Egidijus Ališauskas

Associated Professor of the LMTA Department of Folk Instruments, Music Director of the LMTA Folk Orchestra. Subjects: Birbynė. Languages: English (C1), Russian (C1). 

Egidijus Ališauskas is Associate Professor of the Lithuanian Academy of Theatre and Music (LMTA), Chief Conductor and Director of the Lithuanian Army Orchestra, and Director of the LMTA Folk Orchestra.

An LMTA graduate, Egidijus Ališauskas, obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1995 from the Department of Folk Instruments and Accordion where he studied birbynė (an original Lithuanian wind instrument), and a year later, earned a master’s degree with specialisation in birbynė. In the same year, Egidijus Ališauskas joined a course in orchestra conducting led by Professor Juozas Domarkas. In 1998, the aspiring conductor was awarded a bachelor’s degree in orchestra conducting and in 1999, obtained a qualification of a military orchestra conductor.

In 1994, as early as being a first-year LMTA student of the birbynė class supervised by Professor Pranas Tamošaitis,  Egidijus Ališauskas became a laureate of the International Competition of Wind and Percussion Musicians in Cherepovets (Russia), taking the third prize. He won — and even twice (1987, 1990) — the National Competition for Young Performers.

With time, Egidijus Ališauskas has become the ambassador of the authentic Lithuanian instrument birbynė both in Lithuania and abroad by participating in numerous national performances such as Didysis muzikų paradas (The Great Parade of Musicians), Atžalynas, the World Lithuanian Song Festival, Klasikos diversijos concert cycle, opera Praregėjimas (The Epiphany) by Audronė Žigaitytė; Onutė Narbutaitė’s oratorio Centones mea urbi; a staged  performance Žuvėdra (The Seagull) by Jonas Vaitkus; Gintaras Varnas’ staged performance Portia Koglen; as well as Dovilė Gasiūnaitė’s feature film Kas miega šalia tavęs (Who Sleeps Next to You), Tytuvėnai Festival, Trakai Fanfare Week Music Festival and many others. Both as a performer and conductor, Egidijus is often invited to international events in Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France.

Conductor Egidijus Ališauskas gives concerts with several orchestras and ensembles: the Lithuanian Army Orchestra and the LMTA Folk Orchestra, both of which he directs, also Vilnius Brass, Trakai Fanfare Orchestra, Folk Ensemble Sutartinė (where Egidijus also acts as a director), and the Riga Wind Orchestra. Egidijus Ališauskas was Chief Conductor of the Lithuania’s Song Celebration – a major traditional song and dance festival – of 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2018.

Egidijus Ališauskas is an author and conductor of a music programme recorded with the Lithuanian Army Orchestra and released as a CD titled Perlų vėrinys (The Pearl Necklace). Other CDs with the participation of Egidijus Ališauskas include a CD Kada sūneliai sugrįš? (When Will Our Sons Come Back?) recorded together with the Lithuanian Army Orchestra and singer Veronika Pavilionienė, and a CD Lietuviški maršai (Lithuanian Marching Songs) comprising 18 marching songs. In 2014, a solo CD by Egidijus Ališauskas (birbynė) and Indrė Baikštytė (piano) was released.