Bio

Raimonda Skabeikaitė is a Lithuanian conductor, composer and music educator focusing on contemporary music.

She was a scholarship holder of the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) 2023/24. Together with the IEMA-Ensemble 2023/24, she has already taken part in festivals such as “Into the Open” in Berlin (DE), “Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik” in Witten (DE), “Time of Music” in Viitasaari (FIN) and “Lucerne Festival” in Luzern (CHE).

Raimonda has been selected for the Contemporary-Conducting Programme for Lucerne Festival Academy ´24.

In May 2022, she won ”International NINO ROTA Conducting Competition, 5th edition”. She also won a Special Award assigned by the audience of Taranto.

In November 2021, she won first prize as conductor in the 3rd Competition Città Brescia - Giancarlo Facchinetti. In autumn 2022 she conducted the Mihail Jora Philharmonisches Orchester Bacau (Romania), and in winter 2022 she conducted the chamber orchestra I Solisti Aquilani in L'Aquila (Italy).

Raimonda Skabeikaitė has been teaching score and piano playing, as well as conducting practice at the Johann Joseph Fux Conservatory in Graz (AT) since 2018.

From 2010, Raimonda studied music education at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania and graduated with a Bachelor of Art Education in May 2015.

During her studies in Lithuania, she participated in several competitions as a composer. In 2012, she won the 1st Prize of the choir composition competition "Vox Juventutis `12" with the choral piece "Lydint tekancia saule". A year after she was once again the winner of the choir composition competition "Vox Juventutis `13" with the work "Lux Mundi".

From 2013, she studied choral and orchestral conducting at the University of Performing Arts in Graz (KUG) with Prof. Johannes Prinz, Prof. Wolfgang Bozic, Prof. Marc Piollet and Prof. Wolfgang Dörner. She finished her Masters in Orchestral Conducting in November 2019.

In June 2017, she conducted Kurt Weil's opera "Der Silbersee" at Mumuth Graz, where she worked as an assistant of Conductor Dirk Kaftan.

She has been a guest conductor at Styriarte since 2019. At the opening of the Styriarte 2020, Raimonda took over the musical rehearsal of the short opera "Die Musen von Parnass" (composer: Flora Geißelbrecht), which was broadcast live at ORF III. Raimonda has also prepared the premiere of "Hasta la vista, Baby!" by composer Manuela Kerer for three sopranos for the 2023 Styriarte Festival and in conducted Styriarte Orchestra for the FABRIK.art project.

Raimonda actively participated in workshops and master classes for orchestral and choir conducting as well as opera coaching with Alexander Soddy, Johannes Vogel, Benjamin Reiners, Sigmund Thorp, Florian Benfer, Peter Henke, Robert Sund, Erik Westberg and Julien Salemkour. Raimonda was coached by Brad Lubman, Stefan Asbury, Wolfgang Wendeberg, Bas Wiegers during her year as IEMA fellow.