16th season of “Operomanija” that began in September is gathering momentum and our repertoire works for October will be presented in the halls and streets of Vilnius, as well as outside the capital. On 11 October, a chamber version of Arturas Bumšteinas’ sound installation-performance Olympian Machine will return to the Pocket Hall of the Arts […]
As soon as September begins, “Operomanija” actively embarks on its 16th season and invites you to return not only to the halls of theatres in Vilnius and other cities, but also to the streets, courtyards and buildings of the Old Town of the capital.
Following an intense season of more than 150 events, “Operomanija” (and its audiences) is moving towards the holiday season and is ready for a short break. We wish to thank our partners for cooperation and the viewers – for their interest in contemporary music theatre! Although the local performing arts season is officially over for […]
May was a busy month in terms of touring and rich in international contacts. At the beginning of the month, we made new contacts with producers and curators from France and other countries at Lithuania’s first performing arts platform, where the work produced by “Operomanija” was presented in a variety of formats. The aim of […]
In April, the repertoire of “Operomanija” was in full swing in Vilnius: opera “Have a Good Day!” was performed 4 times, while the route of the sonic experience “The Filler” at the Vilna ghetto was travelled 32 times. The May repertoire will begin with the musical pictures from the archives of Lithuanian television “Radvila Darius, […]
Characters are being sought for the new contemporary opera “Things I didn’t dare to say and it’s too late now”.
In mid-March, representatives of “Operomanija” attended the meeting of the Baltic Contemporary Music Network (curated by the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Composers’ Unions) that was held in Cēsis, Latvia. During the meeting, the prospects for the development of the network were discussed, while “Operomanija” also addressed the matters associated with the new Baltic network for […]
As the year draws to an end it is high time to summarise all that has been done and to see what is in store for the creators and fans of contemporary music theatre.
From 14th to 22nd of October, production company Operomanija invites the audiences to the 8th NOA (New Opera Action) festival. Returning to diverse venues in Vilnius after four years, the event offers continued or first-time discovery of the diverse genres of contemporary musical theatre and new opera. The 8th New Opera Action will present 8 […]
After 14 years of active operation, production company Operomanija launches its first Internet Site www.operomanija.lt. Formerly the organisation relied on social platforms, media and a site dedicated to New Opera Festival to promote its ongoing projects, whereas from now on it invites everyone to visit the newly launched site to follow its news and repertoire, and to browse its original “database-archive” exploring rich history of the company filled with performances, events, festivals, tours, residencies and critical reviews. All information is presented in Lithuanian and English.
Contemporary opera project “Opera Genome” jointly carried out by the production company “Operomanija” and the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre invites people to share their experiences, stories and moods, thus contributing to the creation of a new opera.
This year, the festival of performing arts Lessingtage (named after critic and dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing) organised by Hamburg Thalia theatre took place on 20 January – 6 February. Opera Have A Good Day! by Vaiva Grainytė, Lina Lapelytė and Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė presenting stories of 10 cashiers at trade centre closed the festival at Thalia theatre on 5 and 6 of February. Tickets to both performances were sold out long before the start of the festival, however, there were other challenges the creative team faced while touring.
Critically acclaimed noise machines are continuing their journey with a new version of Bad Weather series – “Navigation II”. Each version of Bad Weather is always slightly different, depending upon the peculiarities of the hall and overall context of the event. This time, it was presented at “Without distance” – Lithuanian culture in Bavaria very close festival.
Another award in the field of Lithuanian contemporary art – recently it was announced that the performance of Baroque noise machines Navigations (from the Bad Weather series) by Arturas Bumšteinas was awarded first prize as the best piece (Open category) at the international Carapelli for Art competition organised by Carapelli Foundation. The piece competed against more than 1700 works of contemporary art presented by artists from 80 countries. However, this appreciation was followed by some unpleasant surprises that nearly led to refusal to accept the award.
On the 5th of November, the main award ceremony of the Lithuanian professional theatre – Golden Crosses of the Stage took place at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.
A slightly ironic glance at the present, through glasses of the past – that is how one might describe the result of collaboration between dramatist Birutė Kapustinskaitė and director Karolis Kaupinis, resulting in series of musical pictures from the archives of Lithuanian Television, titled Radvila Darius, son of Vytautas. On the 21st and 22nd of October, at 7pm, this tragicomic piece, weaving a kind of “transtemporal” dialogue saturated with absurd paradoxes, will once again be shown at the culture complex Sodas 2123.
Listen attentively, not casually – a reminder coming along the newly released double LP of audio performance Audiokaukas by sound artist Arturas Bumšteinas. Nostalgia for active, private and repeated listening, along with a desire to present a modern transformation of pre-1990s radio theatre tradition have led to this new musical release, reminding of the phantasmagorical time of the nineties. On Sunday, 23rd of August, at 4pm a presentation of the LP will take place at creative industries’ centre Pakrantė (Rupert), accompanied by the conversation of the author with musicologist and philosopher Edvardas Šumila.
“The Filler surely and clearly speaks about the present, not the past,” wrote theatre critic Rima Jūraitė after the beta-version of sonic experience The Filler, which took place in Autumn 2019. As the calendar spring is beginning, the renewed sonic narrative referencing the times of the Vilna Ghetto and revealing the stories of Jews who lived therein will be regularly showcased throughout March.