Virgilijus Noreika

Virgilijus Noreika (born September 22, 1935 in Šiauliai ; † March 3, 2018 in Vilnius ) was a Lithuanian and Soviet tenor and professor .

Life

Virgilijus Noreika spent the first ten years of his life in the northwestern Lithuanian city of Šiauliai. From 1942 he played a dwarf in the Šiauliai theater . In 1945 Virgilijus moved with his parents to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. From 1946 he attended the 1st boys' grammar school in Vilnius and from 1949 to 1953 the Juozas Tallat Kelpša Conservatory in Vilnius . From 1953 to 1958 Noreika studied solo singing (in the Kipras Petrauskas class) at the LSSR Conservatory in Soviet Lithuania . From 1957 to 1975 he was an opera soloist at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater . From 1965 to 1966 he continued his education at the Teatro alla Scala opera house in Milan , where he appeared as the first Soviet-Lithuanian singer. From 1976 he taught at the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy in Vilnius.

His father Leonas Noreika was one of the pioneers of Esperanto in Šiauliai.

Virgilijus Noreika was married twice. His wives were Žaneta Noreikienė and Loreta Bartusevičiūtė-Noreikienė.

His son is Virgilijus and the daughter Rasa.

1960, 1970: State Prize of Soviet Lithuania
1995: Gediminas Order
2003: Order for Services to Lithuania
2004: Culture and Art Prize of the Government of Lithuania
2007: National Prize in Cultural Progress (Nacionalinė kultūros pažangos premija)
2010: Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize

Vaclovas Juodpusis. Virgilijus Noreika. Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija, T. 3 (Masaitis-Simno). - Vilnius: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija, 1987. 217 psl.

personal data
SURNAME	Noreika, Virgilijus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Lithuanian and Soviet tenor and professor
DATE OF BIRTH	September 22, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH	Šiauliai
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 2018
Place of death	Vilnius