Banchetto Musicale – International Early Music Festival 2026

The early music festival “Banchetto musicale” (“Musical Banquet”) was held for the first time in autumn 1989. Since then, it has taken place annually, except for 1991 (when Lithuania was subject to economic and political blockade). The idea of the festival was born to Jūratė Mikiškaitė-Vičienė, founder and director of Lithuania’s first early music ensemble – the Renaissance music and dance ensemble “Banchetto musicale”, who served as the festival’s artistic director until 2003. In 2003, cellist Darius Stabinskas became the festival’s artistic director, and since 2024, Valerijus Jasiulevičius has been responsible for the festival’s concert programmes.

The “Banchetto Musicale” festival is an early music event with particularly long-standing traditions, unique even amongst the Baltic festivals. One could say that during the first decades of independence, it was the only place in Lithuania where early music was performed authentically; it was presented by the most renowned European and international musicians. The festival provided Lithuanian audiences with the opportunity to hear such ensembles as the European Union Baroque Orchestra, and the ensembles “Café Zimmermann”, “Ensemble Organum”, “Le Concert Brisé”, “Accordone”, “Tetraktys”, “Ensemble Vocale Veneto”, “Cantus Cölln”, “Ensemble 1700”, “Amarcord”, “Capella de Ministrers”, “Alia Mvsica”, and many others. The solo performances were particularly outstanding: the festival featured Paolo Pandolfo (viola), Edoardo Bellotti (organ), Matthew Spring (lute, viola da gamba), Stuart McCoy (lute, vihuela), Jacob Heringman (lute), cornetto virtuoso William Dongois, sopranos Sara Stowe and Lavinia Bertotti, and it was also attended by the Baroque and Renaissance dance experts Barbara Segal and Mary Collins from Great Britain.

Programme HERE