The first session of the NordOpera intensive course "Vocal Phonetics" dedicated to Russian phonetics coordinated by the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre took place in Vilnius, April 3-9 2022.

23 students from Sweden, Estonia and Latvia and Lithuania participated in the course. The course started with an introductory lecture on Russian phonetics by Viktoria Pehk-Ivascenko (Vytautas Magnus University). Professor Algirdas Janutas (LMTA) gave masterclass on Russian repertoire at the Music Innovation Studies Centre. Ieva Labanauskaitė, lecturer of the Theatre and Film Faculty led morning training sessions of Laugther Yoga.

Students learned Russian repertoire during individual lessons with vocal teachers and piano coaches. Partner institutions' teachers working at "Vocal Phonetics": Zigrida Kriegere (singing, Latvia) and Leldde Tirele (pianist accompanist, Latvia), Irina Oja (pianist accompanist, Estonia), Martin Hellström and Jaroslaw Kaliski (opera coachers, Sweden), Margarita Levtchuk (singing, Belarus) and Marina Tchyzhenko (singing, Ukraine), LMTA vocal professor Algirdas Janutas and pianist accompanist Lina Giedraitytė, LMTA vocal teacher Stein Skjervold and accompanist Birutė Asevičiūtė.

On 8 April, the course's final concert was performed by the participants. Students presented selected pieces from their recent repertoire by Haydn, Lencavallo, Mozart, Strauss, Puccini, Sibelius and other composers.

Project partners
Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg
Stockholm University of Arts
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music