Šarūnas Nakas

Who is Šarūnas Nakas?

Šarūnas Nakas is a Lithuanian composer of contemporary classical music, essayist, conductor, performance and video artist, organiser of contemporary music festivals and presenter of radio programmes.

A student of Julius Juzeliūnas at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, he graduated in 1986 before going to Poland for further study between 1988 and 1991; he has also worked at the IRCAM in Paris. Meanwhile, he followed classes with Witold Lutoslawski, Louis Andriessen and Gerard Grisey.

In 1982, Nakas founded the Vilnius New Music Ensemble, with which he has toured in 15 European countries and Canada for eighteen consecutive years. Nakas was also artistic director of the Gaida contemporary music festival and Musica Ficta festival, both in Vilnius. In 2001 he wrote a textbook on contemporary music, the first of its kind in Lithuania. Between 2000 and 2007 he was a musical editor of the cultural monthly Kultūros barai in Vilnius. Since 2002 he's hosting programs about contemporary music on Lithuanian radio. Since 2011, he has been moderating the online magazine for contemporary music modus-radio.com.