The 2018 Song Celebration was dedicated to the centenary anniversary of the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania. “In the name of…” is a phrase taken from the state anthem, the National Chant as it is called in Lithuania.
The greatest Celebration’s events were the Ensembles’ Evening “What a Beautiful Your Name Is, My Homeland”, the Dance Day “Our Land”, the Song Day “You Are the Only One”.
The Song Celebration dedicated to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Song Celebrations tradition hosted over 37 thousand Lithuanian and 14 foreign states’ performers, which presented a programme of almost 170 original compositions, including 55 new creative works.
224 of the best choirs of the State, 7983 singers, having mastered the repertoire in a rather short time, were invited to the Celebration. This was the smallest event in the Schoolchildren’s Song Celebration’s history.
The Song Celebration held in 1-6 of July 2009 was dedicated to the millennial anniversary of the first mention of Lithuania’s name. The extraordinary occasion obliged the organisers to hold an extraordinary event, which drew a record number of participants, precisely, 42 thousand.
An especially vast, multi-layered and rich Celebration’s programme was created by joint efforts of 100 of the most eminent Lithuanian composers, directors, choreographers and conductors.
Just as in the previous Schoolchildren’s Song Celebration the objective was to show as widely as possible the spectre of amateur art expressions.
For the first time artistic programmes of separate events of the Song Celebration were interconnected with a single topic, that time prompted by poet Justinas Marcinkevičius’ poem.
Song Celebrations have become inseparable from the major anniversaries of the Statehood. The 1998 Celebration was commemorating the 80th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian State.
The fifth Schoolchildren’s Song Celebration was dedicated to the 600th anniversary of a Lithuanian school.
For the first time in history the Celebration hosted so many World Lithuanians - over 1200 singers, dancers, musicians from the USA, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Russian Federation and Belarus.
The first Celebration of Independent State pulsated with explosive spirits of free citizens, despite it was organised in very complicated conditions of economic blockade. The repertoire of the Song Day was composed exceptionally of music pieces by Lithuanian composers.
The Schoolchildren’s Song Celebration held after a ten-year break was not only the most numerous so long - drawing over 25 thousand performers, including dancers from kindergartens of Vilnius and a group of sportsmen.
This year the Celebration reached a record number of participants – 38 800. The artistic director of the Song Day was Antanas Jozėnas.
This Song Celebration kept the traditional structure, hosting 380 collectives (22 215 performers), featuring a procession-parade, concerts of guests, while the Celebration consisted of three events: the Ensembles’ Evening (3 concerts), the Song Day (1 concert) and the Dance Day (2 concerts).
For the first time the singers and dancers of professional and vocational schools were invited to take part at the Celebration – youth and girls choirs performed two songs each.
For the first time in history the choirs were accompanied by the State Philharmonic Symphonic Orchestra, also the united string instruments’ orchestra performed.
Preparing for the Celebration, the Kalnai Park stage had been reconstructed. The setting was planned to host the theatrical folk song and dance ensembles’ evening, which later on has become an integral part of consequent Song Celebrations.
The preparation for the second Schoolchildren’s Song Celebration was very intense – the compulsory repertoire was mastered by 250 thousand performers, which took part in the first round of selection, 50 thousand took part in the second round.
Two significant events took place in Vilnius during the preparation period for the Celebration, namely, the Men Choirs’ Rally on 29 of June 1963 and the Schoolchildren Song Celebration in 27-28 of June 1964.
Since 1955 schoolchildren used to form the grand part of the Song Celebrations, but the common repertoire was often not interesting and proper for children.
The Celebration held in 23-24 of July 1960 continued introducing novelties – a special open-air amphitheatre was constructed in the Vingis Park, the Celebration’s scenario was drafted, the symphonic amateur orchestras from Vilnius and Kaunas were introduced in the programme.
The restriction on the number of participants – 30 thousand performers – had to be set at this Celebration.
The Celebration, which lasted two days and took place at the Vilnius City Stadium, consisted of two separate events: the Song Day and the Dance Day.
The occupation did not terminate the tradition of Song Celebrations. The Celebration held on the 21st of July 1946 for the first time in history took place in Vilnius.
The third Song Celebration dedicated to the 500th death anniversary of Vytautas Magnus was held on 20th of June 1930 in Kaunas.
The second Celebration on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Lithuania’s independence was held in 1-2 of July 1928 at the Kaunas Žaliakalnis open-air stage.
The first Song Celebration was titled the Song Day and was held in 23-24 of August 1924, in Kaunas, the Exhibition Square.
