© Tomas Terekas

Born to Lithuanian parents in St. Petersburg, Russia (then Leningrad in the Soviet Union), Žibuoklė Martinaitytė grew up in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city, and later pursued her composition studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (where her teachers included the celebrated composer Bronius Kutavičius) in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. For over a decade she has been based in New York City, although she frequently travels around the world for performances as well as to create her singular musical compositions in isolated physical environments. Martinaitytė, who was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Lithuanian Government Award in 2020, has composed phenomenal music for a wide variety of idioms – chamber and solo pieces, electro-acoustic sound installations, and even vocal and choral works (though mostly without words). But the immersive aspect of her work, as well as its meticulous attention to details, is arguably most effectively conveyed in her output for symphony orchestra since it offers so many possible instrumental timbres and combinations.

(C) Frank J. Oteri