Jolanta Babaliauskienė
Associate Professor at the LMTA Department of Folk Instruments. Subjects: Kanklės, Chamber Ensemble, Music Education Teaching Methodology, Kanklės School Repertoire. Languages: English (C1), Russian (C1).
Jolanta Babaliauskienė (b. 1970) is a kanklės (an authentic Lithuanian plucked string instrument) music performer. At the LMTA, where Jolanta Babaliauskienė studied in the kanklės class supervised by Professor Lina Naikelienė, the young performer obtained qualifications of a soloist, a chamber ensemble artist, and a master’s degree in Music Education. In addition to this, in 2005-2007, she took a full-time bachelor-level programme in Performing Arts (Symphony Orchestra Conducting) at the LMTA Music Faculty.
A laureate of many national and international competitions, since 1995, kanklės performer Jolanta Babaliauskienė has been regularly involved in the development of solo programmes and taking part in several international festivals (Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Germany). You may often see Jolanta engaged in collaborative creative projects with composers or consulting other kanklės ensembles and performers. Besides, she is an editor and the first performer of many works composed for kanklės. Jolanta is also a conductor and coordinator at the kanklės concert May the Kanklės Play of the Lithuania’s Song Celebration.
In 2000, Jolanta Babaliauskienė joined the staff of the LMTA Department of Folk Instruments. In 2012-2013, she also taught at the Department of Chamber Music and in 2019 was awarded the title of Associate Professor. An eager participant of Erasmus exchange programmes, the performer went to Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (Riga, Latvia) in 2012 and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Estonia, Tallinn) in 2016. Since 1994, Jolanta Babaliauskienė has also been on the staff of Vilnius Karoliniškės Music School where she works as an expert kanklės teacher.
The students of Associate Professor Jolanta Babaliauskienė are laureates of several national and international competitions and participants of numerous festivals and serve as a perfect example of brilliant kanklės performers of a new generation who for more than a decade have been giving concerts in Lithuania and abroad.
Apart from performing and teaching, Jolanta Babaliauskienė is consistently involved in research work: she develops music education programmes for kanklės, publishes methodological materials, writes research and methodological papers, and participated with presentations at various workshops and conferences. Jolanta Babaliauskienė is often invited to act as a jury board member at national and international competitions.
Since 1998, Jolanta Babaliauskienė has been a member of the Lithuanian Musicians’ Union; and since 2002 — a Board member of the Lithuanian Folk Instrumental Music Association Kanklės. In 2007, she was granted the status of Artist Creator by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. For her artistic and research merits, Jolanta Babaliauskienė has received several Certificates of Appreciations by the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.