Mindaugas Piečaitis (born 1969) is a
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
n
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
and
conductor who has worked with several major Lithuanian musical organizations. He gained international attention as the composer and conductor of a
chamber orchestra
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
piece featuring a performance by
Nora, a cat who plays the
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
.
On 5 June 2009, the
chamber piece was performed publicly by the
Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. (
Klaipėda
Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...
is Piecaitis' home town.)
Biography
Born in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
, Piečaitis graduated from its
M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts in 1987.
He received diplomas in Choir Conducting, Orchestra Conducting, and Symphony – Opera Conducting from the
Lithuanian Academy of Music
The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts.
History
Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a music school in 1919 in Kaunas. This s ...
during the 1990s.
[ Since then he has worked in staging and conducting performances at the ]Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre
Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT) (), founded as Operos vaidykla, is an opera house and ballet theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania.
History
Operos vaidykla was founded in 1920 by the Society of Lithuanian Creators of Art in the ...
, the Kaunas Music Theater, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, and the Klaipėda Musical Theater.[ He is currently the conductor of the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra.
Piečaitis is notable for his innovative approach to classical music, and for supporting young musicians in their careers and including them in his performances.
]
CATcerto
Piečaitis wrote his first musical composition, CATcerto, after receiving emails about Nora.
References
External links
*http://www.cultureartfact.org/index.php?tid=10&sid=34&aid=136
*http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Klaipeda+Chamber+Orchestra+on+June+5+performed+a+piece+called...-a0204209728
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110722151629/http://www.koncertusale.lt/en/creative_activity/art_collectives/klaipeda_chamber_orchestra/
*"Catcerto" may be viewed at http://www.catcerto.com/
*
1969 births
Living people
Lithuanian composers
Lithuanian conductors (music)
Musicians from Vilnius
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni
21st-century conductors (music)
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