Mūza Rubackytė (born May 19, 1959) 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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, currently residing 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 ...

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and

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. Rubackytė has been awarded the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

, Lithuanian Muzes, and has been named as the National Artist of Lithuania. After diplomas at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, she was a prize-winner at the All Union Competition in St. Petersburg. In 1981 she won the Grand Prix at the Liszt-Bartok International Piano Competition in Budapest. Member of the Lithuanian resistance, she was only able to leave the USSR in 1989. In Paris she won First Prize at the Concours international Les Grands Maîtres Français, of the Triptyque Association, created by Ravel, Dukas and Roussel. In France, Mūza is invited to the prestigious festivals and concert places: Fêtes Romantiques- Nohant, Radio France-Montpellier, Musique en côte Basque, Festival Chopin-Paris, Bagatelle, Lisztomanias, Tons voisins… Gaveau, Champs Elysées, Unesco, Opéra Bastille, Capitole-Toulouse... Lisztienne in heart, she was one of the first pianists to perform the entire Liszt’s'' Years of Pilgrimage'' in three concerts on the same day, alone or in the company of renowned actors. She is also very welcome on the different stages around the world: London Wigmore Hall, Ópera de Santiago, Grand Rex, Opéra et

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

(Buenos Aires), Montevideo Sodre, Geneva Victoria Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cairo and Alexandria Opéra, Bonn Beethoven Haus, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall, Peking, Shanghai, New Zealand, Bermudes, Japan, Africa and South America. Mūza is performing together with renowned conductors as Gergiev, Kogan, Kachidze, Jordania, Lano, Bay, Schermerhorn, Zimmermann, Segal, Slatkin, Nelson, Davis, Haendel, Fedoseyev, … and accompanied by Lausanne, Teatro Colon, Santiago Opera, Auckland National, Russian State, Capitole, Garde Républicaine, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Bretagne, Auvergne, Douai, Lorraine orchestras, as well as following orchestras from USA : Newport, Portland, Houston, Nashville, North Carolina, Canton, Austin, Virginia, Detroit, San Juan and Washington… In 2012, she performed Resurrection - K. Penderecki’s ''Concerto for Piano and Orchestra'' (homage to victims of 11 September 2001) in Puerto Rico, and again in 2013 at the opening of the 3rd Vilnius Piano Festival and in Warsaw for the master’s 80th anniversary. In 2016, at Bogota Teatro Mayor, she performed the ''Concerto'' directed by Maestro K. Penderecki himself. Mūza is regularly invited to be a member in the International competitions’ jury: Liszt Competition in Utrecht and Weimar, Venice Piano Competition, Unisa in Pretoria, competitions in Minsk, Vilnius … Professor of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, teaching takes large place in her field of all activities. She also gives numerous masterclasses around the world and in particular – at the Liszt Academies in Budapest and Weimar. In Lithuania, the President of the Republic awarded her with the Legion of Honor for her actions for independence and several decorations for her commitment as a cultural ambassador. In 2018, Mūza received Commander’s Grand Cross of Order of Vytautas the Great. She is a founder and artistic director of Vilnius Piano Festival (founded for Vilnius – European Capital of Culture in 2009), which 6th edition was in November 2019. She is also holding the St. Christopher’s award of Vilnius city. Mūza, always up for the latest challenge, played complete ''Years of Pilgrimage'' at the Bayreuth Festival and Liszt Festival in Raiding, complete ''24 Preludes and Fugues'' by Shostakovich at the Festival Radio-France-Montpellier, and F. Liszt’s ''12 Transcendental Etudes'' at the Radio France Montpelier Festival… Her discography of more than 30 titles includes complete ''Years of Pilgrimage'' by Liszt (Lyrinx), ''24 Preludes and Fugues'' by Shostakovich (Brilliant Classics), concertos for piano and orchestra by Beethoven, Liszt, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Saint-Saëns for Great Lithuanian live recordings series (2015, Doron), works for piano solo by Louis Vierne (2015), as well as with string quartet and voice (2016, Brilliant Classics). In 2017, she released sonatas by Julius Reubke for piano and organ with Olivier Vernet (Ligia), and album ''De la Valse à l’Abîme'' by Schubert, Schubert/Liszt with Lyrinx. In 2019, two new CDs came to daylight: 6th Great Lithuanian live recordings with works for piano and orchestra by Bartok, Liszt and Schubert/Liszt (Doron) and album together with string quartet Mettis – Dramatic Russian Legacy – homage to Shostakovich and Weinberg (Ligia). She holds various teaching positions at a number of educational institutions, including the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater in Vilnius, Conservatoire Rachmaninoff in Paris, Tchaikovsky Conservatory in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Messiaen Academy of Music in the Netherlands. She has also been a judge at the Lithuanian International Piano Competition and International F. Liszt Piano Competition (Utrecht). A native of Lithuania, Mūza Rubackytė was born into a family of musicians. At the age of 7, she made her professional debut in the capital city of Vilnius performing

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's ''D Major Piano Concerto'' with the Lithuanian National Chamber Orchestra. Six years later, she won the first prize in the National Young Artists Competition. The victory opened the doors to the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she studied under Yakov Flier, Mikhail Voskressensky and Bela Davidovitch. During her conservatoire period, she won the first prize in the

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

(

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) Piano Competition and shortly thereafter was awarded the Conservatory's first prize in solo piano, chamber music and accompaniment. During the Soviet period, Mūza Rubackytė was not allowed to travel outside the

Communist Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

but performed with orchestras of the

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Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

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and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, as well as the great ensembles of

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. She has lived in Paris since 1991.

Selected recordings

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

, ''Piano concerto n°5'', Mūza Rubackyté piano, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by

Hanns-Martin Schneidt Hanns-Martin Schneidt (6 December 1930 – 28 May 2018
retrieved 5 June 2018) was a German c ...

and Piano concerto n°2 (conducted by

Alain Pâris Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...

). Live record. CD Doron music 2014

References

External links

Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra

Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, official site

Mūza Rubackytė homepage

October 20, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubackyte, Muza Living people Lithuanian music educators Lithuanian classical pianists Lithuanian women pianists Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas 1959 births Musicians from Vilnius Academic staff of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre 21st-century Lithuanian classical pianists Lithuanian women music educators Women classical pianists 21st-century Lithuanian pianists 21st-century Lithuanian women pianists