Agnė Railaitė - Jurkūnienė graduated with honors from the National Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Art School in Vilnius.

Since 2000, she studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre under Professor Petras Geniušas in the piano department, where she obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music (thesis: “Petras Geniušas: Pianist and Educator”, supervised by Professor Liucija Drąsutienė).

In 2003, she continued her studies at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, in the piano class of Professor Claudius Tanski.

In 2009, she completed her postgraduate studies at the LMTA under Professor Petras Geniušas (piano), Professor Irena Armonienė (accompaniment), and Professor Rūta Rikterė (piano duets). Her thesis was on “The Art and Craft of Accompaniment” (supervised by Associate Professor Dr. Jūratė Gustaitė), earning her a Licentiate in Arts degree.

Agnė is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including chamber music ensembles in Vilnius (1998), young pianists in Rome (1999), the A. Rubinstein competition in France (2000), the 21st-century young virtuosos competition in Denmark (2001), J. Gruodis in Vilnius (2003), the first international singers and accompanists competition in Vilnius (2005), piano duets in Kaunas (2006), and at the "Roma 2006" and "Roma 2007" piano duets competitions.

She is a member of EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association), the Lithuanian Young Scientists’ Union, LETA (Lithuanian Educational Research Association), and EERA (European Educational Research Association).

In 2017, Agnė Jurkūnienė was named the best concertmaster at the national Jono Urbos string players competition.

She performs in various chamber ensembles and contemporary art projects. As a pianist, she has performed piano parts in symphonic concerts (with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by M. Pitrėnas), in films ("Pilis," directed by L. Lužytė, "Butterfly's Heart," directed by I. Kurklietytė), on vinyl records such as “Chronicle of the Nida School”, and other audio media.

Agnė Jurkūnienė teaches at the Department of Pedagogy at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

She also works as a pedagogue and accompanist at the National Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Art School. Her students are laureates of numerous national and international competitions.

In 2022, Agnė defended her ongoing doctoral project in arts, “Collaboration of the Accompanying Pianist: The Interpretative Contribution of Halina Znaidzilauskaitė” (research supervisor: Associate Professor Dr. Laima Budzinauskienė, artistic supervisor: Professor Irena Armonienė).

In 2023, she was awarded a Doctor of Arts degree.

Her research interests include piano performance, interdisciplinarity and collaboration in performance art, accompaniment, and pedagogical aspects of training future performers.

She is the author of scholarly-methodical publications, giving lectures and writing articles on topics related to piano performance. She participates in music competition juries, collaborates with performers, and attends masterclasses conducted by prominent music educators, such as K.H. Kaemmerling (Germany/Austria), C. Elton (United Kingdom), M. Rostropovich (Germany), and M. Rubackytė (Lithuania/France).

In 2024, she published methodical resources “From Menuet to Scherzo” and “The Art of Accompaniment: Conceptualization and Practical Performance Strategies.”

 

Mrs Agnė Jurkūnienė born in Vilnius and began to play piano at the age of six. She finished with the highest evaluation Art School of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. From 2000 Agnė studied at Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where received her artist diploma under professor Petras Geniušas and professor Irena Armonienė-Uss (Artistic research: The Art and craft of piano accompanying). In 2003 she studied at Universiteat Mozarteum Salzburg under professor Claudius Tansky.

Agnė Jurkūnienė is the winner of various national and international piano competitions: in Vilnius (chamber music and accompanying) Kaunas (piano duets), France (solo), Italy (solo and piano duets), Danmark (solo).

Mr. Agnė Jurkūnienė is collaborating with many leading musicians from Lithuania and abroad, playing at numerous competitions as the accompanist. She frequent improves her skills in many piano and chamber music masterclasses with professors Mūza Rubackytė, Boris Garlitsky, Christopher Elton and others.

From 2013 member of Europian piano teachers association (EPTA).

Pianist is currently teaching and accompanying at National Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis art school in Vilnius.