Vykintas Baltakas

After his composition and conducting studies in Lithuania, Vykintas Baltakas went on to study abroad in the early 1990s, and gradually became successfully integrated in the international music scene. His musical style has been significantly influenced not only by his studies with Wolfgang Rihm and Peter Eötvös but also by his experiences as a conductor specializing in contemporary music repertoire. Compositions by Vykintas Baltakas are characterised by precise research and subsequent deliberate manipulation of the musical material. He does not try to conform to any stylistic conventions and establishes his own musical criteria for each work. His oeuvre also contains some elements of theatre, wit and irony. However, each work by this highly self-critical composer is extremely tightly structured. Baltakas often reworks his pieces after the premiere, making his whole oeuvre look like a single large-scale work in progress.