National M. K. Čiurlionis Art School Choir

The “Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis National School of Arts” was founded in 1945. The Choir Department and Choir were established in October 1948; the first choir directors were Pranas Sližys and Benediktas Macikėnas. From 1952 to 1971, both the Department and Choir were led by Antanas Jozėnas. This period was notable for a number of significant developments, particularly within the teaching process: a system of educational principles was implemented in choral leadership, a circumstance that played a strategic role in the integration of different disciplines within the single domain of choral education. From 1971 to 1994 the choir was directed by Rimantas Zdanavičius. During this period the repertoire was enriched with modern compositions, in particular through the works of the founder of Lithuanian minimalism, Bronius Kutavičius, as well as works by Benjamin Britten, Veljo Tormis, Einojuhani Rautavaara, along with those of additional Lithuanian composers such as, Feliksas Bajoras, Osvaldas Balakauskas, Algimantas Bražinskas, Algirdas Martinaitis, Jonas Tamulionis and others. The number of the choir’s touring and concert destinations has also expanded during the same period. Since 1994 the choir has been directed by Romualdas Gražinis, a graduate of the “Lithuanian School of Art and Academy of Music and Theater Čiurlionis,” who, then, continued his studies in conducting and Gregorian chant in Paris. During this period of the choir’s activity, there were two tours to Scotland, Germany, performances in Paris, concerts in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Poland, Sweden, St. Petersburg, and Austria; the choir also took part in the “North American Lithuanian Song Festival” in Toronto. The proportion of Lithuanian repertoire has greatly increased, now including works by Onute Narbutaite , Vidmantas Bartulis, Ričardas Kabelis, Kristina Vasiliauskaitė , Arūnas Navakas, Monika Sokaitė , Donatas Zakaras, Zita Bružaitė , Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė, Eduardas Balsys, Vytautas Barkauskas, Giedrius Kuprevičius, Giedrius Puskunigis, Anatolijus Šenderovas, Gintaras Sansone. Of course, works by world classics still constitute a considerable part of the repertoire. A distinguishing feature of this young and constantly evolving choir is its openness to novelty and, at the same time, respect for traditions.