Martynas Švėgžda von Bekker (born 1967) is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n violinist and musical educator.

Life

Švėgžda von Bekker started taking violin classes at the age of five from his grandmother E. Strazdas-Bekerienė, student of Leopold von Auer, Jan Mařák, J. Feld and Jacques Thibaud. He gave his first recital at age seven and played his first concert with the “Vilnius Symphony Orchestra″ at age 11. Švėgžda von Bekker attended the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art from 1973 to 1986 and studied at the

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported College or university school of music, conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts. History Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a ...

under Raimundas Katlius from 1986 to 1989. In the following years, he also studied with different musicians, such as Eberhardt Feltz (violin, 1983), Igor Bezrodny (violin, 1985), Igor Oistrach (violin, 1988),

Volker Banfield Volker Banfield (born 9 May 1944, Oberaudorf, Bavaria) is a German classical pianist.Jeremy Siepmann, "Banfield, Volker" in Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd edition. New York: Grov ...

(chamber music, 1990), Ralf Gothóni (chamber music, 1990), Boris Garlitsky (violin, 1996) and

Detlef Kraus Detlef Kraus (30 November 1919 – 7 January 2008) was a German pianist. He was an internationally known interpreter of the music of Johannes Brahms. Born in Hamburg, Kraus gave his first concert at the age of 16, playing '' The Well-Tempered ...

(chamber music, 1992). He continued his studies in 1996 at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger College or university school of music, universities of music in Germany. It was founded in 1950 as ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' (Public college of music) on the base of t ...

under the Russian violinist Mark Lubotsky, completing his graduate exam with distinction. He lived in Paris from 1997 to 2003, performing as a solo violinist and chamber musician. He worked closely with

Ugnė Karvelis Ugnė Karvelis (13 June 1935 – 4 March 2002, in Paris, France) was a writer, a translator and a member of the UNESCO Executive Board from 1997 to 2002. Biography Karvelis was born in Noreikiškės, Kaunas district on 13 June 1935, to Lithua ...

, member of the UNESCO executive committee. From 2003 to 2017, Švėgžda von Bekkerwas a lecturer at the

. From 2009 to 2010 he lived in Boston as a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

lecturer at the Boston University College of Fine Arts, School of Music. Since 2013, Švėgžda von Bekker has been living in Hamburg and teaching his own violin class. He started lecturing at the Johannes-Brahms-Konservatorium in 2016.

Activities

Since 1990, Švėgžda von Bekker has given multiple solo and chamber music concerts in Scandinavia, Baltic countries, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia, United States and in Asia. From 1991 to 1997 he was part of the piano trio ''Coloris'' and won multiple first prizes in musical competitions. He premiered the

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...

Concert for Violin and Symphony Orchestra no. 1 with Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg's Symphony Orchestra in 1993. He also performed with the Berliner Symphoniker, the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, the chamber orchestra Klaipėda, the Mikkeli chamber orchestra (Finland), the

Hamburger Symphoniker The Symphoniker Hamburg (''Hamburg Symphony Orchestra'') is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra in residence in the Lae ...

as well as the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg and the Gloriamus philharmonia (Indonesia). He entered his international performing career in Paris. He has performed alongside Hans-Dieter Baum, Igor Uryash,

Nikolai Lugansky Nikolai Lvovich Lugansky (; born 26 April 1972) is a Russian pianist. Early life and education Nikolai Lugansky was born on 26 April 1972 in Moscow, Russia, to research scientist parents. At the age of five, before he had learned to read music ...

, Yuri Mazurkevich, Duncan McTier, George Tchitchinadze and more. His professional range and spectrum were broadened by concerts in the

Laeiszhalle The Laeiszhalle (), formerly Musikhalle, is a concert hall in the Neustadt, Hamburg, Neustadt of Hamburg, Germany, and home to the Hamburger Symphoniker and the Philharmoniker Hamburg. The hall is named after the German shipowning company F. ...

in Hamburg, Schauspielhaus in Berlin, at UNESCO in Paris and in the Tchaikovski Hall in Moscow. These experiences also inspired him to create his own compositions. In 2001, he founded and lead the international and interdisciplinary "Alternative Classical Music Festivals" in Lithuania which took place up till 2011. In the course of those years many famous musicians, personalities and unusual musical, visual and other artistic projects were brought together. He also ran masterclasses.

References

External links

Biography on the Website Johannes-Brahms-Konservatorium Hamburg

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Svegzda Von Bekker, Martynas Lithuanian music educators Living people 1967 births Lithuanian classical violinists Academic staff of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Musicians from Vilnius 21st-century classical violinists