Robertas Šervenikas – conductor

Short biography

Bringing greatest number of the new symphonic works by Lithuanian composers to life, ROBERTAS ŠERVENIKAS has served as the Second Conductor of the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) since 2000, and since 2021 he has been the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Kaunas State Choir.

Admired for his active and diverse creative activities, his impressive and mature interpretations of both classical and contemporary repertoire, as well as promotion of Lithuanian music the conductor is regularly invited to conduct at major contemporary music festivals in Lithuania and abroad.

The 2024-2025 season is full of important events for Šervenikas, including concerts with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, his debut at the Opéra National de Bordeaux in France, productions at the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, performances with the Kaunas State Choir of Mahler’s monumental symphonies No. 2 and No. 8, Verdi’s Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem, L. Boulanger’s Du fond de l’abîme (From the Depths of the Abyss, based on Psalm 130), recording of Narbutaitė’s oratorio Centones meae urbi (Patchwork for My City), the Choir’s tour with the London Symphony Orchestra. The Maestro was decorated with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit for Lithuania.

Šervenikas’ international career was launched, when the renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich invited him as an assistant at the 1997 Evian Festival. From 2008 to 2018, Šervenikas served as Music Director of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, and in 2016 he was awarded the Ministry of Culture’s Honorary Badge of Merit “Carry Your Light and Believe”. Since 2008, Šervenikas has been a welcome guest at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, made his debut at the Oslo Opera House in 2019 and at the Zurich Opera House in 2020. Recipient of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art, Professor of the Conducting Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, he has performed in almost all European countries and on other continents and has collaborated with the world’s leading soloists.