttering, wordless duet creates a musical contrast with the slower, more careful choral sounds that follow. This leads to the final section of the mass, Amen, an uplifting ending with the words ‘hallelujah’ and ‘amen’ repeated and eventually fading as the composition reaches its peaceful and calm finale.

During their end-of-spring concert, Bel Canto Choir Vilnius also performed pieces by well-known contemporary composers Eric Whitacre and Ēriks Ešenvalds, somewhat of a staple of the choir’s recent concerts. The programme also featured choral arrangements by pop musicians and composers, such as Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Josiah Kelley Atwood.