Today, 1 June 2012, the Vilnius Festival starts. It was eagerly awaited for the whole year, and it will last for just a week. From New York to Paris, from medieval melodies to jazz passages - the world's brightest stars are coming to Vilnius. “Vilnius Festival has its own backbone, and we strive to maintain it further. Earlier it has filled a lot of niches. It brought back to the concert halls the audience which wanted to hear works of higher, international level. In terms of genre, the Vilnius Festival will continue to delight with classical music, jazz, contemporary classics,” said Director General of Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, Rūta Prusevičienė. Vilnius Festival will open with modern dance troupe from the U.S. According to its artistic director Gintautas Kėvišas, this year's festival will begin with a novelty – for the first time it will be visited by a dance troupe from the United States, “Ailey II”. It is the New York dance troupe, which came into existence in 1974 as a permanent ensemble of the famous Alvin Ailey, which brought together the most talented young dancers from the Ailey school. The troupe comes to Vilnius with a programme that promises to be a spectacular panorama of American modern dance: dances created in 2011, 2008 and 1960 will be performed. Ennio Morricone: “Notturno Passacaglia” Part of the programme is Ennio Morricone with his “Notturno Passacaglia” for flute and orchestra – a world premiere – on 4 June. The great Italian composer wrote “Notturno - Passacaglia”, dedicated to clarinettist Darko Brlek and flautist Massimo Mercelli, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the European Festivals Association (EFA). It will also be performed at the Emilia Romagna Festival, the Festival di Brescia e Bergamo, and in Mexico City with the University Orchestra. It was recorded for EFA’s film, “EFA 60 Years On”, with two up-and-coming young musicians and with I Solisti di Perugia. Founded in 1997, the annual Vilnius Festival is one of the most prestigious, solid and versatile musical events in Lithuania. With primary interest in presenting classical music, performed by the established soloists, ensembles and symphony orchestras from all over the world, it also promotes contemporary Lithuanian music by commissioning new large-scale works, and offers a platform for jazz and musical theatre. The full programme can be consulted on the EFA website.