A bench of Violeta Urmanavičiūtė-Urmana

Monuments and sculptures

Also known as the Nightingale bench. On 8 September 2012, after the concert of world-famous singer Violeta Urmanavičiūtė-Urmana, her hometown unveiled a bench named after her. Sculptor Kęstutis Lanauskas. Violeta Urmanavičiūtė was born in 1961. She studied in the 2nd High School (currently Marijampolė R. Stankevičius Primary School). Later she attended piano classes of Professor Vlada Mikštaitė in Vilnius Conservatoire, then continued her education in a solo singing class. In 1991–1993 she studied in the Astrid Varnay master class of the Munich Higher School of Music, at the same time attending the Opera Study under the National Opera of Munich. As of 1993, she began her career as an opera soloist in Germany, Switzerland, France. She won several international awards, was invited for a debut in the Bayreuth Festival. The soloist sang on the stages of the best-known theatres in the world – in New York, Milan, Munich and elsewhere. Urmanavičiūtė sang under the direction of the most famous conductors of Lithuania and the world. Violeta Urmanavičiūtė-Urmana was awarded the Lithuanian National Prise for Culture and Arts. The singer was named a honorary citizen of the city of Marijampolė.