Giedrė Šlekytė

Music Director Designate Royal Scottish National Orchestra (from 2027/28)

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, while also benefitting from masterclasses with Bernhard Haitink and Riccardo Muti.

In the upcoming season 26/27, Šlekytė returns for new productions to Deutsche Oper Berlin (Der fliegende Holländer) and MusikTheater an der Wien (Leonore), as well as for revivals to Oper Zürich (Die lustige Witwe), Staatsoper Berlin (Les pêcheurs de perles) and Oper Frankfurt (Dialogues des Carmélites), continuing to deepen her distinguished operatic profile. Symphonic projects include debuts with Oslo Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, RAI National Symphony Orchestra Torino and Grazer Philharmoniker as well as returns to Wiener Symphoniker, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. From 2027/28, she will take over the position as Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, one of the leading European orchestras.

In November 2023, she stepped in for Daniel Barenboim at short notice, conducting a highly acclaimed Brahms cycle in Toronto with Staatskapelle Berlin, simultaneously making her Canadian and North American debut. Two years later, in 2025, her United States debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, followed by an appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, represented further significant milestones in her artistic journey.

Back in 2016, Giedrė Šlekytė was appointed Kapellmeister at Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where she led her first productions – Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio, Don Giovanni, La Traviata.

Operatic engagements since have included the Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Ballet and Opera Covent Garden, Zurich Opera, 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, Káťa 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.

Between 2022 and 2025, Šlekytė served as Principal Guest Conductor of Bruckner Orchester Linz with many appraised concert performances. 

Symphonic guest performances have taken her to the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tokyo Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

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

As 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.