Andrea Benotas, “CHOIRS ONTARIO”– 2010 Spring
A song from my mother accompanied me as I drifted off to sleep in her arms as a baby. A song from my grandmother comforted me after I fell off my bicycle, as she wiped the dirt off my clothes, my knee scraped and bleeding. A song from my sister as we climbed into bed, arranging our stuffed animals, ready to go to sleep. A song at home; a song at school; a song every Sunday at church, and every summer at camp.
With song I have conquered many fears, surpassed some of life’s hurdles, celebrated friendships and successes, mourned bitter losses. With song I have become who I am. Through song, I find meaning. Through song I exist. I am the song.
Indeed, Lithuanians are a people who, for generations, have lived their lives depending on folk song to accomplish such everyday tasks as sowing and harvesting crops, courting a maiden or luring a suitor, greeting the dawning sun and rising moon. It is perhaps no surprise that we have a three-day song festival tradition dating back to the 1920’s, where Lithuanians from around the world convene and celebrate the one seemingly greatest constant that defines us all as a culture – our songfulness. And in just a few short months, on July 4, this tradition will be coming to Toronto for the first time in 32 years.
The very first song and dance festival originated in Lithuania back in 1924. This tradition has been upheld for over 86 years now, during which 17 song festivals have been organized. In 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) even proclaimed the tradition of the song and dance festivals of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Since many Lithuanians emigrated during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries and reside outside the mother country, the Lithuanian diaspora in North America has been large enough that it could keep the song festival tradition alive by hosting its own iteration of the festival abroad. Since Lithuanian communities in the United States make up the largest part of this diaspora, with as many as 1 million Americans able to claim Lithuanian descent, the first song festival abroad was organized in 1956 in Chicago, and has spanned an impressive 54 years and counting. All of the eight song festivals abroad have taken place in Chicago, except for one which took place in Toronto in 1978. Now, after a 32-year hiatus, the ninth song festival will again return to Toronto in July 2010.
The festival will span July 2 – 4 and will be filled with meetings, social events and rehearsals for the 1,102 (to date) registered choristers, ranging from ages 5 to 85. The culminating point however, is the concert on July 4 at the Hershey Center in Mississauga, when all participants and choirs will come together to perform the songs they have been rehearsing for months, some even for years. Most of all, these three days will be spent surrounded by fellow Lithuanians, celebrating our common love for song and our homeland Lithuania. These days will perfectly embody the chosen theme for the song fest. “’I am the song” represents the beautiful and unique ability of song to sustain and nourish our souls, to unite us all, so far from our homeland,” says the artistic director of the much-anticipated festival, Ms. Dalia Viskontas – a longtime active leader in the Toronto-Lithuanian community and director of numerous youth and adult choirs.
So, until July 2, 2010, hundreds of choristers around the globe will continue to feverishly work away at the chosen song set for the festival, including traditional Lithuanian songs and even 6 new pieces that were specifically composed for the event. Perhaps most importantly, however, we look forward to the time when we can all join together and celebrate the instances of song that have truly shaped us into the proud Lithuanians we are today.
Reprinted courtesy of Choirs Ontario – Your ultimate choral resource!
A similar article also appeared in Bridges – 2010 March –www.lithuanian-american.org
