Martynas Staškus

Lithuanian conductor Martynas Staškus (b. 1969) studied choral conducting at the Juozas Tallat-Kelpša Conservatory before entering the Lithuanian State Conservatory (now the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre) where he pursued choral conducting studies with Romaldas Misiukevičius (1988–93) and completed orchestral conducting studies with Gintaras Rinkevičius (1989–95). Among his early successes are the laureateship of the Juozas Naujalis International Competition for Choral Conductors (1990) and 1st prize of the International Choral Conductors’ Competition in Wrocław, Poland (1991).

Having completed his choral conducting studies in 1993, he formed a chamber mixed choir “Salutaris,” with which he went on international tours and won prizes at international choir competitions in Arezzo, Savigliano (Italy), Tours (France), Stasys Šimkus in Klaipėda (Lithuania), and Miltenberg (Germany).

In 1992, he started teaching at the LAMT Kaunas Faculty and later in Vilnius where he currently holds a position of Associate Professor. In 2004 he has taught conducting at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts where he formed a symphony orchestra and remained its artistic director ever since. In 2013, he also took over the artistic leadership of the LAMT Symphony Orchestra.

Since 1995, he has been conductor at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre where he also held positions of the Chief Conductor (1997–8) and Music Director (2006–8). His repertoire includes over 40 operas and ballets, as well as three Lithuanian stage works: Bronius Kutavičius’ operas The Bear (he has also recorded this opera for the recording released by Ondine in 2002) and Ignis et fides, and Mindaugas Urbaitis’ ballet Acid City. He has conducted the LNOBT symphony orchestra and choir in the first performance of Bach’s St Mark Passion in Lithuania, as well as performances of works by Beethoven, Ravel, Mozart, Brahms, Mussorgsky, Haydn and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy for soloists, choir and orchestra.

Staškus has repeatedly collaborated with the Lithuanian State and Lithuanian National symphony orchestras, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Nordic Baltic Chamber Orchestra Accademia Baltica, Youth Symphony Orchestra of North Rhine-Westphalia, Kremerata Baltica, Ankara Chamber Orchestra, etc. His concert tours have taken him to Denmark, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Germany and elsewhere.

In 2019, he was decorated with the badge “Carry Your Light and Believe” awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania (2016).