Major part of Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė' (b.1956) creative output consists of choral works. For many years the composer has been collaborating with the Lithuanian Radio and Television Children Choir, which resulted in a number of new works for this choir's repertoire. Always intent on searching for better understanding of what is specific to choral music, she began to sing herself with the Klaipėda-based "Aukuras" Choir in 1996 and started writing choral pieces for this choir as well. Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė tends to expand the traditional forms of choral music in several ways. Short, often three-sectional miniatures are joined to form a cycle with the more or less explicit dramatic line running through all the individual movements (for example,
Coloured Cycle,
Christmas Music,
Sun Path). Some of them display additional theatrical elements as special effects, which serve to illustrate the text, rhythmic declamation and even pantomime, and therefore approach the type of mini-performance with the individualized parts for each singer.
