Irena Zelenkauskaite-Brazauskiene

Irena Zelenkauskaitė studied singing at the J. Tallat-Kelpšos Higher School of Music in Vilnius (now the Vilnius Conservatory) and in the singing class of Aldona Kiselienė at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has been a soloist at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre since 1992 and was awarded the "Christopher" award by the Lithuanian Theatre Union in 1998. In 2006, I. Zelenkauskaitė was named the Opera Soloist of the Year at the "Opera Lighthouses" awards, and in 2007 she received the "Golden Stage Cross" award for her role as Madame Butterfly. I. Zelenkauskaitė is skilled in interpreting soprano parts in oratorical works by L. van Beethoven, B. Britten, C. Orff, G. B. Pergolesi, F. Polenc and others. She has sung with the Lithuanian National Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber, and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestras, conducted by Juozas Domarkas, Jonas Aleksa, Saulius Sondeckis, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Justus Franz, Yuri Bashmet, Vytautas Viržonis, Rimas Geniušas, Julius Geniušas, Martynas Staškus, Vytautas Lukočius, Modestas Pitrėnas, David Parry, and others. I. Zelenkauskaitė has also recorded the compact disc of B. Kutavičius's opera "Lokys" with the "Ondine" label (Finland), conducted by Martynas Staškus. She has performed in the Netherlands, Germany, Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland), the United States, Bulgaria, Great Britain, and elsewhere with the LNOBT.