Gintaras Januševicius
Encyclopedia
Gintaras Januševičius is a Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n pianist. Gintaras is renowned for his tender and original interpretations; particularly that of Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt
Liszt
Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

 and Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...

. His repertoire also includes many works of Lithuanian composers.

Education

Gintaras was born in Moscow in a family of Lithuanian trumpeter Algirdas Januševičius and Tatar–Jewish composer Nailia Galiamova
Nailia Galiamova
Nailia Galiamova is a composer, living and working in Vilnius, Lithuania.- Biography :Galiamova studied piano and composition at the Vladislav Uspensky Secondary Music School by the Tashkent State Conservatoire from 1968 until 1979. From 1979 to 1984 she studied composition under the tutelage of...

. The family left Moscow in 1987 and moved to Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....

, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. Gintaras began his musical training at the age of 4 at the Eduardas Balsys School of Arts in Klaipėda. In 1993 family decided to move to capital Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, where his father was appointed the principal trumpeter at the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

, conducted by Gintaras Rinkevičius
Gintaras Rinkevicius
Gintaras Rinkevičius is a Lithuanian conductor, who was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts in 1994. In 1989 he founded the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra.-Biography:...

. Gintaras then entered the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art
National M. K. Ciurlionis School of Art
National M. K. Čiurlionis School Of Art was founded in 1945 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is named after the famous Lithuanian painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. It is the only such school in Lithuania, spanning the entire 12 year learning cycle...

.

Gintaras took his first piano lessons with Valentina Potejenko in Klaipėda. Later he was taught by Vale Kulikauskiene (1993–1998) and Jurgis Bialobžeskis (1998–2003) at the National M.K. Ciurlionis School or Arts in Vilnius. After graduating in 2003, Gintaras entered Lithuanian Academy of Music and Drama to study with Jurgis Bialobžeskis. In 2004 he moved to Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

, Germany where his professor was late Vladimir Krainev
Vladimir Krainev
Vladimir Krainev was a Russian pianist and professor of piano, People's Artist of the USSR.-Biography:...

. Jurgis Bialobžeskis remained his teacher and greatest advisor until his death in May 2008. In 2011 Gintaras joined the piano class of the famous German pianist and professor Bernd Goetzke.

Gintaras is glad to get frequent advises by professors Zvi Meniker and Jan Philip Schulze. Since 2001 he also had lessons with numerous famous pianists, most notably with Lazar Berman
Lazar Berman
Lazar Naumovich Berman was a Soviet Russian classical pianist. As a technician, Berman was extraordinary in terms of sheer evenness, control, and rhythmic panache, yet he always channeled his considerable craft toward musical ends....

 and his wife Valentina, Naum Shtarkman
Naum Shtarkman
Naum Lvovich Shtarkman was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist.He was a disciple of Konstantin Igumnov at the Moscow Conservatory. Shtarkman was awarded a 5th prize at the V Fryderyk Chopin Competition and, most notably, attained the Bronze Medal at the inaugural edition of the Tchaikovsky...

, Malcolm Bilson
Malcolm Bilson
Malcolm Bilson is an American pianist specializing in performance on the fortepiano, which is the 18th century version of the piano. Bilson is the Frederick J...

, Ewa Kupiec, Jurgis Karnavičius
Jurgis Karnavicius
Jurgis Karnavičius is a Lithuanian pianist.Karnavičius comes from a renowned family of musicians: his grandfather, Jurgis Karnavičius , was a composer, and his father, also named Jurgis , was a pianist and the long-time rector of the Lithuanian Academy of Music.Karnavičius graduated from the...

, Mūza Rubackytė
Muza Rubackyte
Mūza Rubackytė is a Lithuanian pianist, currently residing in Vilnius and Paris. Rubackytė has been awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Lithuanian Muzes, and has been named as the National Artist of Lithuania....

 and others.

