In 1922, the Kaunas Duke Vaidotas 8th Infantry Regiment was stationed in Šiauliai along with its brass band, which was led by the famous bandmaster Bronius Jonušas. From 1925 to 1936, the future founder and leader of the Šiauliai Brass Band, Stasys Jautakas (1906–1975), played in this military band. Therefore, the roots of today’s Šiauliai Brass Band can be traced back to 1922.
In 1945, S. Jautakas established the Šiauliai Music School Brass Band and led it until 1966. At that time, he decided that it was time for Šiauliai to have a professional city brass band. The band performed its first concert on May 1, 1967, during the opening of the summer season at Šiauliai Park.
Since then, the band has performed in Šiauliai city and the surrounding region, regularly participating in traditional festivals (in Mažeikiai, Panevėžys, Kaunas, Palanga, Plungė, and other cities), as well as in national brass band championships. Since 1970, the band has been a participant in the national and later the World Lithuanian Song Festivals, earning awards and prizes in these competitions. The band has successfully toured in Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Russia, Germany, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
The Šiauliai Brass Band has performed together with international competition laureates J. Lopetaitė, J. Leitaitė, R. Vingras, and opera soloist V. Juozapaitis. Lithuanian pop legends such as A. Jarulis, J. Žukauskas, O. Karkauskaitė, T. Bigota, V. Vaškas, A. Čižauskaitė, and instrumentalists A. Stulgys, M. Streikutė, B. Šapiro have also performed with the band.
Concert programs have been prepared together with E. Sipavičius, M. Vitulskis, the folk ensemble “Salduvė,” the folk music ensemble “Saulė,” the youth chamber choir “Atžalynas,” and the Šiauliai Boys’ and Youth Choir “Dagilėlis.” The orchestra collaborates with various music and art school ensembles and soloists in preparing programs for national holidays. It has also prepared programs together with dance groups.
The band’s artistic directors and conductors have included V. Masionis, T. Kazlauskas, K. Venclova, R. Jankus, P. Čepulis, V. Stonkus, V. Pilibavičius, G. Brūzga. Since 2016, the band’s artistic director and conductor has been Sigitas Vaičiulionis, conductor Gediminas Brūzga, and assistant band director Arvydas Lingys.
Artistic director: Sigitas Vaičiulionis
