Concert Series “From Christmas to New Year”. Oh, Happy Day!

We invite you to celebrate Christmas with uplifting music! On the second day of Christmas, artists from Kaunas State Musical Theatre will visit Kaunas Philharmonic and introduce audiences to the beauty of spiritual gospel music. This evening, gospel will be heard in all its power—from heavenly traditional hymns to contemporary works pulsing with soul and rock rhythms, performed by artists from the Kaunas State Musical Theatre choir, participants in various TV music projects and concert programmes, and creators of solo concert programmes. We will hear hits such as “Goodnes of Gods,” “Shout to the Lord,” “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” “Don’t Cry,” “The Color Purple,” “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” and “Not Forgotten,” as well as popular worship songs.

The hymns and songs for the “Oh, Happy Day!” programme were selected and prepared by Rasa Vaitkevičiūtė, chief chorus master of Kaunas State Musical Theatre, who will conduct the concert. The singers will be accompanied by an ensemble of orchestra musicians led by the theatre’s chief conductor, Jonas Janulevičius. J. Janulevičius, Mantas Jančiauskas and Ernestas Valionis created arrangements of well-known works especially for this concert programme and adapted them for a small ensemble of orchestra musicians.

Event host Martynas Stankevičius will not only highlight key moments in the history of gospel music and introduce the hymns and songs being performed, but will also join the performers. Introducing the programme, the choir director says: “‘Gospel’ means ‘good news’; every piece here bears witness: ‘I believe, I am hopeful, I am alive.’ The programme is challenging, so I wish the performers success on stage, and the audience an enjoyable listening experience and the warmest emotions. I believe no one will be left unmoved by this music. After all, it is music that invites you to get up from your chair, clap, sing along and feel it with your whole body. When listening to gospel, you don’t so much hear it as feel it. That is why it touches even those who have nothing to do with religion. These are not only hymns about God, but also about a person searching for light.”