Organ - M. K. Čiurlionis Competitions

RENATA MARCINKUTĖ-LESIEUR finished her studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA), specialising in piano and organ. She undertook further studies in performance at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, the class of prof. Heribert Metzger. The organist became an International Organ Players’ Competition laureate in Kiev, later emerged as a laureate from the Floor Peeters masterclass in Belgium. She was similarly successful – became a laureate at the International Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Piano and Organ Competition in Vilnius. In 2015, the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė awarded Renata Marcinkutė-Lesieur with the Order of Merit for Lithuania and in 2017 she was awarded the honorary prize of Lithuanian Minister of Culture Carry Your Light and Believe. In 2021, she was awarded the St. Christopher's Prize for her services to the city of Vilnius – charitable activities, the promotion of organ music and the development of community spirit. She regularly participates in the jury of national and international organ competitions, and is a member of the organising committee of the International M. K. Čiurlionis Piano and Organ Competition.

The organist performs as a soloist and with various orchestras, choirs and ensembles; she has played with cellists D. Gering, I. Monighetti, marimba player L. Maxey, first violin of Berlin Opera Tomasz Tomaszewski and many other famous soloists. She is a regular participant in international organ festivals and has played at the organ inauguration events in many countries. She has toured throughout the Baltic States, Poland, Austria, England, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Italy, France, Mexico, USA. She frequently plays in the premieres of organ pieces by Lithuanian composers in Lithuania and abroad.

R. Marcinkutė-Lesieur is the President of the Centre for Religious Music which presents over 60 concerts annually, she also is the artistic director of the Sacred Music Hours programme of the Christopher Festival programme at the St. Casimir Church. She is a professor at the LMTA and regularly gives masterclasses at European music schools: the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, the Poznan Academy of Music, the Nino Rota Conservatoire in Monopoly, the Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Conservatoire in Cagliari, the Malmö Academy of Music, etc. As the head of the Organ and Harpsichord Department at the LMTA, Renata Marcinkutė-Lesieur has organised a whole series of international projects involving not only LMTA community, but also teachers and students from other European higher education music establishments.