Koras "Ave vita" honored the musical traditions of former artistic directors-conductors Juozas Gaubas and Stepas Sodeika (~ 1935-1939), Alfonsas Mikulskis (~ 1939-1945), Henrikas Kiškas (~ 1945-1947), Antanas Ilčiukas (1947-1958), Prof. Klemensas Griauzdė (1958-1962), Prof. Jonas Aleksa (1961-1962), Doc. Margarita Gedvilaitė (1962-1994). Since 1994, the collective has been led by Prof. Kastytis Barisas, who has been a choir master since 1981. Around 40 students of different specialties sing in the academic choir. The strong and harmonious collective impresses listeners with its youthful charm, enthusiasm, mastery of performance and variety of concert repertoire. The choir "Ave vita" participates in the student song and dance festivals "Gaudeamus", festivals, and competitions in the Republic and the Baltic States. The choir has won many international competitions, including those in Darmstadt (Germany), Heythuysen (Netherlands), Valetta (Malta), Montreux and Neuchatel (Switzerland), Athens (Greece), Cantonigros (Spain), Neerpelt (Belgium), Veldhoven (Netherlands), Ankara (Turkey), Olomouc (Czech Republic), and more. The choir successfully participated in international festivals and concerts in the USA, Mexico, Italy Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Poland, France, Latvia, Slovakia, Spain, and other countries. Due to its international activity, "Ave vita" has been nominated for the "International radiance star" Golden bird award, the highest evaluation by a collective in Lithuania. Choras "Ave vita" can also boast of significant achievements in Lithuania: first place in the 17th international S. Šimkaus choral competition in Klaipėda, first place in its category in the 1st Lithuanian Adult Choirs competition, and third place in the 2nd competition. The art collective holds about 40-50 concerts a year in universities, schools, churches, and concert halls. The repertoire consists of compositions of various difficulties: religious compositions and popular melodies, works by Lithuanian and foreign authors, harmonized Lithuanian and other folk songs. The choir program also includes large-scale compositions that the collective has performed with the symphony orchestras of Bonn University, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen students, the symphonic wind orchestra of the University of Nebraska Omaha (USA), Vilnius amateur music, Vilnius simfonietta, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the State Wind Instrument Orchestra "Trimitas," the Lithuanian Armed Forces Wind Orchestra and more. In 2009, inspired by a charming and youthful leader, the choir successfully began its television music career. The first successful appearance of the collective was in 2009 in the musical project "Lithuania's Voices" organized by LRT. In 2010, the choir participated in the musical project "Duets of stars" together with Vaida Genytė. The choir also supported E. Andrulis and R. Stoškuvienė and Mija with G. Leschinskas. Later, the choir was invited to various television concerts and projects such as "Golden voice," where they performed with Jurga Šeduikytė, Vaidas Baumila, Karina Krysko - Skambine, and Paulius Bagdonavičius, and the project "Two stars" with Ramūnas Difartas and "VIG Roses" girls. In 2014, the choir participated in the musical project "Lithuania's Voices. Choir Eurovision." Another very important project of the collective is the theatrical presentation of national costumes - the concert "Raštų Pynė" (Weaving of Scripts). It is a unique project that presents authentic Lithuanian national costumes. Five of Lithuania's regions (Aukštaitija, Žemaitija, Suvalkija, Dzūkija, Klaipėda) and Lithuanian folk songs belonging to each region are presented in this project. With this project, the choir traveled to a significant part of Lithuania and foreign countries such as Russia (2010 and 2011), Hungary (2011), Germany (2013), and Belarus (2015). The choir has also had the honor of performing with such artists as Linas Adomaitis, Birutė Petrikytė, Edmundas Kučinskas, Merūnas Vitulskis, Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, Vytautas Juozapaitis, etc. The mixed choir's performances have been recorded on audio cassettes (1996) and compact discs (2000, 2004, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016). Contacts: Email: [email protected] Mobile number: +370 687 88706