In 1995 UNESCO adopted the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance stating that “Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possible contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace” and proclaimed 16 November the annual International Day for Tolerance.

The Tolerance Centre of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and the Occupation Soviet Regimes in Lithuania and the America Centre in Vilnius invited schoolchildren of sixth to twelfth forms of all Lithuanian schools, individuals and groups, to write an anthem to tolerance.

The organizers of the competition were happy that the Tolerance Centre received scores of recorded songs that were sincere and touched upon mutual respect and understanding from the country’s towns and cities.

The commission consisting from the representatives of the organisations that initiated the competition and the members of Skamp pop band selected seven finalists who were invited to perform their anthem live on International Tolerance Day, 16 November 2012, in the hall at the Centre.

The finalists from Druskininkai, Telšiai, Varėna, Plateliai and Vilnius schools competed for the main prize – to record their song in the professional studio of the Skamp Band with Erica Jennings and Victor Diawara. The girls’ trio from the Atgimimas School in Druskininkai – Viktorija Čaplikaitė, Karolina Rastenytė and Simona Miliauskaitė – took third prize for the song “Anthem to Tolerance” (music and lyrics by Agnė Petrauskaitė; music teacher Renata Balkaitienė); the performers from the Plateliai branch of the art school of Žemaičių Kalvarija – Aurelija Brasaitė, Silvija Mikalauskaitė and Rosita Urnikytė – took second place for the song “Svarbu, kas tavoj širdy” (What matters is what’s in your heart; music and lyrics by Rosita Urnikytė, teacher Vaida Blisturbienė). The second and third prizewinners received valuable prizes from the American Embassy.

The first prize and Jennings and Diawara’s sympathy went to the ensemble of the Žemaitė Gymnasium in Telšiai (Agnė Živatkauskaitė (vocalist, keyboards, author of the music and lyrics), Tomas Rimeika (electric guitar), Auksė Beatričė Katarskytė (violin), Rovena Vaičkutė and Domantė Riškutė (backing singers), Dovydas Sabaliauskas (bass guitar), Vytautas Steckis (trumpet), Jokūbas Maščinskas (percussion) for the “Tu ir aš” (You and I). They have the chance to record their song at the Skamp studio and later to to have it aired on Lithuanian Radio.

We express our gratitude to all twenty-three schools who participated in the competition “Anthem to Tolerance”.