Rūta Vitkauskaitė is a classical composer with strong interest in collaborative music creation and inter-disciplinary projects. Ruta holds a PhD in Composition from the Academy and is currently a Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Her ensemble and orchestral compositions have been awarded numerous prizes and performed in festivals including Gaudeamus, Operadagen, Apeldoorn, Sound, Nordbeg, Halland, Gaida, NOA, Q-O2, SUSA. It has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Deutschlandradio Kultur. Her collaborative electro-acoustic opera for blindfolded audience, Confessions (Spatial Opera Company), was awarded the Golden Stage Cross and has toured across Lithuania, Sweden and EU with over 50 performances. Her music has been performed by outstanding ensembles and orchestras in UK and Europe, including BBS Singers, Manchester Collective, Ensemble 360, Ligeti Quartet, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Martynas Levickis MicroOrchestra, and many others.
Ruta is also an active initiator of experimental music projects: she was director of Druskomanija festival, Network of Laboratories the Process in Lithuania, facilitator of New Music Incubator in Nordic and Baltic countries and across EU, facilitator and tutor at ComposersPlus summer academy in Lithuania, and is initiator and Music Director of CoMA, Contemporary Music for All, Glasgow branch.