Jonas Žukas

Who is Jonas Žukas?

Jonas Žukas was a Lithuanian organ player and teacher. He performed for more than 50 years in Lithuania, Germany, United States, and Canada. Since 2006, an organ competition of his name is held annually in Lithuania.

Žukas was born to a family of organist. From 1926 to 1933, he studied organs with Juozas Naujalis and fortepiano with Balys Dvarionas in Kaunas. With a stipend from Ministry of Culture, Žukas continued his studies at Conservatoire de Paris with Marcel Dupré and École Normale de Musique de Paris. After return to Lithuania in 1937, he lectured at Kaunas Conservatoire. His first public concert of works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Franck, and Widor was held on November 28, 1937. After St. Michael the Archangel Church acquired modern organs, Žukas held a series of concerts.

In 1944, he retreated to Germany, where he played at various churches and studied composition with Wolfgang Fortner. In 1949, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Woodhaven, Queens. His first show in the U.S. was held in 1950 at the Annunciation Church in Brooklyn. Later he performed in a variety of venues, including The Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. In 1984, on the 500th anniversary of Saint Casimir, he performed at Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia. In 1987 his concert for the 600th anniversary of the Christianization of Lithuania from Immaculate Conception Church in Washington DC was broadcast by Voice of America to Lithuania.