Founded in 1960 by Prof. Saulius Sondeckis (Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, 1960–2004) the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (LCO) is recognised as one of the finest and most internationally acclaimed Lithuanian orchestras. The LCO was the first among Lithuanian orchestras to make its debut in the West at the Echternach Festival in Luxembourg in 1976, which embarked them on an international career and new possibilities. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra has toured almost every European country, North and South Americas, Japan, Egypt, and the Republic of South Africa. The audiences have applauded the LCO at the Berlin Philharmonic, Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Festival in London, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Pleyel Hall in Paris, Gewandhaus in Leipzig and at many other famous concert halls in Europe. They have repeatedly appeared with Mstislav Rostropovitch, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Vladimir Spivakov, Tatyana Grindenko, Igor Oistrakh, Yevgeny Kissin, David Geringas and Yehudi Menuhin, among many others. During almost five decades of its illustrious career, the LCO has collaborated closely with many famous soloists, conductors and choirs in numerous performances and on more than 100 recordings of diverse repertoire, with a special affinity for the works of Bach and Mozart. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra has also given a number of world premieres of works by many celebrated composers, including Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt and Pēteris Vasks, who have dedicated their works to the Orchestra. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.