Recital by Povilas Norkūnas, winner of the X International Stasys Vainiūnas Piano Competition

On February 27, we invite you to meet the young talent Povilas Norkūnas, who won the X International Stasys Vainiūnas Piano Competition! The pianist has prepared a special and versatile concert program for you.

This evening’s program stands out with an exceptionally wide spectrum of moods, where intimate, personal introspection will interact with extroverted, sometimes even elemental expression. The romantic M. K. Čiurlionis miniatures revealing a landscape, the sacred J. S. Bach chorale, and the philosophical depths of Beethoven’s 23rd sonata will ensure mystery and density at the beginning of the recital. The program will continue with J. Brahms’s Opus 117, imbued with an insatiable longing for happiness, whose poetic melody will be spontaneously interrupted by the German contemporary music composer J. Widmann’s “Bavarian-Babylonian” march, leading with its eccentricity to R. Schumann’s “Carnival” crowning the evening.

Povilas Norkūnas (born 2005) is an increasingly renowned young-generation pianist, performing annually on Lithuania’s most famous stages. The Lithuanian audience has repeatedly witnessed Povilas’s musical interpretations at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Sapieha Palace and Palace of the Grand Dukes, St. Catherine’s Church, Vilnius Town Hall, “Organum” concert hall, Paliesius Manor, and other concert venues across the country. Beyond his homeland, Povilas seeks to expand into other countries, having already performed in a couple of foreign venues – Gödöllő Palace in Hungary and “Temple du Bas” in Switzerland.

At the age of seven, Povilas connected with music at the Balys Dvarionas Ten-Year Music School and gained his first piano knowledge studying with Jūratė Bundzaitė and Regina Jurkonienė. Povilas continued his music studies at the M. K. Čiurlionis National School of Art, where he studied for four years in Dr. Jurgis Aleknavičius’s class. After graduating from gymnasium, Povilas spent a year perfecting his skills with Prof. Jurgis Karnavičius at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and since 2025, he has been studying at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media with Prof. Ewa Kupiec.

Povilas not only performs concerts but also actively participates in competitions. In March 2026, at the X International Stasys Vainiūnas Piano Competition, he won first place, along with concert prizes in Lithuania and a scholarship to participate in the international piano academy “Feuerwerk”. Povilas’s achievements include many other successful experiences: he won first place in the IV International Piano Competition “Lisztofonija” (2023), became a semi-finalist in the IX International M. K. Čiurlionis Piano Competition (2023), and a finalist in the “Piano Neuchâtel – Val de Travers” competition held in Switzerland in 2025.

Povilas is also an alumnus of the Mstislav Rostropovich Charity and Support Foundation, which he represented from 2021–2024. Thanks to this partnership, at the end of 2024, he became one of three selected participants in the “Young Artists’ Residency” program, during which Povilas performed a solo recital, broadcast live on Lithuanian National Radio.

Povilas always strives to cultivate personal distinctiveness while respecting the musical references of the performed composer. According to Povilas, music comes alive when the harmony of the performer’s and composer’s ideas makes the listener think.