Welcome to the SIGISMUNDUS LAUXMIN International Harpsichord Contest!
After its first edition which hosted excellent performances of young artists worldwide, we aim to continue in our quest of establishing the keyboard repertoire of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of Polish-Lithuanian-Commonwealth on all stages of the world by bringing musicians closer to this highly interesting and valuable musical heritage.
The two rounds of the contest will be judged by an international jury, residents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. In parallel, lectures will be given on musical sources preserved in this geographic space. The contest will be crowned by a gala concert.
The establishment of historically based performance practices over the past 20 years has yielded excellent results on the early music scene worldwide. This contest is a way to support young musicians in their future careers, and will contribute to their continuing work and achievements. This harpsichord contest, which is planned to take place regularly every two years in Vilnius, aims to be an important alternative to the few harpsichord competitions around the world. The contest programme includes compulsory works taken from the musical heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. These will allow the opening of borders, introducing this repertoire to audiences and performers outside Lithuania. The accompanying lectures presenting this heritage will acquaint young performers with the specifics and historical context of this little-known repertoire.
The first edition of our contest which took place in 2020 was held online due to the travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. This year, we are faced with a new challenge due to the invasion of the Russian Federation upon our befriended country Ukraine. As a consequence to our geopolitical situation, we have decided to hold this year’s edition of our contest online, and to respect the imposed sanctions by the government of our country by not admitting citizens of the Russian Federation to take part in our contest this year.
Heartfelt thanks to the organiser of the contest, public concert institution Banchetto Musicale, to our supporter Lithuanian Council for Culture, as well to the partners of the contest, the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
