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Philadelphia’s Lithuanian Choir Reinvigorated and Reinvented

Ilona Babinskiene was not amused by my kazoo.

She had just graciously invited me up to sing the first two solo bars of the exquisite Jonas Svedas arrangement of Anoj Pusej Nemunelio in front of an impressive array of Lithuanian choir directors from across America and Canada as she directed them through the piece.

And on a whim I’m still at a loss to explain, I took the kazoo from my pocket and "sang" the solo through it instead. The fact that Ilona didn’t smack me upside the head with her music book and merely settled the guffawing group down with a wave (and a severe glance my way) says much about her poise and focus.

To be sure, the two-day seminar in preparation for next summer’s North American Lithuanian Song Festival (Dainu Svente) was frequently interrupted by jokes, gags, and levity. But it was also a serious overview of an ambitious repertoire to be performed jointly by 45-plus choirs singing as one ensemble. Every choir leader present was asked to direct selections from the program, and Ilona impressed with her analysis of her assigned material, and her clear presentation of it (kazoos and antics notwithstanding.)

Ilona Babinskiene brought considerable musical expertise with her when she moved to Philadelphia’s New Jersey suburbs 5 years ago with her family from Kaunas. In Lithuania she had worked as a piano instructor at the Garliava Childrens’ Music School while directing and performing with a folk ensemble in the Kaunas area (Ilgakiemo Kaimo Kapela.) She’s a graduate of the Klaipeda Conservatory (now known as the Klaipeda Music Academy), with a baccalaureate in Lithuanian Folk Orchestra Directing, specializing in accordion.

Ilona hadn’t unpacked the moving boxes before word of her talents filtered through Philadelphia’s Lithuanian community, and within months she was at the keyboard for various community events.

You’ll find her in photos throughout the recent history of the city’s Lithuanian organizations, always with a smile and a sparkle in her eye: there she is with her accordion accompanying a group of girl scouts singing for the annual Skautu Kucios (Scout Christmas Eve banquet)… at a portable keyboard, directing the children of Vinco Kreve Lithuanian Heritage School… on a sunny plaza, playing that squeezebox and singing with a small ensemble for American street fair audiences, the skirts of Lithuanian folk dancers swirling nearby.

Soon she was enlisted to direct a group of long-time choir members during the Lithuanian language Mass at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church.

"I was shy at first, but they accepted me so warmly!" Ilona recalls. "Talented, talented volunteers who from the start understood what we needed to do, working effectively to create wonderful music."

The enthusiasm was apparently mutual, and infectious: new singers started showing up in the choir loft and at rehearsals in the rectory. More Lithuanian larynxes meant Ilona could expand the choir’s repertory beyond the liturgical and take the ensemble on the road, eventually under a new name.

"LAISVE – what could be more logical," Ilona says. "Obviously we are in the city of the Liberty Bell (Laisves Varpas) but it also means ‘freedom.’ When can you feel as free as when you are lifting your voice in magnificent song?"

Tenor Gabrielius Mironas stepped up to handle administrative duties, managing the business affairs for Laisve. "I rely on him and am so grateful to him not just for the details he takes care of, " Ilona says, "but for his insights into how we take our place within the Lithuanian-American community. Plus, he’s a wonderful singer!"

Teodora Dudoniene keeps the singers supplied with sheet music, organizing the ever-expanding repertoire and hauling the swelling files back and forth between rehearsals.

Ilona is also gratified by the assistance of pianist Raimonda Ruksiene. "What a gift to have such an unsurpassed musician accompany us! She is sensitive not only to the music itself, her task at the keyboard, but to the nuances of my direction and the choir’s response to it. She is super!" Ilona pronounces that "su-PER!!!"

Raimonda is also the director of Laisve’s girls’ ensemble Atzalynas (a particularly Lithuanian expression that can mean "young wood" and "younger generation.") She prepared daughters of adult choir members for crowd-pleasing performances at Christmas season worship and Independence Commemorations.

Some early career highlights for Laisve include:

the Baltic Festival at Ursinus College (2003)
a concert to celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth, NJ Lithuanian heritage school (2003)
the 50th Anniversary of Bendruomenes Balsas (Voice of the Community), Philadelphia’s Lithuanian language radio program (2003)
Lithuanian Independence Commemoration concerts in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC (2003-5)
A joint Christmas concert at St. Andrew’s Church with professional musicians and child actors from St. Casimir’s Church (January 2005)

Laisve has a full slate of performances this season while gearing up for next summer’s Lithuanian Song Festival in Chicago. The repertoire includes works for mixed adult choir, women’s, men’s youth and children’s choirs, and singalongs for the public. The selection ranges from folk songs to newer ballads to specially commissioned pieces destined to become favorites.

Ilona has high praise for the organizers of the Song Festival, in particular Artistic Director Rita Klioriene, whom she met at the directors’seminar. "There is no end to what one could learn from her. She establishes such a cooperative, supportive spirit for this event – it was fascinating to work with people so clued in to the intense emotional connection and interpretation that vocal music requires. I can’t wait for Laisve to experience that same wonderful vibration!"

To help defray the costs of 30-plus people traveling to Chicago next summer, Laisve will be fundraising through promotions yet to be announced. We’ll try to make them fun.

Personally, I’d like to sell kazoos!

BRIDGES, December 2005
By Rasa Brittain

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