Stasis Andriaus Vainiunas

Born Apr. 2, 1909, in Riga. Soviet composer, pianist, teacher, and public figure. People’s Artist of the Lithuanian SSR (1959).

In 1933, Vainiunas graduated from the Riga Conservatory in the piano and composition class. He studied composition under J. Vitol and completed his piano studies in Vienna under E. Sauer. He taught piano in Riga and at the Klaipėda and Šiauliai music schools, as well as at the Kaunas Conservatory. Since 1951, Vainiunas has been head of the piano subdepartment at the Vilnius Conservatory. (He has been a professor there since 1953.) From 1954 to 1962 he served as chairman of the Board of the Union of Soviet Lithuanian Composers.

Vainiunas’ work is characterized by optimism, vivid national color, and striking orchestration. He is the composer of a symphony (1957), the overture For Peace (1963), three concerti for piano and orchestra, a rhapsody for two pianos and orchestra, a concerto for organ and strings, a concerto for violin and orchestra, a rhapsody for violin and orchestra on Lithuanian themes (State Prize of the USSR, 1951), chamber instrumental works, including a piano quintet (State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR, 1967), songs, choral works, and other works. Vainiunas has gone on tour as a pianist in many European countries. He won the International Piano Competition in Vienna in 1933. Vainiunas has been awarded three orders as well as medals.