The Lithuanian children’s choir “Ugnelė” (Little Flame) won first place at the Golden Gate International Competition, in the children’s folk music category. The competition is held every three years in San Francisco, attracting hundreds of participants who compete in the categories of folksong, classical, gospel and contemporary choral music.
“Ugnelė”, based in Vilnius, has been in existence since 1954, where it began as a folk song and folk dance ensemble. In 2010 it became a children’s choir, and today it is a private music school, under the leadership of conductor Valerija Skapienė.
The Golden Gate competition is one of the most important choral music events in the US, established in 1991 by conductor Robert Geary, and is the only regularly occurring international children’s competition in the country, with pre-selection of choirs ensuring a high level of performance.
This year again, the competition accepted children from countries throughout the world, from the US to Australia, and from the Phillipines to Georgia. The selection committee included famous professionals: Maria Guinand, Artistic Director of the Schola Cantorum School in Venezuela; Indiana University Professor Raymond Wise, and Estonian Television’s Girls’ Choir Director Aarne Saluveer.
For this competition, “Ugnelė” chose music by Jonas Tamulaitis, Vytautas Miškinis and Lina Kairytė. The school has 140 pupils, has performed in 196 concerts since 2010, and has performed in 34 countries.
