The junior choir “Cantus gracilis” of the Vilnius music school “Lyra” was formed in 1992 by its present director, teacher-expert Rolandas Aidukas (the choir was granted its name in 2012). The collective involves the 4th–8th grade girls specialising in choral singing. The choir gives concerts, participates in Lithuanian song festivals, pupils’ art festivals, other festivals and various events. The junior choir of the Vilnius music school “Lyra” is a laureate of three international and two national competitions: second prize in the 6th international sacred music competition “Silver bells” in Daugavpils (Latvia, 2005); third prize and bronze diploma in the 3rd choir competition within the 15th sacred music festival “Cantate Domino” (Lithuania, 2007); silver medal in the 8th international sacred choral music festival-competition (category A2) “Musica Religiosa Olomouc” (Czech Republic, 2010); main prize in the national choir competition “Mūsų dainos” (Our Songs) dedicated to the memory of Aldona Pulauskienė (Vievis, 2012) where the choir captured first prize in 2014.

The choir is a participant of many international choral music festivals and song festivals, has given numerous concerts in Lithuania and abroad: Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy. The choir has performed in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Vilnius Town Hall, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Vilnius Cathedral, Riga Cathedral, St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in Daugavpils, “Ave sol” concert hall in Riga (Latvia), Pantheon in Rome and St Peter’s Square in Vatican (Italy), Tallinn Town Hall (Estonia), Church of Saint Maurice in Olomouc and the Wallachian Open Air Museum (Czech Republic), etc.

The choir’s repertoire embraces the works of different styles by Lithuanian and foreign composers from diverse epochs. Lithuanian composer Vytautas Laurušas has dedicated his miniature “Bitė itė” (lyrics by Sigitas Geda) to the choir.

The choir (together with soloists and orchestras) premiered quite a few opuses by Lithuanian composer Mikas Vaitkevičius such as opera-fairy tales “Pupa ir seneliai” (The Bean and the Grandparents) and “Voro vestuvės” (Marriage of the Spider), vocal-instrumental suite “Susiradom smuiko raktą” (We Found the G Clef) as well as L. V. Lopas’ musical “Žiogo pievelės pasaka arba Tikri draugai” (A Grasshopper). In 2014–2017 the choir and soloists staged and performed Tamara Blažienė-Gaitanži musical “Ar mes mylim šaltą žiemą” (Do We Love Cold Winter).
Teacher-expert Rolandas Aidukas is the director and conductor of the junior choir “Cantus gracilis”, teacher-expert Renata Deltuvienė Bakutė and senior teacher Evaldas Steponavičius are the choir’s choirmasters, and concertmaster-expert Živilė Survilaitė is the choir’s accompanist.