VYKINTAS BALTAKAS | COMPOSER
Biography
Vykintas Baltakas has been educated at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre where he studied composition with Vytautas Barkauskas and conducting with Lionginas Abarius. He went on to study composition at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Wolfgang Rihm and conducting with Andreas Weiss. From 1994 to 1996 he participated in the International Courses for New Music in Darmstadt where he was awarded for his Pasaka (Fairy Tale) for solo piano in 1996. From 1994 to 1997 he pursued his studies under the tutelage of composer and conductor Peter Eötvös at the Music Academy in Karlsruhe and at the Hungarian composer’s International Institute and, from 1997, under composer Emmanuel Nunes at the Paris Conservatoire. From 1999–2000 he worked at the IRCAM in Paris. Between 2003-2006 Baltakas studied philosophy at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE).
Compositions by Vykintas Baltakas are based on meticulous research and subsequent manipulation of the musical material. He does not rely on any stylistic convention, but rather develops his own musical criteria for each new work. Most of his works display the elements of theatre, wit and irony. Each work by this highly self-critical composer is extremely tightly structured. Moreover, he often reworks his pieces after their first public performances, making his whole oeuvre look like a single large-scale ‘work in progress.’
Vykintas Baltakas’s works have been regularly performed at major international festivals. In 2001, his portrait concert was held at the Gasteig in Munich. In 2002, the Kölner Philharmonie with Sylvain Cambreling premiered his Poussla for orchestra (in 2006, the SWR Symphony Orchestra performed it at the Berlin Philharmonic). In 2003, the world premiere of about to drink dense clouds, commissioned by the Wiener Festwochen and Klangforum Wien, took place in Vienna under the baton of the composer. On May 18, 2004 the world premiere of his chamber opera Cantio took place at the Münchener Biennale. The same year it was presented at the Gaida festival in Vilnius and was voted the Best Lithuanian Musical Composition in the category of stage works. In 2009 Lift to Dubai was commissioned by the Ensemble Modern, in 2010 Scoria premiered by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BR). One of his recent highlights includes Eselsbrücke, premiered by Matthias Pintscher and the Scharoun, the ensemble of the Berliner Philharmoniker, at the Salzburger Festspielen 2013.
Vykintas Baltakas was commissioned by the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium for the semi-final of the 2015 violin competition. In 2015-16 new works by him were programmed by the Concertgebouw Brugge, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Transit Festival Leuven and Melos-Ethos Festival Bratislava. Various artistic collaborations with Vykintas Baltakas are in the making: Het Collectief and BL!NDMAN Ensembles, the Experimentalstudio des SWR Freiburg, the Piano Duo GrauSchumacher.
Vykintas Baltakas has conducted renowned orchestras such as the RSO and DSO Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra as well as ensembles including the Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Resonanz, Klangforum Wien, MusikFabrik, Scharoun Ensemble, Champ d'Action Antwerp and Hermes Ensemble. He has also collaborated with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Georg Friedrich Haas and Dieter Schnebel. In 2009 he founded the Lithuanian Ensemble Network (LENsemble) of which he is the main driving force.
Vykintas Baltakas has received composer’s grants from the Heinrich Strobel foundation, Herrenhaus Edenkoben and the Fondation Internationale Nadia et Lili Boulanger for composition. His artistic accomplishments have garnered him a number of prizes including the Claudio Abbado International Prize for composition (2003) and the coveted Ernst von Siemens Grants-in-Aid Prize (in 2007). In 2008, he served as a composition professor at the summer courses in Darmstadt.
CD recordings of his compositions have been made by the Ensemble musikFabrik Cologne and the Ensemble Modern. A portrait CD was recently published by KAIROS.
Vykintas Baltakas’ compositions have been published by the Universal Edition in Vienna and the Aust Musik Verlag in Cologne.
Currently Baltakas is professor for composition at the conservatory in Maastricht and Guest Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In September 2016 he started a new master program for performance of contemporary music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
www.baltakas.net
Compositions by Vykintas Baltakas are based on meticulous research and subsequent manipulation of the musical material. He does not rely on any stylistic convention, but rather develops his own musical criteria for each new work. Most of his works display the elements of theatre, wit and irony. Each work by this highly self-critical composer is extremely tightly structured. Moreover, he often reworks his pieces after their first public performances, making his whole oeuvre look like a single large-scale ‘work in progress.’
Vykintas Baltakas’s works have been regularly performed at major international festivals. In 2001, his portrait concert was held at the Gasteig in Munich. In 2002, the Kölner Philharmonie with Sylvain Cambreling premiered his Poussla for orchestra (in 2006, the SWR Symphony Orchestra performed it at the Berlin Philharmonic). In 2003, the world premiere of about to drink dense clouds, commissioned by the Wiener Festwochen and Klangforum Wien, took place in Vienna under the baton of the composer. On May 18, 2004 the world premiere of his chamber opera Cantio took place at the Münchener Biennale. The same year it was presented at the Gaida festival in Vilnius and was voted the Best Lithuanian Musical Composition in the category of stage works. In 2009 Lift to Dubai was commissioned by the Ensemble Modern, in 2010 Scoria premiered by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BR). One of his recent highlights includes Eselsbrücke, premiered by Matthias Pintscher and the Scharoun, the ensemble of the Berliner Philharmoniker, at the Salzburger Festspielen 2013.
Vykintas Baltakas was commissioned by the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium for the semi-final of the 2015 violin competition. In 2015-16 new works by him were programmed by the Concertgebouw Brugge, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Transit Festival Leuven and Melos-Ethos Festival Bratislava. Various artistic collaborations with Vykintas Baltakas are in the making: Het Collectief and BL!NDMAN Ensembles, the Experimentalstudio des SWR Freiburg, the Piano Duo GrauSchumacher.
Vykintas Baltakas has conducted renowned orchestras such as the RSO and DSO Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra as well as ensembles including the Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Resonanz, Klangforum Wien, MusikFabrik, Scharoun Ensemble, Champ d'Action Antwerp and Hermes Ensemble. He has also collaborated with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Georg Friedrich Haas and Dieter Schnebel. In 2009 he founded the Lithuanian Ensemble Network (LENsemble) of which he is the main driving force.
Vykintas Baltakas has received composer’s grants from the Heinrich Strobel foundation, Herrenhaus Edenkoben and the Fondation Internationale Nadia et Lili Boulanger for composition. His artistic accomplishments have garnered him a number of prizes including the Claudio Abbado International Prize for composition (2003) and the coveted Ernst von Siemens Grants-in-Aid Prize (in 2007). In 2008, he served as a composition professor at the summer courses in Darmstadt.
CD recordings of his compositions have been made by the Ensemble musikFabrik Cologne and the Ensemble Modern. A portrait CD was recently published by KAIROS.
Vykintas Baltakas’ compositions have been published by the Universal Edition in Vienna and the Aust Musik Verlag in Cologne.
Currently Baltakas is professor for composition at the conservatory in Maastricht and Guest Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In September 2016 he started a new master program for performance of contemporary music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
www.baltakas.net
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