The Grand Musicians’ Celebration 2026

On 1 October, World Music Day, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic will bring together different generations of Lithuanian musicians – Golden Disc award winners, opera and jazz soloists, instrumentalists, choirs, chamber ensembles, orchestras and young performers.

This year’s Grand Celebration of Musicians also marks two important anniversaries: the 90th anniversary of the Lithuanian Musicians’ Union and the 95th anniversary of Muzikos barai, the Lithuanian magazine of music, arts and scholarship.
The two-part concert will embrace organ, choral and chamber music, opera and jazz – from Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel to Verdi, John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

2026 Golden Disc Award Winners

One of the highlights of the celebration will be the presentation of the 2026 Golden Disc Awards.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will honour kanklės player and professor Lina Naikelienė. The other 2026 laureates are organist Jurgita Kazakevičiūtė, opera singer Viktorija Miškūnaitė, jazz vocalist Veronika ChiChi, and the Garsas Wind Orchestra of Panevėžys Musical Theatre, conducted by Martynas Bražas.
The concert will also feature Golden Disc laureates from previous years and special guests: opera soloists Justina Gringytė, Kristian Benedikt (Vaidas Vyšniauskas), Viktorija Miškūnaitė and Rita Petrauskaitė; organist Jurgita Kazakevičiūtė; birbynė players Egidijus Ališauskas and Vytautas Kiminius; pianists Daumantas Kirilauskas, Audronė Juozauskaitė and Paulius Zdanavičius; and violinists Rūta Lipinaitytė and Dovydas Čiplys.

The jazz programme will feature Veronika ChiChi, Dmitrijus Golovanovas, Janas Maksimovičius and Vytis Nivinskas.
Also appearing on stage will be the Ąžuoliukas Boys’ and Youth Choir (artistic director Vytautas Miškinis), the Musica humana ensemble (artistic director Robertas Beinaris), the Adoramus Vilnius Sacred Music Choir (artistic director Dr Imantas Jonas Šimkus), the Svajonė Symphony Orchestra of Alytus Music School, and the Garsas Wind Orchestra of Panevėžys Musical Theatre.
The younger generation of musicians will be represented by the TOP Cello Ensemble of Kaunas Juozas Naujalis Music Gymnasium (director Asta Krištaponienė). They will be joined by a cello quintet featuring Ramutė Kalnėnaitė, Marius Sakavičius, Kasparas Šerpytis, Viltė Dobilaitė and Julius Jonušas.

From Organ Music to Opera and Jazz

The celebration will open with organ music by Jean Langlais and excerpts from Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria. The programme will also feature a composition based on Lithuanian patriotic songs, chamber music and opera arias.
A special place in the programme is reserved for the cello. The audience will hear Mantas Šidlauskas’ The Glass Planet and Verdiana, a work based on themes from Verdi’s La traviata and arranged for five cellos at the initiative of David Geringas.
The jazz musicians will perform works by Veronika Čičinskaitė-Golovanova, John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
Vytautas Kiminius and Justina Gringytė will perform with the Svajonė Symphony Orchestra of Alytus Music School, while Kristian Benedikt and Viktorija Miškūnaitė will appear with the Garsas Wind Orchestra of Panevėžys Musical Theatre.

A Finale Continuing a Thirty-Year Tradition

The finale of the Grand Celebration of Musicians will feature George Frideric Handel’s Hallelujah, continuing a tradition dating back to the first Grand Musicians’ Parade in 1997. This year it will be performed by the Garsas Wind Orchestra of Panevėžys Musical Theatre and the Adoramus Vilnius Sacred Music Choir.
And then – Luigi Denza’s Funiculì, Funiculà.
Continuing the tradition begun by the legendary Lithuanian tenor Virgilijus Noreika in 1997, performers on stage and the audience will once again sing it together.