IV International Virgilijus Noreika Competition for Singers – 19-26 September 2026, Vilnius

Virgilijus Kęstutis Noreika was born on September 22, 1935, in Šiauliai. In 1945, he moved with his parents to Vilnius. From 1949 to 1953, he studied at the Juozas Tallat-Kelpša Music School, where he received his foundational training in solo singing from Antanas Norvaišas. From 1953 to 1958, he studied in the solo singing class of Kipras Petrauskas at the then Lithuanian State Conservatory (now the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre).

While still a student, in 1957, he became a soloist at the Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1965–1966, he trained at Milan’s “La Scala” under the renowned vocal teacher Gennaro Barra. From 1975 to 1991, he served as director of the Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Virgilijus Noreika was a long-time solo singing lecturer and professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. He trained a whole generation of singers who gained fame in Lithuania and abroad. He began teaching at the Academy in 1976. Among his students were Edgaras Montvidas, Merūnas Vitulskis, Vaidas Vyšniauskas (Kristian Benedikt), Laimonas Pautienius, Arūnas Malikėnas, Sergejus Larinas (1956–2008), Algirdas Janutas, Liudas Norvaišas, Eugenijus Chrebtovas, Audrius Rubežius, Arvydas Markauskas (1951–2025), Bronius Tamašauskas, Mindaugas Žemaitis, and others.

In 1993–1994, Noreika taught at the Singing Academy in Caracas (Venezuela); in 1995–1996, he gave masterclasses at the Estonian National Opera and Ballet Theatre “Estonia.” From 1997, he was a visiting professor at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. From 2003 to 2008, he was the artistic director and teacher at the Opera Studio of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

In recognition of Maestro Noreika’s contributions to Lithuanian operatic singing culture, the First International Virgilijus Noreika Singing Competition was held in September 2017. The maestro himself participated as a member of the jury. The competition attracted considerable interest and acclaim and is now held every three years.

During his long career on the opera stage, Virgilijus Noreika performed all the major tenor roles—more than 50 in total: Alfredo, Otello, and the Duke (Verdi’s La Traviata, Otello, Rigoletto), Lensky (Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin), Cavaradossi and Rodolfo (Puccini’s Tosca, La Bohème), Don José (Bizet’s Carmen), Faust (Gounod’s Faust), Werther (Massenet’s Werther), Edgardo, Nemorino (Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, The Elixir of Love), Vladimir (Borodin’s Prince Igor), Jurgelis, Skudutis (Dvarionas’ Dalia), and roles in operas by V. Klova, V. Laurušas, G. Kuprevičius, and other Lithuanian composers.

Virgilijus Noreika also performed widely outside of Lithuania: at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (over 50 times), the Berlin State Opera, and in major venues in Paris, Buenos Aires, Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest, Stockholm, Sofia, Belgrade, Prague, Bratislava, Kyiv, Minsk, Tallinn, Riga, and other capital cities. He also appeared several times at the Chicago Lithuanian Opera.

His concert repertoire was vast and included works such as Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and popular Lithuanian songs by composers such as Stasys Šimkus, Juozas Gruodis, and Benjaminas Gorbulskis, which he performed in various cities and towns across Lithuania.

Virgilijus Noreika gave more than 700 solo recitals. He performed with orchestras from Lithuania and abroad. He toured in Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the USA, Canada, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, and Japan.

Professor Virgilijus Noreika received numerous awards. Among them was the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts in 2010, awarded “for the highest vocal mastery and enduring talent.” He was also honored with the Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania and the Estonian Order of the White Star.