Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater

The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts.

Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a music school in 1919 in Kaunas. This school was reorganised into the Kaunas Conservatory in 1933. In 1949 the Kaunas Conservatory and the Vilnius Conservatory, founded in 1945, were merged into the Lithuanian State Conservatory. The State Conservatory was renamed the Music Academy of Lithuania (LMA) in 1992, and in 2004 it became the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA).

As of January 2005 there were 1,167 students at the Academy, taught by a staff of 274. Its rector in 2011, Professor Zbignevas Ibelgauptas. The Academy's headquarters are located on Gediminas Avenue.

The Academy awards the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Music, BA in Theatre, BA in Multimedia Arts, Master of Arts in Music, MA in Theatre, MA in Multimedia Arts, Ph.D. in Humanities for students of musicology, ethnomusicology, theatre theory and history, and a 2-year postgraduate Art Licentiate degree for music performers, composers and directors.

The Academy strives to "develop international cooperation and integration into the European and global academic community, to support and facilitate student and teacher exchange, and to ensure high-quality standards in higher education in the arts."

Its students and professors perform in over 400 concerts per year, participatiing in national and international orchestras, international concerts, performances, competitions, and festivals. Competitions and international events sponsored by the Academy include the International Jascha Heifetz Violin Competition, and an international competition for singers and pianists-accompanists, among others. It co-sponsors the International M. K. Čiurlionis Piano and Organ Competition and hosts national auditions for participation in the European Union Youth Orchestra, the International Choir and Orchestra Academy in Stuttgart, the International Holland Music Sessions, and numerous other scholarship auditions.

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