Vilnius Balys Dvarionas Music School Pupils’ Symphony Orchestra SIMFUKAI
(artistic director and conductor Modestas Barkauskas, leader Artūras Alenskas)
Conductor MODESTAS BARKAUSKAS
Works by Georges Bizet, Maurice Ravel, Jānis Mediņš, Giuseppe Verdi, Edward Elgar, Arturo Márquez
The Vilnius Balys Dvarionas Music School Pupils’ Symphony Orchestra Simfukai has just celebrated its 25th anniversary, having met for its first rehearsal in 1999. The Orchestra has given about 400 concerts and appeared in all major Lithuanian concert halls. It has had the honour of performing under the batons of its long-time maestro Modestas Pitrėnas, conductors Saulius Sondeckis, Vytautas Viržonis, Juozas Domarkas, Martynas Staškus and others.
Bursting with youthful energy, Simfukai have toured abroad many times. The last year has been very generous: the Orchestra became an associate member of the European Orchestra Federation, was awarded the Golden Disc prize by the Lithuanian Musicians’ Union. In 2022, after excelling 76 competitors in a competition in France, the Orchestra performed at the Belfort International Music Festival. A group of young artists representing Lithuania in the United Youth Orchestra of Europe performed at the Paris Philharmonic and the Palais de la Musique in Strasbourg in 2022, as well as at the cultural programme of the Paris Olympics in 2024, and at Le Silo in Marseille and the Paris Philharmonic. The Orchestra is a pioneer in many youth initiatives and organiser of festivals. Perhaps the most notable of these is the 2024 Baltic Youth Symphony Orchestra Travelling Festival, which brought together 36 youth symphony orchestras to perform in 18 concerts over a week in the three Baltic States.
The Orchestra, that is unique because of the age of its members, currently involves over 80 young artists, the youngest of whom are just 9 years old. Nevertheless, with the help of their tutors, these children are able to play a wide range of scores. Conductor Modestas Barkauskas has been at the helm of the Orchestra for many years; he is also the artistic director of Vilnius St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra. Artūras Alenskas is the leader of the Orchestra; Orchestra group leaders are Austėja Alenskaitė-Kavaliauskienė, Dalius Jovaiša, Marius Kavaliauskas, Vilius Pocius, Ernestas Ramelis and Egidijus Stanelis. Simfukai has become an exceptional phenomenon of Lithuanian youth culture and an integral part of Lithuanian musical culture.
