Virgilijus Kęstutis Noreika is a Lithuanian opera soloist born on September 22, 1935 in Šiauliai. His father Leonas Noreika was one of the founders of Esperanto language in Šiauliai. He lived at the intersection of Dvaro and Vilnius streets in Šiauliai for his first ten years, where he acted in the role of a dwarf at the Šiauliai Drama Theater in 1942. In 1945, he moved with his parents to Vilnius and commenced his studies at the first boys' gymnasium in 1946. Between 1949 and 1953, he studied at the Juozas Tallat-Kelpša Music School, followed by solo singing studies at LSSR Conservatory from 1953 to 1958, under the guidance of Kipras Petrauskas. From 1957 to 1975, he worked as a soloist at the LSSR Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1965-1966, he attended an internship at Milan's La Scala Theatre, where he played six roles, including Pinkerton in G. Puccini's "Madam Butterfly" under the direction of Gennaro Barra. Later, he went on tour to the Moscow Grand Theatre several times. From 1974 to 1987, he was the chairman of the LSSR Theater Society and between 1975 and 1991, he was the director and artistic director of the Opera and Ballet Theater. Since 1976, he has been a professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. In 1993-1994, Virgilijus taught at the Latin American Song Academy in Caracas (Venezuela). In 1995-1996, he was a vocal mastery teacher at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn and was regularly invited to lead mastery courses. He has been a visiting professor at the Estonian Academy of Music since 1997 and has been the head of the vocal department since 2000. From 2003, he has been the artistic director and teacher of the Opera Studio at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. Virgilijus Noreika's students include Edgaras Montvidas-Prudkauskas, Liudas Norvaišas, Eugenijus Chrebtovas, Algirdas Janutas, Sergejus Larinas, Arūnas Malikėnas, Arvydas Markauskas, Laimonas Pautienius, Audrius Rubežius, Jonas Sakalauskas, Bronius Tamašauskas, Merūnas Vitulskis, Vaidas Vyšniauskas, Mindaugas Žemaitis, and others. He has been a member of the Communist Party since 1971 and a deputy of the LSSR Supreme Soviet since 1973. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Christian Democrats Union in the parliamentary elections. In 2003, he was a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party in the Antakalnis constituency. Virgilijus was previously married to pianist and concertmaster Žaneta Noreikienė. His second wife is ballet soloist and ballet school teacher Loreta Bartusevičiūtė-Noreikienė (born 1958). He has a son named Virgilijus and a daughter named Rasa from his first marriage.
