composer

Anatolijus Šenderovas is one of Lithuania's most prominent composers, called by “Music export – Lithuania” “Lithuanian music’ living classic”.
Šenderovas was born on 21 August 1945 in Uljanovsk (Russia) to the family of musicians. From 1946 on he was constantly living in Vilnius, Lithuania. He graduated at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in 1967 (with Prof. E. Balsys and simultaneously studied composition at the Sankt Petersburg Nikolaj Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory with Prof. Orest Evlachov (pupil of Dmitry Shostakovich). In 1990 he was invited to the Tel Aviv Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music as a guest composer.
Anatolijus Šenderovas is the author of three staged ballets: “The Maiden and the Death” (Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater, 1992), “Mary Stuart” (Theater “Vanemuine”, Tartu, Estonia, 1997) and “Desdemona” (at present in the repertoire of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater), composed as commission of the Vilnius festival 2005 – this work was also selected as “The best Lithuanian music work 2005”. Šenderovas has written 3 symphonies, 3 cello concerts, a concert for violin and chamber orchestra, a concert for accordion and symphony orchestra, a concert for guitar and string orchestra, a lot of symphonic, chamber, and vocal music, music for drama plays and film (Lithuanian-German film “Ghetto” with his music won the 1st prize at the “Jewish Eye” 2007 film festival in Israel and was selected as the best Lithuanian film 2006).
Anatolijus Šenderovas' music has a distinctly recognizable sound and does not lack magic for its specific modal colour, improvisational character, development of the piece from a single thematic motto, emotionality, strong dramatic expression and energy. His music includes elements of both archaic Oriental music and more abstract atonal style. The composer did not adhere to a single method of composition; instead he choosed particular most appropriate composing techniques for every new piece. Anatolijus Šenderovas gave a lot of attention to the sacred themes, using the stories and texts from the Old and New Testament in Hebrew and Latin. His music perfectly fits in the European new music context and is often performed by the Lithuanian musicians as well as performers from the other continents.
His works have been performed at more than 50 international music festivals and concert halls in all continents – in Germany, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Great Britain, Scotland, USA, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Romania, Sweden, Finland, and many others.
For 3 vocal-symphonic compositions on the Bible themes “Simeni kahotam al libecha” (“Set me as a seal on Your heart”), “Paratum cor meum” (“My heart is fixed”) and “Shma Israel” (with participation of the world famous singer Joseph Malovany) in 1997 Anatolijus Šenderovas was awarded The Lithuanian National Award – the country’s highest recognition for excellence in arts.
He is also a bearer of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (Knightly Cross),1995 and of the Order of Merit to Lithuania (Officer’s Cross), 2006.
Šenderovas is a prize-winner of several composition competitions: in Prague, Czech Republic (1993) and in Kil, Sweden (1994).
In 2002 Anatolijus Šenderovas was awarded the European Composer' Prize at the “Europäischer Musik Sommer Berlin” for “Concerto in Do” for Cello and Symphony Orchestra dedicated to David Geringas.
In 2008 Anatolijus Šenderovas was awarded the “World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) creative Award and Gold medal”.
In 2010 he was awarded the Gold Star by the Lithuanian Intellectual Property Organization Latga-a.
Anatolijus Šenderovas was often invited as a composer-in-residence and guest composer to many European Music festivals.
In 2011 he was invited to the Los Angeles American Jewish University to perform his chamber music and for a lecture.
In 2013 he was invited to the 47th Festival Musica Nova to Sao Paolo, Brasil.
Anatolijus Senderovas passed away in March 2019.

→ all works by Anatolijus Senderovas (Šenderovas)