About this Artist

GIEDRE DIRVANAUSKAITE was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, to a family of musicians. She graduated from the Lithuanian Music Academy, is a laureate of several national competitions, and attended master classes given by Mstislav Rostropovich, David Geringas, Hatto Beyerle, and Tatiana Grindenko, among others.

As a soloist Dirvanauskaite has performed with many different chamber and symphony orchestras in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Giedre Dirvanauskaite has premiered works of Victor Kissine, Giya Kancheli, Arturs Maskats, and Victoria Poleva. She has attended many festivals including Lockenhaus (Austria), Gstaad, Basel (Switzerland), Beppu (Japan), Gohrisch, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), December Nights (Russia), and others. Her stage partners include such artists as Valery Afanassiev, Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, M. Bekovac, Sa Chen, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Lukas Hagen, Heinz Holliger, Michel Portal, and Andrius Zlabys.

In recent years Giedre Dirvanauskaite has extensively toured with many different chamber music formations. Since 2009, she regularly performs and tours in a trio with violinist Gidon Kremer and pianist Khatia Buniatishvili. The trio’s recording “Kissine/Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios” (ECM, 2011) won the prestigious German Critics Award as a recording of exceptional artistry, in addition to receiving praise from all over the world as one of the best recordings of Tchaikovsky’s works ever made. Other recordings with Dirvanauskaite’s solo part include Hymns and Prayers – Silent Prayer by Kancheli (ECM, 2008), Between the Waves – Duo by Victor Kissine (ECM, 2013), and Mieczyslaw Weinberg – String Trio by Weinberg (ECM, 2014).

Dirvanauskaite plays an instrument by Alexander Gaglianus, made in 1709. She has been a member of Kremerata Baltica since its foundation in 1997.