Classical Music News

Lithuanian National Opera Presents Concert in Solidarity with Ukraine

March 24, 2022

2 MIN READ

Broadcast live on Lithuania Independence Restoration Day (March 11, 2022) the concert was held at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT), in Vilnius, and is now available for playback.

Under the musical direction of Ričardas Šumila and Margaryta Grynyvetska, the concert featured the LNOBT Orchestra and Choir — alongside artists such as sopranos Margarita Levchuk and Yuliya Tkachenko, prima ballerina Olesia Shaytanova, baritone Jonas Sakalauskas, tenor Edgaras Montvidas, and violinist Dainius Peseckas.

Audiences can purchase tickets to the concert here with a free IDAGIO account. Using a flex pricing model, tickets are available for 0, 5, 12, 25, 50, and 100 Euros or Dollars.

All proceeds from ticket sales and earnings will be donated to organizations that are supporting Ukrainian refugees — from this production specifically, the funds will be donated to the UN's Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

"The war in Ukraine has triggered utmost anxiety around the world," a representative of the LNOBT writes. "At the same time, it is creating an unprecedented wave of solidarity, especially in the Baltic States. Here, people feel a strong bond with the long-suffering Ukrainian population through their shared history and geographical proximity to Russia.

"In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, people recall the Peaceful Revolution of August 1989, when more than two million people sang and formed a 600-kilometer-long human chain through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

"The 'Baltic Way' went down in the history books and set the stage for the fall of the Soviet Union – peacefully, with music. As a result, Lithuania became the first of the three Baltic countries to declare independence on March 11, 1990, exactly 32 years ago today. By December 1991, all other former states of the Soviet Union followed suit, including Ukraine. It is such memories of the transition to freedom and democracy, as well as concerns about renewed annexation and oppression, that unite these people.

"In the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, only a few streets away from the 'Baltic Way,' musicians from Lithuania and Ukraine are gathering this evening. Once again with the power of music, they are committed to peace and their hard-won freedom. Together they are setting an example so that the dark chapters of European history will never be repeated."