Emanuelis Jakelis

Young performer, winner of numerous international and national competitions EMANUELIS JAKELIS started playing the violin at the age of just two, and by the age of four he was already playing the guitar and beating the drum. At the age of 5, he joined the Kaunas Boys' Choir Singing School "Varpelis" and started singing and playing the piano. Later, he became interested in the canon and became a pupil of the canon class of the Kaunas Sacred Music School and immersed himself in the music of the canon. A few years ago, Emanuel tried his hand at the harp, but unfortunately, this instrument remained on the sidelines, and the kanklės became the young performer's only and main daily source of joy. To this day, his cancanto teacher is his sister Pija Metrikite OSB.

 Emanuel is in his sixth year of playing the cancanto. He also sings in the ensemble Improvizes, plays in the cancan ensembles Alis Cordae David and Corde, often accompanies and supports the cancan in the choir and with his friends from the vocal class, accompanies other instruments, and plays in the choir of St. Peter's Church.

He is very active in various international competitions, promoting the canon all over the world and, of course, in Lithuania. He won the laureate title and was nominated for the best performance of a piece by Dvarionas at the prestigious Balys Dvarionas Piano and String Competition last year, and has performed in Italy, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. Among the many Grand Prix achievements of the young clarinettist, a few were particularly memorable: at the Amicitia sonans International Competition-Festival, where Emanuel won the Grand Prix and played at the Kaunas Philharmonic Hall, and at the Trīs zvaigzdnes Competition in June 2023, he won the Super Grand Prix. In this competition, 20 minutes before the performance, the string of his cancan broke, without which it was impossible to play the prepared piece, but Emanuel decided to play anyway and with the help of his teacher, he arranged and performed the piece together in a few minutes.

During this school year, Emanuel has already won 6 Grand Prix awards (Royal Baroque Competition, Christmas Talent League, Talinna Gold Mix, Wings of music 2024, New Stars Rudaga 2024, XIV International Competition for Young Performers "Sapņi Piepildās!") and numerous first prizes in various national and international competitions.