XXIII (2024)

THE TWENTY THIRD

The International Stasys Šimkus Choir Competition took place at the Klaipėda Concert Hall on May 16–19, 2024. A total of 31 choirs applied to participate in the competition: 3 children’s choirs, 1 youth choir, 3 women’s choirs, 13 mixed choirs, 4 choirs in the sacred music category, 1 vocal ensemble, and 5 choirs in the folk music category from Angola, Ghana, Estonia, the Congo, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Germany, and Lithuania.

The Artistic Director and Organizer of the competition was Assoc. Prof. Algirdas Šumskis, Chairman of the Board of the Klaipėda City Choral Society “Aukuras”.

Jury
Renowned choral specialists were invited to serve on the jury. The Chairman of the Jury was Prof. Dr. Paweł Łukaszewski (Poland). The jury also included: Prof. Vytautas Miškinis (Lithuania), Tomas Ambrozaitis (Lithuania), Vilija Mažintaitė (Lithuania), Kęstutis Jakeliūnas (Lithuania), and Secretary Dr. Greta Gyraitė (Lithuania).

Laureates
In the mixed choir category, 1st place was awarded to the Latvian Academy of Culture Mixed Choir “Sola” (Latvia, conductor Kaspars Ādamsons).
In the equal voices category, 1st place was awarded to the Women’s Choir “Korallerna” (Sweden, conductor Linda Alexandersson).
In the youth choir category, 1st place was awarded to the Jelgava Secondary School No. 4 Youth Mixed Choir (Latvia, conductors Krista Delvere, Liga Celma-Krusiete, Ignus Leilands).
In the children’s choir category, 1st place was awarded to the Kyiv Holosiivskyi District Children and Youth Creativity Centre Children’s Choir “Lastivka” (Ukraine, conductor Oksana Ursatii).

Main Prizes
The Grand Amber Prize and a €1,500 award were won by the Warsaw University of Technology Academic Choir (Poland, conductor Dariusz Zimnicki).
The Small Amber Prize and a €1,000 award were won by the Jelgava Secondary School No. 4 Youth Mixed Choir (Latvia, conductors Krista Delvere, Liga Celma-Krusiete, Ignus Leilands).

Special Prizes
– The Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre Prize for the best performance of a work by a national composer was awarded to the Warsaw University of Technology Academic Choir (Poland, conductor Dariusz Zimnicki);
– The Klaipėda City Municipality Prize for the best performance of a contemporary composition was awarded to the Latvian Academy of Culture Mixed Choir “Sola” (Latvia, conductor Kaspars Ādamsons);
– The Klaipėda City Choral Society “Aukuras” Prize for the best performance of the compulsory piece in categories A, B, and E was awarded to the Warsaw University of Technology Academic Choir (Poland, conductor Dariusz Zimnicki);
– The Lithuanian Choral Union Prize for the most valuable competition programme was awarded to the Warsaw University of Technology Academic Choir (Poland, conductor Dariusz Zimnicki);
– The Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatoire Prize for the best performance of works by Stasys Šimkus was awarded to the Jelgava Secondary School No. 4 Youth Mixed Choir (Latvia, conductors Krista Delvere, Liga Celma-Krusiete, Ignus Leilands).

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