Bel Canto Choir Vilnius presents a special evening in Vilnius - the first concert of the vocal music festival Open To The World 2023. 7 pm on Friday, December 1, at the cozy St Catherine’s Church in Vilnius, VOCES8 and the Bel Canto Choir Vilnius will perform a unique, stylistically diverse, heart-touching musical program. The concert will also feature pianist Motiejus Bazaras, and solo roles will be performed by the choir’s singers Mindaugas Rumšas (saxophone), Justinas Stanevičius, and Agnė Bagdonavičienė (vocals).

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius and VOCES8 have had a long-standing friendship since 2018. Since then, both groups have performed twice in the Open To The World project and given four blockbuster concerts.

VOCES8 is a world-famous octet from the United Kingdom that performs on the world’s most famous stages and is renowned for its highly sensitive, luminous, and elegant sound. The group, hailed by critics as "the Rolls-Royce of British a cappella ensembles," uses an astonishingly meticulous method that controls and harmonizes the natural vibrato of each of its members and, if necessary, neutralizes it completely. This creates a unique and silky-smooth sound.

The vocal ensemble’s repertoire effortlessly combines music from various styles and eras, from 18th-century polyphonies to original jazz and popular music arrangements.

The Bel Canto Choir Vilnius program will include works by the world’s most famous contemporary composers, such as Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Ola Gjeilo, and Lithuanian composer Donatas Zakaras. Additionally, the choir will perform several popular music arrangements.

This time, the choir will surprise the audience with a striking choreography to accompany composer Jake Runestad’s energetic Nyon Nyon and Billy Joel’s famous River Of Dreams. Paulius Šinkūnas created the choreography for the choir.

The concert will feature a spectacular finale, with a special highlight being the treasure of Ukrainian heritage, the song “Shchedryk.” Singers will perform this song together as a call to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom.

“Shchedryk,” tells the story of a swallow who flies into a man’s house and, with its song, tells him of a rich and beautiful life when spring comes. Composed of a four-part archaic motif, “Shchedryk” was arranged in 1916 by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych. Its melody later found new life in the English Christmas song “Carol of the Bells,” now an integral part of festive repertoire worldwide.

The Bel Canto Choir Vilnius first performed “Shchedryk” in 2010. The song's recording remains the most popular on the choir’s Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube channels and has been used on the soundtracks of several films. One such film is the biographical drama “Sisi & Ich,” which debuted at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

VOCES8 (artistic director Barnaby Smith)

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius (artistic director & conductor Milda Švelnienė)

Motiejus Bazaras (piano)

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius’ artistic director Milda Švelnienė, choirmasters Raminta Gocentienė and Stasė Žaltauskaitė-Malūnavičienė, vocal coaches Eglė Stundžiaitė and Eimantas Bešėnas. "Open To The World" and choir producer Audrius Valatkevičius.

All information about the concert: www.chorasbelcanto.lt

Bel Canto Choir Vilnius’ Open To The World is a unique choral music project in Lithuania that has become a tradition. This year, it will evolve into Vilnius's first-ever vocal-choral music festival. It aims to introduce modern choral music, the world’s best choirs, vocal ensembles, and composers to Lithuanian audiences, promote Western culture, and create, innovate, and improve. Together.

Open To The World 2023 guests include Grammy-nominated VOCES8, the world's best and most popular British vocal ensemble; Zero8, Sweden's best and most popular men's choir; Sweden's premier vocal ensemble Ringmasters, Dagilėlis, the best boys choir in Lithuania, and Norwegian vocalist and guitarist Marius Beck.

The festival is sponsored by engineering, prefab, and construction company INHUS, Business Garden Vilnius office park, Newsec, the largest property consultancy in Scandinavia, and the Baltics, Vilnius City Municipality, and the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The project’s media partner is LRT TV, and its advertising partner is Ogilvy advertising agency.