The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra was established in 1940 by composer, conductor and pianist Balys Dvarionas. Since the autumn of 2015, Modestas Pitrėnas has been its Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. Robertas Šervenikas is the orchestra’s second conductor and Juozas Domarkas, who led the orchestra between 1964 and 2015, is Honorary Conductor.

The orchestra presents around 50 concerts annually in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall as well as on other stages in Lithuania and abroad in Europe, Japan, South America and South Korea. The orchestra has performed in prominent venues such as Vienna’s Musikverein, Barbican Centre in London, Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Over the years, the orchestra has been conducted by prominent guest conductors such as Mstislav Rostropoich, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kurt Masur, Neeme Järvi and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Famous soloists appearing with the orchestra include Monserrat Caballé, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Yuri Bashmet. The basis of the orchestra’s repertoire is the great oratorios and symphonies as well as contemporary works, particularly those of Lithuanian composers like Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Onutė Narbutaitė, Raminta Šerkšnytė as well as works by many young composers.

Giedrė Šlekytė is an internationally engaged conductor who has worked with orchestras such as Bruckner Orchester Linz, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Lithanian National Symphony Orchestra. She has conducted several of Sweden’s foremost orchetras such as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

She was 1st Kapellmeister at Stadttheater Klagenfurt 2016–2018 where she was lauded for productions of operas such as La Traviata, Don Giovanni and The Abduction from the Seraglio. For the 2019–2020 season, she is engaged to do Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore at Oper Leipzig and Le Nozze di Figaro at the Lithuanian National Opera in Vilnius. In 2015, she was a prize winner of the International Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. She has also been nominated for the Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and as Newcomer of the Year at the International Opera Awards.

Her first appearance in Berwaldhallen was during 2018’s Baltic Sea Festival where she conducted, among other works, Raminta Šerkšnytė’s oratorio Songs of Sunset and Dawn.

Lithuanian pianist Andrius Žlabys has been praised for his virtuosity, his hypnotic playing and his adventurous as well as discerning musical interpretations. Since his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2012 with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, he has given celebrated performances around Europe, the US and Asia, as well as repeated tours with violinist Gidon Kremer. His recording of George Enescu’s Piano Quintet with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica was nominated for a Grammy in 2003. Žlabys has performed at Royal Concergebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo and at Musikverein in Vienna.

Soprano Lina Dambrauskaitė from Lithuania received several awards and scholarships when she was still a student and she has toured Europe and Asia with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, with whom she has performed several concerts. She has also performed with the country’s other great orchestras. She has performed in premières of operas such as Geros Dienos by Lina Lapelytė and Julius Juzeliūna’s Žaidimas. As a concert singer, she has sung great oratorios such as Bach’s St John Passion and Schubert’s Mass no. 6 in E flat major as well as Mahler’s Symphony no. 4. Her operatic roles include Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, Yniold in Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande and the title role in Handel’s Semele.

Lithuanian mezzo soprano, Justina Gringytė, has  been celebrated for her brilliant technique and interpretational skills. In 2015, she received the distinction Young Singer of the Year by the International Opera Awards. The year before, her recording of Rachmaninov songs with pianist Iain Burnside was nominated for a Gramophone Award. Her performances include Georges Bizet’s Carmen in Lissabon and Vilnius, La forza del destino by Verdi at the Welsh National Opera and Vincenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Lithuanian National Opera. As a concert singer, she performs romantic concerts as well as major works such as Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Mahler’s Symphony no. 8 and Verdi’s Requiem.

Lithuanian tenor Edgaras Montvidas had his breakthrough after several seasons with the Royal Opera House in London and the Frankfurt Opera in roles such as Alfredo in La traviata, Fenton in Falstaff, Laertes in Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet, Tamino in The Magic Flute and Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth. More recently, he was celebrated for his Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Alfred in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus as well as for his concert productions of Szymanowski’s King Roger and Verdi’s Requiem. He has performed with Berliner Philharmoniker, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra among others, as well as participating in the BBC Proms and numerous international music festivals.