Competitions

Gintaras started experiencing stage success at the age of 16, after winning national Lithuanian competitions of Balys Dvarionas
Balys Dvarionas
Balys Dvarionas, in Liepāja — 23 August 1972 in Vilnius) was a Lithuanian and Soviet composer, pianist, conductor and educationalist. Dvarionas displayed himself as a composer after World War II. His works are abundant with romanticism, and the pieces are based on folk songs.-...

 and Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. In 2002 he was awarded 'Grand Prix' at an international Frédéric Chopin piano competition in Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...

 Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

. In 2003 Gintaras was among finalists of International M. K. Čiurlionis Competition in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, in 2004 - of Montreal International Musical Competition
Montreal International Musical Competition
The Montreal International Musical Competition is a high-level musical competition for violin, piano, and voice, first established in 2002....

. In 2005 Gintaras won the Yamaha Piano Competition in Lithuania. In 2006 he was awarded a final Diploma at the 1st International Tallinn Piano Competition. In 2007 Gintaras got 3rd Prizes at the International Piano Campus Competition in France and International M. K. Čiurlionis Competition. In March 2010 he was awarded the 2nd Prize and the "Patrizia Cerutti Prize" for the best performance of a Beethoven Sonata at the International Pinerolo Piano Competition. Two months later he took the 2nd Prize at the International Piano Competition "New Stars" in Wernigerode
Wernigerode
Wernigerode is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,500 in 1999....

, Germany and won the 1st prize at the International Rotary Club Competition "Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...

" - Rotary Club granted Gintaras a tour in Spain, both solo and with the orchestra, for 2010 and 2011. Later in that year he won the 2nd Prize at the XIX International Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...

 Piano Competition. Most recent of his awards - the 1st prize at the 13th International Chopin Society Competition in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...


, Germany and a special prize of the Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...

 Piano Concerto Competition in China, both in 2011.

Notable recitals

Gintaras made his orchestra debut at the age of 15, performing Capriccio Brillante of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra under direction of Vytautas Lukočius. Same month, he entered a Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire to perform Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488 of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

.

Up to the date, Gintaras has performed with over 30 orchestras, including Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...

, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra
The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra or LNSO is one of Lithuania's two national orchestras, and was founded in 1940.The younger Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1988....

, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra
Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra
The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra is one of Lithuania's two national orchestras, founded in 1988. The other, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1940....

, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra
Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra
Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra was established in 1982, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra has grown into one of the best professional orchestras in China with the full support of Shenzhen municipal government over the past two decades, gaining both national and international fame Chen Chuansong as General...

, Symphonic Orchestra of the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

, Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...

 Symphony Orchestra, Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...

 Symphony Orchestra, Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra
Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra
Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra in the Lithuanian city of Klaipėda. It was founded in 1992 by violist Liuda Kuraitienė, who remained orchestra's artistic director. In June 2009, she was succeeded by cellist Mindaugas Bačkus. Over the years, the orchestra delivered over 400...

 etc. and visiting famous halls, like Palau de la Música Catalana
Palau de la Música Catalana
The Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in Barcelona. Designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement...

, Sala Mozart of Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier
Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier
Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier is a large multipurpose venue in Montréal, Québec equipped with sophisticated technical equipment. It seats 2,982 people and is part of the Place des Arts cultural complex in Montréal's Quartier des Spectacles entertainment district....

 in Montreal, Estonia Hall in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

, Shenzhen Concert Hall etc. His solo recitals were organised in most towns of Lithuania, as well as Paris, Berlin, Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

, European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....

 of 2005 Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

, Moscow, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...

, Hamamatsu and others. He participated in famous festivals, including The International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój
Duszniki-Zdrój
Duszniki-Zdrój is a spa town in the Klodzko Valley on the Bystrzyca River in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It is a notable spa town and a major tourist attraction of the area.-Economy:...

