Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė

Lecturer at the Department of Music of the LMTA Klaipėda Faculty. Subjects: Kanklės. Languages: English, Russian.

Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė is a concert kanklės (an authentic Lithuanian plucked string instrument) performer. Born in 1983 in Klaipėda, in a family of professional musicians, the young performer studied at the Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatoire (Vida Zelenienė’s class), later – at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (with Jolanta Babaliauskienė and Lina Naikelienė). For five years, in addition to her major studies, Ingrida followed a course on the basics of orchestral conducting (Professor Juozas Domarkas’ class). Within Erasmus program, the musician followed an internship in the kantele class at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland (Ritva Koistinen’s class). After completing her bachelor’s and master’s studies as a concert kanklės performer and teacher, Ingrida continued her studies at the LMTA Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments where she studied classical percussion instruments.

Since 2010, Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė has worked in symphony orchestras as a percussionist, and is a guest member of several Lithuanian wind, chamber, and symphony orchestras. Ingrida takes advantages of the acquired knowledge and practical skills both as a performer and teacher of the kanklės and percussion instruments.

Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė is a member of the musical ensembles Duo Unicum and Lajos (both – Lithuania). She has participated in musical projects with Polish performer Maria Pomianowska, Lithuanian ensemble Giunter Percussion, violinist Martynas Švėgžda, Lithuanian musicians and performers Saulius Petreikis, Rasa Serra, Raimonda Vaičiūtė, Steponas Januška, Motiejus and Mykolas Bazaras, and many other percussionists, theatre actors, opera soloists, and dancers. While working at orchestras of Lithuanian major cities, Ingrida has enjoyed an opportunity to play with world-class performers and conductors Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Barbara Frittoli, Lawrence Brownlee, Pavel Berman, Virgilijus Noreika, Modestas Pitrėnas, and Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla.

In 2017, Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė recorded a CD named Sidabro stygomis (Through Silver Strings) featuring her playing the concert kanklės solo; and, in the same year, with the ensemble Lajos released a CD titled Lajos (Tree Tops). In 2018, with the duo Unicum, the musician recorded a CD titled Impressio.  In 2020, she recorded a CD Acting Music with the music by composer Rita Mačiliūnaitė and a vinyl of a dance opera NO AI DI. In 2016, Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė published a collection of her works and arrangements titled Lietuvių ir keltų melodijos koncertinėms kanklėms (Lithuanian and Celtic Melodies for Concert Kanklės).

Alongside teaching at the LMTA, Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė works as a senior kanklės teacher at the Klaipeda Stasys Šimkus Conservatoire (joined in 2020). Until then, she taught kanklės at the Kaunas Aleksandras Kačanauskas Music School and Kaunas Juozas Gruodis Conservatory.

Ingrida Spalinskaitė-Kurienė’s students are successful participants and laureates of various national and international competitions. The performer herself is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions as well as a member of evaluation committees.