11th (1997)

THE ELEVENTH

The International Stasys Šimkus Choir Competition, which brought together 18 choirs from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, took place on October 18–19, 1997. In the first round of the competition, laureate titles and prizes were awarded to: the Liepāja mixed choir Intis (conductor Ilze Valce), the Liepāja girls’ choir Aija (conductor G. Vite), the youth mixed choir Ave Vita of Vilnius Pedagogical University (conductors Kastytis Barisas and Saulius Liausa), and the children’s choir of the Klaipėda Eduardo Balsys School of Arts (conductor Zita Kariniauskienė).

The GRAND AMBER Prize and the main award were presented to the mixed choir of the Vytautas the Great Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kaunas (conductor Rolandas Daugėla).

Special prizes were awarded as follows: for the best performance of a contemporary composer’s work (established by the Lithuanian Musicians’ Association) – to the Liepāja mixed choir Intis (conductor Ilze Valce); for the most valuable program (established by the Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre) – to the Vilnius Chamber Girls’ Choir Eglė (conductor Raimondas Katinas); for the best performance of a Stasys Šimkus work (prize established by Stasys Šimkus’s sons Algis and Neris) – to the Klaipėda Chamber Mixed Choir (conductor Vydmantas Ruzgys); for the best diction in performances of works in a foreign language (established by the Jauna muzika Club) – to the children’s choir of Klaipėda Vydūnas Secondary School (conductor Arvydas Girdzijauskas); the Audience Prize (established by the Klaipėda City Choral Association Aukuras) – to the Liepāja mixed choir Intis (conductor Ilze Valce); for the best performance of the compulsory work (jury prize) – to the Vilnius Chamber Choir Eglė (conductor Raimondas Katinas); and the prize of the Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatory, by decision of its representatives, was awarded to the mixed choir of the Vytautas the Great Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kaunas (conductor Rolandas Daugėla) for the performance of Stasys Šimkus’s song Nakties tylumoj (“In the Stillness of the Night”).

The participating ensembles were evaluated by the jury chaired by Prof. Veeno Laul (Estonia), with Assoc. Prof. J. Klavins (Latvia) and Prof. Gediminas Purlys (Lithuania) as members; the duties of secretary were performed by Kęstutis Kačinskas (Lithuania).

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