Viltė Žakevičiūtė

Viltė Žakevičiūtė (b. 1996) was born and grew up in Kaunas, she started her musical career at Kaunas Juozas Naujalis Music Gymnasium, where she chose violin. Later she continued her studies as a composer at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. From there, she graduated her BA studies with Mārtiņš Viļums in 2018 and MA studies with Raminta Šerkšnytė in 2020. Currently she pursues her PhD studies at the same Academy with Ričardas Kabelis. In 2019, V. Žakevičiūtė’s bachelor work “The Secret of the Magnolia Flower”, performed by the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra (cond. Donatas Katkus), represented Lithuania at the International Rostrum of Composers in Argentina. In 2021-22, she was the Artistic Director of the "Iš arti" new music festival in Kaunas.

The composer’s musical language focuses on the way and simplicity of naturally produced sound, her musical style and overall sound could be described as contemporary neo-romantic. “The more chaos in my head, the simpler everything is on paper. I have a lot of events going on in my head, but it’s not reflected in the music, it’s simpler”, says Žakevičiūtė. The composer’s music does not burden the listener, but allows them to immerse themselves in deeper reflection. The main goal of Žakevičiūtė’s work is to let the listeners understand the message of her music and to interpret it through the prism of heir own lives.

Milita Lozoraitytė