Raminta Šerkšnytė

“My connection with Raminta Šerkšnytė’s music is very personal. Probably what fascinates me most is the poetic quality and the mystery of this composer and her work. The “Ramintacism,” the minor thirds. Her personal voice. This voice is also of the highest value in an international context, and her music deserves to reach the widest possible audience.”  
– Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor

Raminta Šerkšnytė, composer and pianist, first appeared on the musical scene in the 1990s and, up until now, maintains her position as one of the best-known Lithuanian composers. Her De Profundis for string orchestra (1998), which maestro Gidon Kremer named “the calling card of Baltic music,” has become one of the most often performed Lithuanian compositions across the world.

One of her newer works, …this too shall pass… for violin, violoncello, vibraphone and string orchestra, was premiered by Kremerata Baltica in September 2021 at the Kronberg Festival. Followed by many repeat per-formances it was released by ECM in 2024. 
Her latest work, Te Deum, commissioned by the Duisburger Philharmoniker and in honour of Vilnius’ 700th Birthday and a longstanding partnership between the two cities, and premiered under the direction of Lithu-anian conductor Giedrė Šlekytė in September 2023.

Raminta’s music is distinguished by its poetic nature, its imagination, and its one-of-a-kind beauty, created by Baltic mysticism and melancholy. The search for and coexistence of archetypes from both Western and East-ern cultures are inherent in her music. It contains a broad range of emotions: from meditation with hints of mystery to dramatic outbursts of vital energy, though poignant “Sehnsucht” is predominant throughout. The compositions are dashing and expressive, with dense textures, and prominent polyrhythmic and polymodal features. She fuses classical, Lithuanian ancient folk and avant-garde musical languages and describes her own composing system as the “fusion of major and minor” (which often sounds as non-traditional tonality). This “major-minor” system is based on two opposite elements (like modes of minor/ major thirds and “light” and “dark” sonorities).

Šerkšnytė’s œuvre is rich and versatile: from large-scale opera (Five Miracles of Mary), multimedia projects (Gloria for brass quintet, choir, symphony orchestra, tape and video projection) to intimate chamber pieces (Fantasia for piano) or pieces for a young audience (Fairy-tale of the Little Prince for flute and orchestra). As a composer, she is also distinguished by her fluency within several styles - from pure melodic-ground com-positions (cantata-oratorio Songs of Sunset and Dawn) to conceptual complex instrumental pieces (Vortex for violin and ensemble). She is best known is her orchestral music (De Profundis, Midsummer Song, Iceberg Symphony, Fires) where subtle, synesthetic colourful orchestration comes together with a dramatically mighty and virtuosic sound.

Raminta’s main artistic inspiration is the universal rule of harmony in nature with its metaphorical compari-son to the archetypical human state of mind. Her poetic titles are always rooted in a figurative sense and semantic aspects sit alongside the structural considerations of her composition. Of her craft, Raminta states: “I believe that peak experience and spiritual impact is the essence in the art, which can lead to the unforget-table transcendental experience. Composition is an uplifted state of mind materialized by means of sounds, though its impressiveness depends on the composer's technical mastery.”

Her music has been performed by many renowned orchestras, including Kremerata Baltica (Gidon Kremer), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Münchner Philharmoniker, New York Phil-harmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (all under the direction of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla), Ba-varian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Mariss Jansons), Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (Modestas Pitrėnas), Irvine Arditti, Hugo Ticciati, Strasbourg Percussionists and many others. Her works have been per-formed in concerts around the globe, at venues such as the Lincoln Centre (New York), Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), Musikverein Wien and Philharmonie Berlin. Her music has been featured at the following festi-vals: ISCM World Music Days (Hong-Kong, Tongyeong, Ghent, Zagreb and Vilnius), Gaudeamus Music Week (Amsterdam), Baltic Sea festival (Sweden), Luzerne festival, to name a few.

In 2008, Raminta was awarded the prestigious Lithuanian National Arts and Culture Prize (the highest artistic distinction in Lithuania). She is also a winner of the composition competition Coup de Cœur des Jeunes Mu-siciens (Prince Pierre Foundation, Monaco, 2011), after being nominated by Arvo Pärt. Raminta’s music is included in releases by Naxos, Nonesuch and Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre. In 2019 Deutsche Grammophon released her portrait CD.

Raminta born in Kaunas, Lithuania. She initially studied piano and later composition (under Prof. Osvaldas Balakauskas) at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater and also participated in various composers’ masterclasses. Raminta lives and works in Vilnius, Lithuania.