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Conductor Robertas Šervenikas (b. 1966) is often praised for the diversity of his repertoire, ranging from the first performances of large-scale orchestral compositions by Lithuanian composers to distinctive and mature interpretations of contemporary and classical works. Maestro pays equal attention to opera, ballet and symphonic music, with special emphasis on contemporary works.
He studied choral conducting with Prof. Tatiana Khitrova and opera and orchestral conducting with Prof. Viktor Fedotov at the Saint Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory. Since 1996, he has been teaching conducting at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LAMT) where he holds professorship at the Department of Conducting and served as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the LAMT Symphony Orchestra (1996–2003), with which he made two successful appearances at the young.euro.classic festival in Berlin (2002, 2003).
In 1993 he made his conducting debut with the Lithuanian Nacional Symphony Orchestra, with which he has pursued collaboration as its second conductor since 2000. His international career was launched in 1997, when Mstislav Rostropovich invited him to conduct the Philharmonie der Nationen Orchestra in the performance of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet (choreographed by Vladimir Vasiliev for the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1993) at the Evian Festival. Next year he returned to Evian to conduct the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. Since 1998, Šervenikas has been repeatedly invited to share the stage with the legendary cellist at the world’s major concert halls, as well as to conduct Israel Camerata, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenian National Opera, Russian State Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic (Great Britain) among many other symphony orchestras. He has led various orchestras in almost all European countries, Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Republic of South Africa, Brazil, Israel, Russia and Mexico, collaborated with the world’s most coveted soloists.
Since 2008, he has collaborated with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as guest conductor. In 2008–2018, Šervenikas was appointed Music Director at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre where he conducted many operas and ballets, including the world premiere of Onutė Narbutaitė’s opera Cornet (2014). In 2020, during the pandemic, he made his debut at the Zurich Opera House with the production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty (the orchestra was streamed live from the rehearsal hall situated one kilometre away to the theatre’s auditorium, while dancers were performing on the stage).
He is known as an ardent promoter of new music and first performer of the majority of new orchestral pieces Lithuanian composers, having recorded contemporary music for several dozens of CDs released by the Lithuanian Music Information Centre, Naxos, Finlanda Records, Ondine, etc. Šervenikas is frequently invited to conduct premieres at Lithuanian contemporary music festivals Gaida, Iš arti and Music of Changes.
He is the recipient of the Lithuanian National Arts and Culture Prize (2005) and the badge “Carry Your Light and Believe” awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania (2016).
Šervenikas is currently a founding artistic director of the International Tytuvėnai Summer Festival and International Chaim Frenkel Villa Summer Festival in Šiauliai, Lithuania. In 2021, he was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Kaunas State Choir.
- Conductor - Peaceful charm of summer nights (Premiere 2020.08.20)
- Music Director and Conductor - Sergei Prokofiev ROMEO AND JULIET (Premiere 2021.09.17)
- Music Director and Conductor - Carl Orff CARMINA BURANA (Premiere 2023.08.11)
- Conductor - Klaipėda State Music Theatre Opening Gala Concert (Premiere 2024.04.20)
