The Panevėžys Musical Theatre, the largest cultural institution in the region of Aukštaitija, has planned a number of intriguing premieres for the jubilee season of 2024-2025. The first event, which the audience will soon see, is the gala concert "Voices of the Future". It will feature the talented young generation of European opera soloists - mezzo-soprano Eugenia Babich (Sweden), baritone Michalas Janickis (Poland) and soprano Sandra Lebrikaitė (Lithuania), as well as the Panevėžys Music Theatre Choir and Symphony Orchestra.

Although the soloists who will be arriving in Panevėžys are quite young, they are professionals with considerable stage experience. Currently based in Sweden, Belarusian opera singer E. Babich, winner of several prestigious international competitions, has been delighting the audiences of the most famous Scandinavian theatres with her voice in recent years. Janicki is one of the leading soloists of Poland's younger generation, a regular performer on the opera stages and in philharmonic orchestras both in Poland and abroad, and his achievements have been confirmed by numerous vocal competition awards. The talent of Sandra Lebrikaitė is second to none. She not only performs on the biggest stages in her country, but has also sung in South Korea, the United States, Zambia and Rwanda. Sandra composes and records her own songs in collaboration with Lithuanian and foreign producers.

The Panevėžys Music Theatre Choir and Symphony Orchestra have long been out of print. These ensembles, which have many years of experience, have earned the appreciation of both the audience and the performers for their professionalism and achievements.

The conductor of Panevėžys Musical Theatre, Erki Pehkas (Estonia), who has helped to bring all the performers to the opening concert of Panevėžys Musical Theatre's new season, admits that he has had quite a challenge. However, the thoughtfully composed programme, which is quite varied and includes excerpts from works by the most famous composers - Johann Strauss, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Jules Massenet, Charles Gounod, Jacques Offenbach, Francesco Cilea´a´a, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Georges Bizet - is sure to appeal to even the most demanding audience. The programme will include the much-loved excerpts from The Phantom of the Opera (A.L. Webber), Carmen (Bizet), Don Pasquale, La Favorite (Donizetti), etc.

"The organisers of the programme have managed to bring together a wide variety of arias, presenting different characters. Thus, the audience will be able to feel a wide range of emotions from tragedy to comedy, from love to hate. I believe that the concert will appeal to all kinds of audiences: first-time visitors, regulars, younger and older music lovers alike," says Maestro E. Pehkas, who has vast experience in the field.

The Panevėžys Musical Theatre is organising the Voices of the Future concert in collaboration with Grei kūrybiniai projektai, an organisation that aims to contribute to the prospects of growth and development of the cultural field.