Four Choirs to Take Part in Siluva Chapel 50th Anniversary Celebration

Four Choirs to Take Part in Siluva Chapel 50th Anniversary Celebration

The Siluva Chapel in Washington 50 Year Jubilee Committee announces that the following four Lithuanian choirs will take part in the celebrations at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in October: Dainava from Chicago, Exultate from Cleveland, Lasive of Phildelphia, and Volunge of Toronto.

Chairman Victor Nakas expressed the committee’s pleasure at having received a positive response from all four choirs invited to participate, adding that “the talented musical director of the choir Exultate, Rita Cyvaite Kliorys, has accepted the role of artistic director.” Nakas noted: “Fifty years ago at the blessing of the Siluva Chapel, choirs from various Lithuanian enclaves in North America took part in the ceremonies. The present committee hopes to ensure that liturgical music will also enhance the jubilee celebrations this fall.”

Monsignor Edmundas Putrimas, Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference Delegate for the Lithuanian Catholic Apostolate Abroad and coordinator of liturgy for the jubilee, remarked on the chapel’s symbolic importance: “The Siluva chapel in Washington reflects the persevering efforts of hundreds of thousands of Lithuanian immigrants in the U.S. and Canada to maintain their ethnic and religious identity as they built churches and established their own communities. Church choirs and other musical groups played a central role in their spiritual life.”

Artistic director Rita Kliorys stated that the positive response from all the invited choirs speaks to the significance of the upcoming jubilee. She described her hopes for the jubilee Mass: “In selecting the hymns, our greatest wish was to ensure that the whole congregation could actively participate in the liturgy and that our singing would make the jubilee even more meaningful. To have the whole basilica echo with Lithuanian voices, we consciously picked traditional Lithuanian hymns or those composed by Lithuanian composers. The congregation will be invited to sing well-known pieces, while newer, less familiar, compositions will be sung by the choirs. Special prominence will be given to Marian hymns.”

Following is a brief sketch of the participating choirs:

The Lithuanian artistic ensemble Dainava had its start in 1945 in the displaced persons camp in Hanau, Germany. Many of its members having emigrated to the U.S., the ensemble was reborn in Chicago in 1950. From 1988 the choir of more than 60 members has been directed by musician Darius Polikaitis. Although the main purpose of the ensemble is to propagate Lithuanian choral art, the choir has performed major works in Latin and other languages. Modern Lithuanian compositions continue to be added to the choir’s repertoire.

Exultate began in 1982 as a church choir at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Lithuanian parish in Cleveland. The choir currently has 45 members. In 2007 the choir and its director Rita were the recipients of an award granted by Lithuania’s Folk Culture Center, recognizing the choir’s role in fostering Lithuanian ethnic culture and the tradition of Lithuanian song festivals. Exultate has three musical recordings to its credit.

Philadelphia’s choir Laisve, directed by Ilona Babinskiene, sings every Sunday at St. Andrew parish church. Established about 10 years ago, the choir organizes annual concerts at Christmas and in commemoration of Lithuanian independence. It has also performed for other Lithuanian communities.

Volunge, based in Toronto, Canada, started out as a female octet in 1975. By 1980 it grown into a 45 member mixed choir. The ensemble, under the directorship of Dalia Skrinskaite Viskontas, has performed countless programs, drawing from its repertoire of folk, classical, liturgical, and modern works.

The work of the 50th Jubilee committee is supported by the Lithuanian Foundation, Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid, and the Lithuanian Mission of Washington, D.C. For more information about the upcoming jubilee activities, the committee invites readers to visit the official website www.siluva50usa.org.