Žibuoklė Martinaitytė (born May 4,ŽibuoklėMartinaitytė 1973) is a Lithuanian composer based in New York City. In 2022 she was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts. In 2020 Martinaitytė received Guggenheim Fellowship and the Lithuanian Government Prize for Culture and Arts for her creative achievements. Her work In Search of Lost Beauty.... received two gold medals at the Global Music Awards for "Best Composer" and Best Album.
Life
Žibuoklė Martinaitytė studied music from 1979 to 1991 at the Kaunas J. Naujalis Art school. From 1991 to 1997 she studied composition at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius under Professor Bronius Kutavičius and Julius Juzeliūnas. After graduating in 1997, she attended various summer courses for composers: Darmstädter Ferienkurse, the 6th International Academy for New Composition and Audio Art in Schwaz/Tirol, Austria with Bogusław Schaeffer and Marek Chołoniewski, Fondation Royaumont in France with Brian Ferneyhough, José Evangelista and Jean-Luc Herve, IRCAM/Centre Acanthes in France with Jonathan Harvey and Michael Jarrell and the Stavanger orchestral music course in Norway with Ole Lützow-Holm.
When Vilnius became the European Capital of Culture in 2009, Lithuanian National Radio and Television commissioned A Thousand Doors To The World for performance by a symphony orchestra.
In 2022 Martinaitytė was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts. In 2020 she received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Lithuanian Government Award for her creative work.
Ms. Martinaitytė is married to sound designer True Rosaschi.
Selected works
Orchestral
A Thousand Doors To The World (2009) Horizons (2013) Millefleur (2018) Saudade (2019) Catharsis (2021)
Chamber orchestra or large ensemble
Completely Embraced By The Beauty Of Emptiness (2006) for 13 instruments
Sort Sol (2019) for string orchestra
Ex Tenebris Lux (2021) for string orchestra
Wind band
4 Forces (2022) for symphonic wind band orchestra
Soloist and orchestra
Chiaroscuro Trilogy (2017) for piano and string orchestra
Sielunmaisema (2019) for cello and string orchestra
Nunc fluens. Nunc stans (2020) for percussion and string orchestra
Small ensemble
Attention! High Tension! (2001) for tuba and piano
Ode to Joy (2004) for flute, viola and harpsichord (piano) Driving Force (2004) for trombone, tenor saxophone and accordion Inhabited Silences (2010) for piano trio American Hodgepodge (2011) for flute, bass clarinet, violin, violoncello and electronics Gridlock (2012-2013) for clarinet, violoncello and piano Louder-Quieter (2014) for 2 trombones and tuba Incessant Confluences (2014) for flute and piano OSMOSIS (2015) for brass sextet In Search Of Lost Beauty...(2016) for violin, cello, piano, electronics and video Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (2017) for 2 pianos and percussion Solastalgia (2020) for clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano ... and under every deep a lower deep opens (2020) for cello and piano Hadal Zone (2020-2021) for bass clarinet, tuba, violoncello, contrabass, piano and electronics
Solo instrument
Impulses (2007-2008) for piano
Forgotten Melodies (2007) for bassoon
Heights and Depths of Love (2007-2008) for piano
Serenity Diptychs (2015) for violin, electronics and video
Aires De Ugnis (2015) for guitar
Flashes of Illuminations (2016) for piano
Gradations of Light (2018) for piano
Braiding (2018) for viola
Ephemeral (2016-2019) for cello and electronics
KALBA (2019-2020) for viola and electronics
Abyssal Zone (2020) for contrabass
On The Threshold (2020) for violin
close the eyes of memory' (2022) for organ
Lumen in Umbra (2018-2022) for piano
Polyphonies of Being (2022) for piano
Vocal
The Blue of Distance (2010) for a cappella choir
Chant des Voyelles (2018) for a cappella choir
Aletheia (2022) for a cappella choir
Densité de présence (2022) for 8 female voices and 5 cellos
Discography
Solo CDs
Horizons (Music Information Centre Lithuania, 2017) In Search of Lost Beauty... (Starkland, 2019) Saudade (Ondine, 2021) Ex Tenebris Lux (Ondine, 2022) Hadal Zone (Cantaloupe Music, 2023)