Lithuanian and Indonesian choirs host free concert in Seeley Lake

SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake community will have an opportunity to hear the accomplished Boys' Choir Dagilėlis (pronounced Dah-ghi-ley-lis) from Lithuania and the Batavia Madrigal Singers from Indonesia Tuesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. at the Seeley-Swan High School Auditorium. These choirs are traveling to the United States to participate in the International Choral Festival in Missoula July 17-20 (held once every three years).

The choir's performance in Seeley Lake is being sponsored by Missoula's Festival as part of their "Outreach" program, which is made possible through a grant from the Montana Arts Council's Cultural Trust program. Missoula's Outreach program is devoted to fostering cultural exchange and good will through the universal language of music by bringing world class choirs to other Montana towns before or after the main Festival in Missoula.

Boys' Choir "Dagilėlis" of Šiauliai is one of the most prominent groups in the choir genre category in all Baltic regions. Each year "Dagilėlis" holds a number of concerts. The young singers rejoice the hearts of the audience by their perfect performance, emotionality and their vibrant sounding voices.

The contribution of "Dagilėlis" to the cultural life of Lithuania and representation of the Lithuanian choral art in foreign countries have been awarded by acknowledgments of Presidents of the Republic of Lithuania, numerous diplomas and famous Lithuanian choral nominations. The Boys' Choir "Dagilėlis" has brought home excellent reviews on the music performed in prestigious concert halls in USA, China and European countries.

"Dagilėlis" has performed many outstanding pieces with the State Hermitage orchestra "St. Petersburg Camerata" (Russia), Lithuanian national symphony orchestra and others. The choir constantly participates in various international projects, festivals and achieved highest winnings at twelve international choir competitions. One of the latest–absolutely the best Lithuanian choral name and the Grand Prize winner of the festival–competition "We are Children of Lithuania"

Batavia Madrigal Singers (BMS) is one of the finest vocal ensembles in Indonesia. It is the only Indonesian choir that has successfully achieved numerous awards at prestigious competitions held by members of the European Grand Prix in Choral Singing. Some of the notable accomplishments include being the highest achiever at the 57th International Contest of Habaneras and Polyphony; winning the Grand Champion of the 2012 International May Competition in Varna; winning the Grand Champion of the 2016 Tolosa Choral Contest and many more.

The BMS is still the only Indonesian choir ever qualified to compete at the European Grand Prix in Choral Singing. The BMS repertoires are varied from classical to the popular genre, baroque to modern and contemporary music, sacred-secular music, as well as folksongs from Indonesia and other parts of the world. Founded in 1996, the BMS currently consists of amateur singers from the Jakarta area with a varied background in age, ethnicity, occupation and religion. All members were carefully selected through competitive auditions. Avip Priatna has been directing the choir since its establishment.

The public is invited to attend this free public concert and visit with the musicians after the performance. For additional information contact Bob Green at 406-555-5555, or the Festival office in Missoula at 406-721-7985.