This year, from September 27 to October 14, the 19th Banchetto Musicale international festival of early music will take place in Vilnius. As every year, the festival will present both popular compositions from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods and works that have never been performed in Lithuania before.

Many celebrated early music performers from Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states will appear in this year’s festival. Concerts will be given at Vilnius’ concert halls, churches and the Lėlė Puppet Theatre by internationally renowned ensembles, such as Amarcord, Tasto Solo, Ensemble Vocale Veneto, United Continuo Ensemble together with Spanish flamenco performers, as well as well-known in Lithuania and everywhere enthusiastically welcomed Romeo & Juliet Choir of the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden.

This year the festival will focus on the production of two madrigal operas by the early Italian Baroque genius Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), staged by Gintaras Varnas at the Lėlė Puppet Theatre. This production will open European Baroque Dialogues, a special programme of Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009.

The variety of the festival events will be complemented by a masterclass dedicated to historically informed performance practice. For four days at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the musicologist, oboist, Royal Conservatory of Brussels and University of Veracruz (Mexico) Professor Rafael Palacios will be sharing his expertise with Lithuanian students and professors. In the festival, he will also appear in one project together with the performers from France and the Baltic States.

The festival will be crowned by a concert of the European Union Baroque orchestra, with Enrico Onofri, a violin virtuoso from Italy.

Information on the festival's press conference will be available in the beginning of September.

The festival is organized by the Public Institutions Banchetto Musicale and Vilniaus Festivaliai.