Meeting of Baltic Contemporary Opera Network, Performances in Vilnius and Geneva

The first meeting of the Baltic Contemporary Opera Network will take place in Vilnius on 17-20 April, where creators, researchers, and producers from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and other European countries will share their countries’ contemporary music theatre innovations, news, achievements and experiences. We invite Lithuanian representatives to participate in the events, whether they wish to passively observe or actively engage in the pitching. The programme of the network meeting can be found here. Registration emails shall be sent to: info@operomanija.lt by 23:59 on 10 April. The Network is supported by Nordic Culture Point, Vilnius City Municipality, Lithuanian Council for Culture.

We are pleased to announce the results of the project selection for the Interdisciplinary Performing Arts Work Ideas Competition, which was jointly run by the State Šiauliai Drama Theatre and “Operomanija”. Out of 25 total applications, a shortlist of 8 proposals was created, and in the final stage, Seven Anonymous Dances by actor and director Darius Gumauskas was announced as the winner. The project will be developed in collaboration with choreographer Erika Vizbaraitė, composer Vytautas Leistrumas, playwright Rimantas Ribačiauskas, lighting designer Eugenijus Sabaliauskas, and costume designer Jolanta Rimkutė. The artists will work on the project in creative residencies throughout 2024, with a premiere scheduled for autumn 2025 on the stage of Šiauliai Drama Theatre and in the programme of the 9th Contemporary Opera Festival NOA (New Opera Action) in Vilnius.

On 21 April, the Baroque theatre noise machine performance Navigations (from the Bad Weather series) by sound artist Arturas Bumšteinas will go on tour to Switzerland to the international music and sound art festival “Archipel” in Geneva.

In April, works from “Operomanija‘s” repertoire will be intensively shown in the capital. On 14-19 April, the sonic experience The Filler will follow its route through the territory of the former ghetto again. On 17-18 April, the spatial opera in the dark Confessions will return to the Pocket Hall of the “Arts Printing House” for four meetings with the public. On 18 April, the opera for ten cashiers, supermarket sounds and a piano, Have a Good Day!, will be performed twice in the Black Hall of the “Arts Printing House”. On 24-25 April, the Smoke Factory will present The Urban Tale of a Hippo, a concert with a choreographed tail that was selected as one of the best contemporary music theatre works in this year’s “Music Theatre NOW” international competition. Tickets for the April events in Lithuania are no longer available.

For those who are currently filling out their annual income tax declaration forms and wondering where to allocate their 1,2% personal income tax (GPM), we would like to propose an alternative option. We invite you to contribute towards the promotion of contemporary opera culture in Lithuania, by supporting the activities carried out by “Operomanija”. For instructions on how to allocate your 1,2% GPM or to fill out the necessary FR0512 form, please click here (video) or here (text). The name of the organisation is VšĮ “Operomanija” with the code 301863621.

Thank you for your interest and support of contemporary authors!