Kristina Kupšienė

Lecturer at the Department of Music of the LMTA Klaipėda Faculty. Subjects: Violins, Chamber Ensemble, Orchestral Parts, Sight Reading, Orchestra Practice. Languages: English (C1), Russian (C1). 

Kristina Kupšienė (b. 1969) is a violinist and lecturer at the Department of Music of the LMTA Klaipėda Faculty. Kristina Kupšienė studied at the Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatoire and later earned her master’s degree from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre where she studied in the violin class of Associate Professor Undinė Jagėlaitė.

Possessing extensive teaching experience, the violinist was awarded the title of an expert teacher in 1994. Apart from teaching at the LMTA, she has been successfully teaching at the Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatoire and Eduardas Balsys Gymnasium of Arts in Klaipėda. Kristina Kupšienė is regularly invited to lead international and national violin master classes that take place in Lithuanian music schools. She can be often seen as a member of the evaluation committee of the Lithuanian Violin Competitions.  In addition to this, violinist Kristina Kupšienė is a regular speaker and organiser of the International Violin Festival Musica in Vivo.

The graduates of  Kristina Kupšienė’s  class — Darius Kaunas, Eglė Urbonavičiūtė, Teodora Morta Ajauskaitė, Vilija Bogušaitė, Roberta Bagdžiūtė, Monika Dargytė, Raminta Macaitė, Barbora Bačkutė, Lukas Pronskus — have received awards at several competitions taking place in Lithuania (Raimundas Katilius Competition for Young Performers, the National Jonas Urba String Competition, Balys Dvarionas Competition for Young Pianists, the International Competition Gradus ad Parnassum, the International Competition Olimpo Musicale, and Viktor Radovich International Competition for Young String Players) and abroad (the Augusta Dombrovska International Strings Competition, Latvia).

Kristina Kupšienė’s students are eager participants of various concerts and international festivals where they perform as soloists and members of chamber ensembles. Jurgita Bačkuvienė and Jūratė Gaižutytė played solo with the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra.  Darius Kaunas was a soloist with the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra (conductor Modestas Pitrėnas), the Symphony Orchestra of Lithuania Minor (conductor Stasys Domarkas), and the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. Eglė Urbonavičiūtė participated in the International Vladimir Spivakov Festival Moscow Meets Friends where the aspiring violinist played solo with Chamber Orchestra Российская камерата (conductor Andrey Kruzhkov) and was awarded the maestro Vladimir Spivakov’s violin bow. Eglė also played solo with the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Lithuania Minor (conductor Stasys Domarkas), the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra (director Mindaugas Bačkus), and Les Orpheistes Festival Orchestra (director Mario Hossen). Teodora Morta Ajauskaitė played solo with the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Lithuania Minor, the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, and the joint Austrian – Lithuanian Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Professor Saulius Sondeckis.

Currently, Kristina Kupšienė’s graduate Darius Kaunas is the second concertmaster of the Neubrandenburger Philharmonie Orchestra (Germany). Eglė Urbonavičiūtė was invited on a concert tour to Germany with the acclaimed Kremerata Baltica Orchestra (directed by Gidon Kremer). The young violinist is a member of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. Teodora Morta Ajauskaitė is the concertmaster of the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. Tomas Cinelis works in the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, and Elvyra Kvecytė is on the staff of the symphony orchestra of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre. Vilija Bogušaitė works in the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra (Vilnius), while Eduardas Bogdanovas plays in the Symphony Orchestra of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.