The next International Virgilijus Noreika Competition for Singers is planned for 2026, Vilnius

Asta Krikščiūnaitė

| Литва

After graduating from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and theatre, the soloist and soprano Aistė Krikščiūnaitė received a diploma at the Luciano Pavarotti competition in Philadelphia and continued to hone her craft under the tutelage of acclaimed vocal teachers in the United States. The extensive variations of her sleek voice allow the soprano to perform a multitude of genres: operas, oratories, chamber music, leid, and contemporary opuses. Krikščiūnaitė has performed over 700 various pieces and has created memorable roles in Lithuanian, Estonian, Polish and Finnish theatres. Notable long pieces include work from Johan Sebastian Bach, George Friedrich Handel, Ferenc Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Antonin Dvorak, Ludwig van Beethoven, Leoš Janáček, Krzysztof Penderecki and others. Ms. Krikščiūnaitė has collaborated with the Lithuanian, Polish and Estonian national orchestras, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and many others. The soloist has worked with conductors Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Andres Mustonen, Krzysztof Penderecki and others at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, at the Théâtre des Champs‑Elysées in Paris, the Luxembourg Palace, the Israeli Opera and other prestigious concert halls. She has also toured in Estonia, Germany, the United States, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Ukraine, Armenia and elsewhere. Her operatic and chamber music performances have been broadcasted live on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, the Norwegian P2 radio station, the Lithuanian National Radio, the Estonian Klassikaraadio, and the Israeli national broadcaster. Krikščiūnaitė is a professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and the head of the Department of Vocal Performance, with invitations to conduct singing masterclasses in Lithuania and abroad. In 2004 the soloist received the Order of the White Star for contributions to Estonian culture, in 2012 she was awarded the Decoration of Honour Meritorious for Polish Culture by Poland’s minister of culture, in 2011 she received the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts.