Justina Repečkaitė’s (b. 1989) music is described by critics as having ‘many similarities to a diamond’ (Ben Lunn, UK), ‘inviting, constantly changing, gritty and lustrous’ (Max Erwin, USA), and ‘drawn with the sharpest pencil’ (Šarūnas Nakas, LT).
After completing her composition master’s degree in France, she studied at the prestigious Cursus IRCAM in Paris. Her piece Transduced (2020) for percussion and live electronics was presented at the big hall of the Centre Pompidou. In Paris, Justina Repečkaite was an artist in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation, composer in residence with the ensemble Le Balcon conducted by Maxime Pascal and held a scholarship at the International Centre of Nadia and Lili Boulanger. Later, in Germany, she was an artist-in-residence at Villa Waldberta and at Schloss Wiepersdorf. At Darmstadt Summer Course 2021, together with four percussion players, she premiered her piece Pulsating Skin for four snare drums & electronics. Both her compositions Chartres (2012) for string orchestra and Tapisserie (2015) for chamber ensemble represented Lithuania in World Music Days and International Rostrum of Composers. In 2019, Justina’s music and interview were featured in Composer’s Portrait on the Radio France show Création Mondiale for which she wrote a new composition called Encierro, performed by saxhorn quartet Opus 333, whose recording was included on the list of the 15 best Lithuanian pieces of 2019.
Justina’s music is performed by ensembles such as Intercontemporain, Court-Circuit, 2e2m, Spectra, Asko/Schönberg, Ensemble for New Music Tallinn, OSSIA, Platypus, Ars ad hoc, Lithuanian Ensemble Network, Ithaca College Contemporary Music Ensemble, SurPlus, Ensemble XXI Jarhundert and by the BBC Philharmonic & Sinfonietta Riga orchestras. She is regularly commissioned by Gaida, the biggest contemporary music festival in the Baltics, for which she has composed several orchestral pieces. Additionally, her music regularly presents Lithuania at Baltic Music Days, a festival that has been taking place in one of the Baltic states since 2021.
In 2024, Music Information Centre Lithuania is releasing Repečkaitė’s first portrait album. Justina’s compositions were already released in anthology albums like Between Music and Ritual (2021), Nouveaux Horizons (2020), 88+ (2020), ZOOM in 12 (2018), Anthology of Lithuanian Art Music in the 21st Century (2017), Contemporary Music Series: Lithuania (2016), ZOOM in 10 (2014) and 30 Druskomanija Moments (2014).
In 2024, Repečkaitė’s composition La Muë for children’s choir, serpent & electronics, a part of the project Janus, co-commissioned by IRCAM & the Centre of Baroque Music Versailles, will be performed both at IRCAM Espro and later at the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles. In 2025, Justina has two premieres: a new composition for percussion & electronics with Eklekto in Zürich and a dance project in Helsinki, during the Musica Nova festival.