Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra

The LCO’s short biography

THE LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LCO, founded in 1960 by Professor Saulius Sondeckis) is one of the world’s most outstanding and highly acclaimed Lithuanian ensembles. The LCO’s tour itineraries have covered the length and breadth of Europe, reached both Americas, the Republic of South Africa, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, China, Lebanon. The LCO has graced the stages of Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Rome’s Santa Cecilia, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Paris’ Salle Pleyel, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus and many more. The Orchestra has collaborated with a number of prominent musicians. Since 2008, the renowned violin virtuoso Sergej Krylov has served as its artistic director and conductor.

The LCO has recorded over 100 vinyl and CDs showcasing the most diverse repertoire among which Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons released by “Deutsche Grammophon”, one of the world’s most renowned classical music record labels, featuring the Lithuanian orchestra and Sergej Krylov. After an eight-year hiatus, another CD by LCO, Krylov, and E. Bosso was released in 2024, featuring works by J. S. Bach.

In the spring of 2026, the Orchestra and Krylov undertook a highly successful tour of Asia: Tokyo (Japan), Chonan (South Korea), and Izmir (Turkey), where they presented three different programmes, with a strong focus on the music of Lithuanian composers M. K. Čiurlionis, J. Naujalis, V. Bartulis, A. Martinaitis, F. Latėnas, J. Tamulionis, and Ž. Martinaitytė. The LCO’s concert on March 26 at the Spring Festival in Tokyo at the Bunka Kaikan concert hall served as a prelude to the opening of an exhibition of M. K. Čiurlionis’ paintings at the Tokyo Museum of Western Art, one of Japan’s most important museums.

“(...) Throughout the concert, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, led by concertmaster Džeraldas Bidva, demonstrated the highest level of ensemble artistry, tonal discipline, and stylistic flexibility.” (Monika Sokaitė, June 26, 2026, 7 meno dienos)

“The orchestra performed the expressive music and the passion for love and loss rooted in it with string passages as light as a breeze (...) Each piece was a gem in the performers’ repertoire. The concert reanimated a sense of abundance, for so many magnificent, evocative works were created during that era: works that celebrate the human inner world and embody it, at times in lush Baroque form, at others in strict Classical form. This is precisely how I envision the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra’s calling card, which also remains an unrivalled calling card for our high musical culture, very clearly demonstrating Lithuania’s place within the Western cultural world. (Daiva Tamošaitytė, January 16, 2026, 7 meno dienos)