, Besançon International Music Festival
Besançon International Music Festival
The Besançon International Music Festival is a one of the oldest festivals of classical music that takes place in the city of Besançon, northeastern France, over two weeks from around the middle of September...

, Braunschweig Classix, Dresdner Musikfestspiele etc.

Repertoire

Gintaras sets priority on piano compositions of Rachmaninoff. He performed all of his Études-Tableaux, Morceaux de Fantaisie
Morceaux de Fantaisie
Morceaux de fantaisie , Op. 3, is a set of five piano solo pieces composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1892...

, Songs, most of the Preludes, Suites for two pianos Op. 5 and Op. 17, Trio élégiaque No. 1
Trio Elégiaque No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)
Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor is a composition for piano, violin and cello by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The trio was written on January 18–21, 1892 in Moscow, when the composer was 19 years old. The work was first performed on January 30 of the same year with the composer at the piano, David Kreyn...

, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in A minor, Op. 43 is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is written for solo piano and symphony orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto. The work was written at Villa Senar, according to the score, from July 3 to August 18, 1934...

, Piano Concertos No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)
Sergei Rachmaninoff composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1, in 1892, at age 19. He dedicated the work to Alexander Siloti. He revised the work thoroughly in 1917.-First version:...

 and No. 2
Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901. The second and third movements were first performed with the composer as soloist on 2 December 1900...

, Cello Sonata
Cello Sonata (Rachmaninoff)
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19, a sonata for cello and piano, was completed in November 1901 and published a year later. As typical of sonatas in the Romantic period, it has four movements. Rachmaninoff disliked calling it a cello sonata because he thought the two instruments...

 and other works. Other of his most performed solo works include Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...

 of Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky can refer to:*The Mussorgsky family of Russian nobility;*Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer belonging to that family.*Mussorgsky , a 1950 Soviet film about the composer...

, Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118
Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118 (Brahms)
The Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, are some of the most beloved items that the composer Johannes Brahms wrote for the solo instrument. Completed in 1893 and dedicated to Clara Schumann, the collection was the second to last composition to be published during Brahms' lifetime. It was also his...

 of Brahms, Dante Sonata
Dante Sonata
Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata is a piano sonata in one movement, completed by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1849. It was first published in 1856 as part of the second volume of Années de Pèlerinage...

 of Liszt
Liszt
Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

 , Waldstein Sonata of Beethoven, Scherzi and Barcarolle
Barcarolle (Chopin)
The Barcarole in F sharp major, Op. 60 is a piece for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed from the autumn of 1845 to the summer of 1846. Written in the barcarole form, it features a sweepingly romantic and slightly wistful tone...

 of Chopin etc. Gintaras performed piano concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt
Liszt
Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Ravel, Martinu etc. His repertoire also includes a big variety of sonatas for violin or clarinet
Clarinet Sonata
A clarinet sonata is piece of music in sonata form for clarinet, often with piano accompaniment.The Clarinet Sonatas by Brahms are of special significance to the clarinet repertoire...

 and piano, piano trios
Piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...

 and quintets
Piano quintet
In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...

 of Stravinsky, Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

 and Reinecke
Carl Reinecke
Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke was a German composer, conductor, and pianist.-Biography:Reinecke was born in Altona, Hamburg, Germany; until 1864 the town was under Danish rule. He studied with his father, Johann Peter Rudolph Reinecke, a music teacher...

, songs of Mozart, Schumann, Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...

, Poulenc, Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky can refer to:*The Mussorgsky family of Russian nobility;*Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer belonging to that family.*Mussorgsky , a 1950 Soviet film about the composer...

, Debussy etc.

Recent Life

Januševičius lives in Hanover, Germany since 2004. Since 2008 he is an artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...

 of Plathner's Eleven concert series in Hanover, as well as of the annual Plathner's Eleven International Composers Competition, running since 2009. Since 2009 he tought open master classes in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

. In spring 2012 he will debut as a jury member at one of European piano competitions.

External links and references

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