Burning Cello

On July 11, we invite you to Paliesius Manor to listen to impassioned cello music!

Performing is Augustas Gocentas, a Lithuanian cellist born into a family of musicians in Vilnius. He began his cello studies at the M. K. Čiurlionis School in the class of Ramutė Kalnėnaitė, and also studied piano for eleven years in the class of Jūratė Rudaitienė. The cellist earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Sibelius Academy, and in 2024, he became a member of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.

Augustas is a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), and has played with the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, the Baltic Sea Philharmonic orchestra, and the joint symphony orchestra of the Sibelius Academy and Juilliard School. In 2022, he won the audition for the Lithuanian National Philharmonic quartet and the Apprenticeship program at the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a soloist, Augustas has performed with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra. Since 2017, Augustas has performed J. Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, E. Lalo’s Cello Concerto with the Romanian Youth Orchestra, E. Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the European Union Youth Orchestra, and F. Gulda’s and A. Dvořák’s cello concertos with the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra. He also performed F. Gulda’s concerto with the Sibelius Academy Wind Orchestra in 2023 and the Palanga Wind Orchestra in 2024.

Since beginning his studies in Finland, Augustas has been invited to numerous festivals, such as Encuentro de Santander (Spain), European Music Trails (Germany, Lithuania), Moritzburg Festival, Super Cello Festival (Beijing), Cello Festival (Qingdao), and the EUYO 2021 summer project. The cellist also actively participates in competitions. Among his recent achievements: first place and a special prize for the interpretation of the compulsory piece at the 9th A. Dombrovskis Competition in Latvia, and third place at the 10th K. Davydov Competition in Latvia. In 2025, Augustas was awarded a special prize at the 4th D. Geringas Competition.

In 2024, Augustas was invited to be a jury member at the Competition for Young Musicians in Slovenia.

The cellist has honed his skills in masterclasses led by renowned musicians: D. Geringas, F. Helmerson, E. Bronzi, Li-Wei Qin, O. Karlsson, J. Vogler, V. Sondeckis, M. Leskovar, Wen-Sinn Yang, A. Brantelid, E. Testelec, W. Hagerty, and A. Gerhardt.

For a year, Augustas was supported by the M. Rostropovich Foundation, and was also sponsored by the S. Karosas Foundation. From 2018 to 2022, the musician played a Blanchard cello, provided by the Sibelius Academy.

Augustas strives to take part in every festival, project, and competition, or to organize concerts. To date, the cellist has held forty recitals featuring fifteen different programs.