Giedrė Šlekytė & Victor Julien-Laferrière

Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Giedrė Šlekytė began her musical education at the National M. K. Čiurlionis Art-School in Vilnius. She went on to study conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, the Academy of Music and Theatre in Leipzig, and the Zurich University of Arts. She also attended masterclasses by Bernhard Haitink and Riccardo Muti.

Las season Šlekytė made notable debuts at the Wiener Staatsoper (La Bohème) and the Royal Opera House in London (Hansel and Gretel), while returning to Musiktheater an der Wien for a new production of Das Paradies und die Peri and Staatsoper Berlin with The Pearl Fishers and Sacre. Symphonic engagements included debuts with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra —also her US debut—Philharmonia London, and Tokyo NHK Symphony, as well as returns to Münchner Philharmoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, RSB Berlin, and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra.
Back in November 2023 she stepped in for Daniel Barenboim at short notice, conducting a highly-acclaimed Brahms’ cycle in Toronto with Berlin Staatskapelle, simultaneously making her Canadian and North American debut.

In 2025/26, Giedrė returns to Oper Zürich for a new production (Hansel & Gretel), RSB Berlin, DSO Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker at Musikverein, and the Royal Opera House for Le nozze di Figaro. She will also make exciting debuts with L.A. Philharmonic at Hollywood Bowl in August 2025, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.

In 2016, Šlekytė was appointed Principal Conductor of Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where she led her first production—Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. Operatic engagements since have included Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Zürich, Staatsoper Berlin, Lithuanian National Opera and Semperoper Dresden. New productions under her direction included Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Musiktheater an der Wien, Kát’a Kabanová at Komische Oper Berlin, Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Royal Danish Opera, Dvořák’s Rusalka at Opera Ballett Vlaanderen, and Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites at Oper Frankfurt.

As a guest conductor, she has appeared with the Wiener Symphoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tokyo Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Netherlands Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, and many others.
From 2022-25 Giedrė served as Principal Guest Conductor of Brucknerorchester Linz with many appraised concert performances.

Šlekytė was a finalist of the Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award in 2015 and prize winner of the Malko International Young Conductors Competition in Copenhagen. In 2018, she was nominated in the “Newcomer” category of the International Opera Awards.

An active ambassador of Lithuanian music, she performs works by Raminta Šerkšnytė, Bronius Kutavičius, Osvaldas Balakauskas, Justė Janulytė, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, and others across Europe and beyond. Alongside conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, she recorded an album of Raminta Šerkšnytė’s music for Deutsche Grammophon and the highly acclaimed Žibuoklė Martinaitytė album for Ondine.

Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Giedrė Šlekytė began her musical education at the National M. K. Čiurlionis Art-School in Vilnius. She went on to study conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, the Academy of Music and Theatre in Leipzig and the Zurich University of Arts. She also attended masterclasses by Bernhard Haitink and Riccardo Muti.

In the 2024/25 season, Šlekytė will make her debuts at the Wiener Staatsoper (Boheme) and Royal Opera House in London (Hansel and Gretel), as well as returning to Musiktheater an der Wien for a new production of Das Paradies und die Peri and Staatsoper Berlin with The Pearl Fishers and Sacre. Upcoming symphonic projects encompass debuts with the Dallas Symphony (also marking her debut in the USA), Philharmonia London and Tokyo NHK Symphony, as well as returns to Münchner Philharmoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, RSB Berlin and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra.

In 2016, Šlekytė was appointed Principal Conductor of Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where she led her first own production – Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. Since then, audience and press have heaped praise on the young Lithuanian maestra, citing the freshness, precision and dynamism of her interpretations. Finishing her appointment in Klagenfurt in 2018, Šlekytė chose a freelance career as a conductor and has since been successfully combining operatic and symphonic projects.

As a guest conductor she has performed with the Wiener Symphoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tokyo Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Netherlands Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, and many others.

In November 2023, jumping in for Daniel Barenboim, she conducted Brahms’ highly acclaimed symphony cycle in Toronto with the Berlin Staatskapelle, marking both her Canadian and North American debut.

Operatic engagements led her to Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Zürich, Staatsoper Berlin, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, and Semperoper Dresden. Among the most memorable new productions are Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Musiktheater an der Wien and Kát’a Kabanová at Komische Oper Berlin, Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Royal Danish Opera, Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka at Opera Ballett Vlaanderen, and Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites at Oper Frankfurt.

In 2015 she was a finalist of the Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and a prize winner of the Malko International Young Conductors Competition in Copenhagen. In 2018 she was nominated in the “Newcomer” category of the International Opera Awards.

Šlekytė is an active ambassador of Lithuanian music and has performed works by Raminta Šerkšnytė, Bronius Kutavičius, Osvaldas Balakauskas, Justė Janulytė, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and other Lithuanian composers in Austria, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany and Israel. With conductor Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, she recorded an album of Raminta Šerkšnytė’s music, which was released by Deutsche Grammophon, as well as the highly acclaimed Žibuoklė Martinaitytė album for Ondine.

Winner of the First Prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2017 (for the first year dedicated to the cello), Victor Julien-Laferrière was described as “one of the most reliable talents of the young generation of French cellists” by Diapason magazine. He also received first prize and two special prizes at the 2012 Prague Spring International Competition, and in France in 2018, the Victoire de la Musique, in the instrumental soloist of the year category. During the 2023/24 season he performs on cello with the Lille National Orchestra under the direction of François Leleu as well as with the Timisoara Philharmonic Orchestra with Antonio Méndez. He is also invited by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic for the Brahms double concerto with the violinist Simone Lamsma, in Utrecht with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic to play the Poem for cello and orchestra by Henriëtte Bosmans, in Brussels with the Belgian National Orchestra for Haydn’s second cello concerto.

Further afield, Victor Julien-Laferrière has performed with renowned orchestras around the world, including the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the BBC Philharmonic, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, the Orchester de Paris, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchester National de France, the Orchester National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchester National de Lyon, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, Belgium National Orchestra , Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Les Siècles, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, under the direction of prestigious conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Kristiina Poska, Emmanuel Krivine, Tugan Sokhiev, Elim Chan, Maxim Emelyanychev, Hanna Chang, François-Xavier Roth, Jun Märkl, Philippe Herreweghe, Nathalie Stutzmann, Stéphane Denève, Joshua Weilerstein, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Gergely Madaras and Ben Glassberg. Her recital and chamber music projects lead her to perform in prestigious halls and festivals such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Wien, Lucerne KKL, Brussels BOZAR, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Zurich Tonhalle, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs -Elysées, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Essen Philharmonie, Phillips Collection in Washington, Prague Spring International Music Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Rheingau Musik Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Brussels Cello Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, Folles Journes à Nantes and Tokyo.

​Victor Julien-Laferrière also develops an important activity as a conductor. He conducts the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Orchester National d’Ile de France and the Rouen Opera Orchestra on tour as well as the Paris Chamber Orchestra. In 2021, he founded his own ensemble, the Consuelo Orchestra, which is developing intense activity in France and abroad.

Victor Julien-Laferrière studied with René Benedetti, then successively with Roland Pidoux at the CNSM in Paris, Heinrich Schiff at the University of Vienna and Clemens Hagen at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Salzburg. He also participated in the Seiji Ozawa International Music Academy Switzerland from 2005 to 2011. He plays on a cello by Domenico Montagnana and with a bow by Dominique Peccatte.