Founder       - Saulius Karosas

 

Board                               

Chairwoman - Birutė Karosienė

Members       - Ramunė Kryžauskienė, Birutė Leišienė, Mindaugas Muchlickis

 

Administration

Director                              - Birutė Karosienė

Deputy director                  - Ramunė Kryžauskienė

Executive secretary            - Birutė Leišienė

Financier                            - Renata Stasiulevičiūtė

 

                      Saulius Karosas Charity and Support Foundation was established in March 1998. From the very beginning the Foundation was headed by Birutė Karosienė, a long-standing grand piano educationist of Kaunas J. Naujalis and National M. K. Čiurlionis art schools. She is both Chairwoman of the Board of the Foundation and Director as well. Throughout forty years of the pedagogical activity it had been often with discontent that she noticed gifted children withdraw from prestigious art schools because they could not afford the studies and their place taken by less talented children from well-to-do families.

“Upon establishing Saulius Karosas Charity and Support Foundation and deciding to whom the support should go both my son and I came to the opinion that we would offer assistance to those who need it most in Lithuania – to young musicians at the start of their artistic career and to the disabled”, indicates B. Karosienė.

 

With the focus on that idea the program of  Foundation activity was presented.

It is rendering of financial support to:

-                           young musicians, artists and other specialists participating  in republican, international competitions, mastership courses, festivals;

-                           musicians, executives of art of elder generation to participate in international competitions, seminars and conferences;

-                           individual musical, artistic companies;

-                           societies, unions and associations of art;

-                           develop programs of protection, perpetuation and restoration of cultural assets;

-                           develop programs of science, culture, education, art, religion, health care and social welfare;

-                           disabled, sick people, orphans, large families, retired people with low income;

-                            relevant foundations of charity and support.

 

                      Celebrating its 10^th anniversary Saulius Karosas Charity and Support Foundation can make boast of plentitude and variety of work accomplished. With the focus on the support to young artists, during this period the Foundation induced new creative projects in and granted financial aid to more than a thousand young talents.

                      Each year brought expansion of the Foundation’s activities and enhanced financial indicators. The Board of the Foundation allocates a considerable portion of the funds in their disposition to support various creative institutions and their projects. The largest allocations went to the following creative unions and art schools: Union of Lithuanian Musicians, Union of Lithuanian Composers, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, National M. K. Čiurlionis art school, Kaunas Juozas Naujalis music gymnasium, Vilnius Balys Dvarionas 10-year music school, etc.

                      Saulius Karosas Charity and Support Foundation primarily strives to support young talented musicians. By granting the aid, the Foundation gave a chance to young performers to participate in international contests and master-classes. The performers who received support from the Foundation and became laureates and diploma-winners of miscellaneous international contests are as follows: Edvinas Minkštimas, Sonata Alšauskaitė, Vilma Pečiukonytė, Aušra Bernatavičiūtė, Kęstutis Pavalkis,Vaiva Mažylytė, Ekvilija Slivinskaitė, Radvilė Morkūnaitė, Anastasija Govorova (grand piano), Edvardas Armonas, G. Pyšniak (violoncello), Natalija Polukord, Dalia Kuznecovaitė, Julija Okruško, Jurgis Juozapaitis (violin), Onutė Jonaitytė (flute), Ąžuolas Paulauskas (clarinet), Joana Daunytė (harp), Nomeda Kazlauskaitė, Julija Stupnianek, Jekaterina Tretjakova, Liudas Mikalauskas, Lauryna Bendžiūnaitė (vocal), Vilma Rindzevičiūtė and Irina Venckus, Giedrė and Rimvydas Kisevičiai (grand piano duet) and many others.

                      In promotion of professional progress of the young artists the Foundation renders support to various training programs.The key issue is the support to arrangement of contests and master-classes. The international contest of grand piano duets has been supported from the very beginning: a specially established Liuda Grybauskienė award is given to one duo of  the laureates. The contest of students‘ chamber ensembles, festival „Jazz improvisation“ organized by Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre are also under auspices of the Foundation.

                      In the framework of  the education program, for the students of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and M. K. Čiurlionis art school the Foundation arranged a cycle of master-classes on interpretation by Professor Mūza Rubackytė, a Lithuanian pianist residing in Paris. Young pianists went deep into the problems of performing piano music of Robert Schumann, Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and his contemporaries.

                      The Foundation helped the students of  National M. K. Čiurlionis art school to purchase new musical instruments – a violin, a harp and two violoncellos.

                      The development of the ongoing project of  Saulius Karosas Foundation and Union of Lithuanian Composers aimed at creation of new works of Lithuanian music has been very successful. The arranged contests set off creative spirit in musicians.

                      With the assistance of the Foundation many artists issued CDs, scientific monographs, concert advertisementsts, posters. Also, support was rendered to video recordings of concerts by Vilnius Quartet, publishing of retrospective recordings of singers Regina Tumalevičiūtė, Vincentas Kuprys. Worthwhile mentioning is support to Great Musicians Parades, festivals – Thomas Mann in Nida, percussion in Ukmergė, Utena ancient music “Donum musicae”, project “Baroque Road” in Lithuania and other  events.

                      Quite a large portion of the Foundation’s funds was assigned to charity, people with health disorders. More than once disabled children were given possibility to have repose at the seaside, funds were allocated to nursing of gravely sick persons and to cover the expenses of treatment of disabled members of the family. Kaltinėnai old people‘s home, the Venerable Jurgis Matulaitis Social Center, Vilnius Center of Employment of the Disabled, Lithuanian Education Center for Blind and Weak-eyed People, Center of Youth Psychological Aid and other centers as well as Lithuanian Union of the Disabled, Vilnius Invalids‘ Sports Club „Vilnis“ and the like were frequent recipients of charity.

                      With the Foundation‘s aid Vilnius University Hospital Santariškių klinikos acquired medical equipment, computer hardware, medical literature. Diagnostic equipment was purchased to Marijampolė hospital, etc. Specific emphasis is also given to Vilnius Cardio surgery Support Fund, annual support is granted to VU Medical Faculty Students’ Scientific Society’s conferences, internships of medical people, participation in international medical symposiums.