Because of Akvilė Šileikaitė’s great interest in chamber music and accompaniment, orchestral music and new music, her repertoire consists of a wide scope of different styles and compositions, ranging from timeless baroque compositions to contemporary music, from seldom played pieces to exciting premieres. Due to her enthusiastic attitude towards working with various instrumentalists, taking on different repertoires, her exceptional skills, curiosity and passion for music, she is often asked to join musicians, ensembles, orchestras and take part in a variety of music projects all over the world.
As Peter Hagmann expressed it, “Akvilė Šileikaitė is a pianist of a special kind. She is not only a pianist, with passion she also works as a visual artist and photographer. But above all, when it is played by Akvilė Šileikaitė, the piano sounds unlike anything we’re used to – it’s vibrantly vital and rhythmically gripping, but also, if the work demands it, wonderfully cantabile.”
In 2015, Akvilė Šileikaitė and French saxophonist Valentine Michaud co-founded the AKMI duo that has not only made an unforgettable debut at the prestigious Wigmore Hall in London, but also received the Swiss Ambassador's Award (2019), won the 1st place in the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition (2016) and the 2nd place in the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition (Verona, 2018) as well. The duo has played alongside such world-renowned artists as Yuja Wang, Mirga Gražinytė & Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The duo has also made its debut at world renowned “Lucerne Festival”, "Festival Radio France", “Lavaux Classic”, and many more. Kevin Juillerat, Leo Collin, and Raphaël Severe have also exclusively composed pieces for them.
Born in Lithuania, yet now based in Switzerland, Akvilė Šileikaitė is also actively performing with swiss percussionist Fabian Ziegler. The duo is in creative, musical partnership with world known Greek-New Zealand composer John Psathas. Akvilė also plays organ and other keyboard instruments, plays in Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Berner Kammerorchester and Symphonieorchester and other orchestras, works with Emmanuel Pahud, Barbara Hannigan, composers such as Péter Eötvös, Francesco Filidei, Matthias Pintscher, Arash Safaian and conductors like Kent Nagano, David Zinman, Samy Moussa etc. Akvilė also performs in festivals, including “Davos Festival”, “Label Suisse”, “Tage Neue Musik Zürich” and on concert stages in Zürich Tonhalle, Stadtcasino Basel, Lucerne KKL, Musikverein Wien, Wellington College, München Gasteig, St. Petersburg State Capella, and many more.
Originally trained as a pianist, Akvilė Šileikaitė is also known for her achievements in the field of visual arts, documentary and portrait photography being her two main passions. To get a better feel of Akvilė’s creative thought process, taking a look at her key inspirers serves as a great cue: Helmut Newton, Henry Clarke, Richard Avedon, Frank Horvat, Peter Lindbergh, Vincent Peters, Steven Meisel to name a few.
As art critic Laūra Karnavičiūtė once put it, "Akvilė Šileikaitė’s photography is highly professional, it features not only interesting points of view, but also successfully reveals moods, characters, fragile states of being." For her excellent sense of space and framing, for the way she’s able to convey natural, vivid emotions, for her ability to express the whole spectrum of colours with only using black & white, Akvilė Šileikaitė has been nominated for and has won numerous photography awards all over Europe.
For Akvilė Šileikaitė, painting serves as a perfect get-away whenever she finds herself in the need of a little break from music or photography. Getting inspiration from artists such as Hundertwasser, Dali, Picasso, Giacometti, Otto Dix or Sauka, Akvilė Šileikaitė’s work is filled with bright vivid colours and abstract forms. Not only have her paintings been showcased across Europe, her work was also awarded the "Queen Morta's Prize" and acknowledged by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.
Profit for sold paintings goes to Childhood Cancer Fund "Rugutė" - if you are interesting having one of the following paintings or have any other requests, please do not hesitate to contact.
