It has been already five decades that Virgilijus Noreika holds the leading position in Lithuanian opera as a unique tenor with an extraordinarily beautiful timbre. The soloist is remarkable for his artistic temperament, expressive and meaningful acting as well as profound sense of music.

Virgilijus Noreika was born in 1935, Šiauliai (Lithuania). In 1958 he graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre where he studied solo singing under Prof. Kipras Petrauskas. In 1965 – 66 he was the first in post-war Lithuania to go for internship at La Scala theatre in Milan where he prepared six parts in operas. He performed the part of Pinkerton (G. Puccini’s Madama Butterfly; supervised by G. Bara). Later the singer appeared on the stage of La Scala several more times together with the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre troupe that was on tour in Milan. Since 1957 Noreika has been a soloist at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1976 – 1991 he was the director of LNOBT. In 1993 – 94 he taught at the Academy of Latin American Singing in Karakas (Venezuela).

Virgilijus Noreika has sung on many stages of the world: Moscow Bolshoi Theatre (over 50 times), Berlin State Opera, Paris Grand Opera, Buenos Aires Teatro Colon, in Stockholm, Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest, Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Kiev, Minsk, Tallinn and Riga, Chicago Lithuanian Opera and other stages. The singer has prepared over 50 parts. Next to his parts in operas written by Lithuanian composers (Kazimieras Viktoras Banaitis, Giedrius Kuprevičius, Vytautas Klova, Balys Dvarionas and Vytautas Laurušas), he has sung the main parts in operas by the most prominent composers: Don Jose (G. Bizet’s Carmen), Werther (J. Massenet’s Werther), Edgardo, Nemorino (G. Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, The Elixir of Love), Lensky (P. Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin), Otello, Alfredo, Herzog (G. Verdi’s Otello, La Traviata, Rigoletto), Cavaradossi, Johnson, Rodolfo (G. Puccini’s Tosca, Manon Lescaut, La Boheme), Vladimir (A. Borodin’s Prince Igor), Mozart (N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri) and others.
Virgilijus Noreika has been also giving solo concerts – now over 700. He has performed the tenor parts in G. Verdi’s Requiem, L. van Beethoven’s IX Symphony, A. Arutunian’s cantatas and other. He has been performing together with Lithuanian and foreign orchestras. The singer has toured Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, USA, Canada, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela and Japan.

Since 1976 Prof. Virgilijus Noreika has been teaching at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Artistic director and teacher of the Opera Studio at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (since 2003). Since 1997 he has been a visiting professor at the Estonian Academy of Music; since 2000 he is the head of the Singing Department. In 1995 – 96 he taught singing at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn. Noreika has been constantly invited to hold master classes. Students of Prof. Virgilijus Noreika sing on stages of many theatres of Europe. Among the most prominent students are: Sergejus Larinas, Edgaras Prudkauskas, Audrius Rubežius, Algirdas Janutas, Arvydas Markauskas, Liudas Norvaišas, Mindaugas Žemaitis, Ignas Misiūra-Tumanovas, Dainius Puišys and Gediminas Tiškevičius.

Virgilijus Noreika has been invited to be a member of juries at international and national solo singing competitions: J. Vytolis (Latvia, 1966), S. Moniuszka (Poland, 1997), M. Glinka (Russia, 1996), B. Grincevičiūtė (Lithuania, 1996, 2001) and many others.
Virgilijus Noreika has recorded his singing together with Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, Lithuanian National Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber and other orchestras. He has recorded two CDs together with Violeta Urmana.

Noreika was awarded national prizes in 1960 and 1970; in 1995 he was awarded the Fourth Class Order of Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. In 1995 Noreika was awarded the First Class Order of the Polar Star (Sweden). Kipras Prize awarded by the Society of Lithuanian Opera Friends (1997); Golden Disc Award from the Lithuanian Musicians’ Union (2001).