Modestas Pitrėnas – artistic director and principal conductor of the LNSO

Short biography

One of the leading Lithuanian conductors Modestas Pitrėnas has taken the duties of the principal conductor and artistic director of the LNSO in autumn of 2015. In 2009–2014, he has served as the principal conductor of the Latvian National Opera (LNO). In 2006–2011, he was the principal conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra. Since August 2018, Maestro has served as the principal conductor of the St. Gallen Opera Theatre and symphony orchestra (Switzerland). In December 2022, he made his debut at the Frankfurt Opera House.

Pitrėnas was invited to conduct in the national opera theatres of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Germany and Finland, including the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, and Deutsche Oper in Berlin. In 2014, under his baton Wagner’s Rienzi became one of the key events in the program of Riga – European Capital of Culture 2014.

Maestro has recorded over 15 CDs featuring choral and symphonic music.

Pitrėnas studied conducting at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (Prof. L. Abarius and Prof. J. Domarkas) and at the Mozarteum  University Salzburg. Currently, he is an assistant professor of the Conducting Department at the LAMT, often serves as a jury member in various international competitions.

In addition to many other conducting competitions, Pitrėnas has won the 1st prize and gold medal at the 7th Grzegorz Fitelberg Conducting Competition in Katowice (Poland, 2003) and was awarded a special prize of the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, he was honoured with Lithuania’s highest award – the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize. For his contribution to Latvian music culture Maestro was awarded several Latvian music awards and the Cross of Recognition, a state decoration of Latvia. In 2015, in Riga the Joint Jury of the Baltic Assembly adjudged the Baltic Assembly Prize for the Arts to Pitrėnas. In 2019, he was decorated with the Officer’s Cross of the Order For Merits to Lithuania.