From July 15 to 26, the ninth performing arts festival "Midsummer Vilnius" will take place in the heart of the capital. Visitors are invited to experience impressive performances by the stars of the music world, a royal electronic music party with an orchestra, and watch unique opera and theater productions in the open air. Festival guests can expect 10 unforgettable evenings in the Grand Courtyard of the Palace of Lords.
"In this day and age, we want to create experiences that allow you to just be in the moment and enjoy it. The festival will be decorated with well-known names that listeners are waiting for all over the world. The first will also surprise sometimes - both in Lithuania and on the festival stage, and, of course, with unexpected, special creative connections," says Valdas Petreikis, the manager of Midsummer Vilnius.
According to him, offering a unique program every year is an increasing challenge. "The festival is growing both in terms of the quality of performances and the number of visitors. The most important thing is to boldly look into the future and look for light, aesthetics and new forms every time. The festival team and I always want to give visitors a summer holiday and unforgettable meetings," says the festival manager.
10 unforgettable experiences
The motto of this year's festival: something you can only experience once.
On July 15, the festival will begin with the largest and brightest international collaboration initiated by "Midsummer Vilnius" - a joint performance of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Gregory Porter and Modesto Pitrėnas.
G. Porter, who gained world fame, is titled as "The Second Greatest American Jazz Singer" after Louis Armstrong. The superstar has many fans in Lithuania. His concerts are a feast for the ears of music lovers, for which tickets are sold out instantly.
On the second evening of the festival, the poetic Gabriele Vilkickytė will take the stage. A songwriter who sings her heart out and broadcasts an immediate authenticity on stage, her palace of the soul contains many different rooms. From lyrical, in which the overtones of Vytautas Kernagis echo, to gangster, captivating the audience with a passionate low register. For the festival listeners, G. Vilkickytė promises to perform her most beloved songs and reveal her latest, never-before-heard work.
On July 17, a long-cherished dream will come true on the festival stage. A unique electronic music producer, DJ Liudas Lazauskas–Roe Deers will create a royal electronic music party together with the festival orchestra conducted by Modesto Pitrėnas. "Roe Deers Orchestra" will be an extraordinary event on the Lithuanian electronic music scene, to which the talented young generation composer Jievaras Jasinskis will contribute with arrangements.
On the fourth night, Tautvydas Gaudėšius-FC Baseball, well known to the country's music lovers, will create a stylish performance. Having discovered the brilliance of the big stages and the favor of the listeners as "Junior A", T. Gaudėšius introduced his new alter ego - "FC Baseball" in 2020, when he started writing songs in Lithuanian. On the festival stage, it will breathe heart, deep monochrome longing and intellectual, dreamily casual romance.
On Friday, July 19, a special event awaits the capital's music lovers. Pianist, composer and singer Hania Rani will create a unique performance with piano, synthesizers and rhythm machines. This artist's performances have already been recorded by well-known radio stations such as "NPR" or "KEXP". Recordings of her live concerts collect millions of listens, and the concert map is expanding more and more every year.
In the second week of the festival, on July 22, visitors will have a special opportunity to see the critically acclaimed director Oskars Korshunov and his OKT/Vilnius City Theater play "Othello", based on the British classic play by William Shakespeare. For the first time, this production will be performed on an outdoor stage and can be enjoyed when the doors of the theaters are usually closed for the summer holidays.
On the evening of July 23, the musical show will be organized by the charismatic accordion virtuoso Martynas Levickis. The stage artist, who rarely performs in Lithuania, promises that the performance for "Midsummer Vilnius" music lovers will be different. Breathing in the old town, more intimate.
On July 24, highly anticipated guests from JAV. This is Natural 7, one of the world's most famous a cappella groups, creating a vocal miracle on stage. The vocal orchestra, which unites seven voice virtuosos, promises to perform a special program created just for this evening - colorful, bright, romantic, for listening in the open air. You can be sure that it will also include the greatest hits performed by Naturally 7, such as "Feel It", "Wall of Sound", "Fix You" and others.
This year, the format cherished by the festival and loved by the listeners - "Opera under the stars" - will return to "Midsummer Vilnius". On the evening of July 25, Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen" will be performed, excerpts of which will be performed by one of the most talented soloists of the Lithuanian opera, Edgaras Montvidas, together with the invited guests of the evening and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Modesto Pitrėnas.
"Midsummer Vilnius'24" festival will be crowned by one of the country's most stylish performers - Justinas Jarutis. On July 26, the festive concert of an exclusive format will keep the audience dancing and reveling until dusk. The performer will create a bright, sexy and retromanic party - this will be the biggest and only performance of J. Jarutis in Lithuania this summer.
