Agata Daraškaite

Having joined the Grammy award-winning Kremerata Baltica, a chamber orchestra of musicians from the Baltic states led by Gidon Kremer, Agata Daraškaite spends most of her time touring with this ensemble and has since visited Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, North and South Americas. While not on tour, Agata is a keen chamber musician and takes an active interest in historical performance. This has led to creating a string quartet (Consone Quartet) exploring the classical and early romantic repertoire on period instruments.

The quartet's success at the finals of the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition brought them the EUBO Development Trust prize and a place on the prestigious European Emerging Ensembles programme, led by the Centre Culturel de Rencontre d'Ambronay. The quartet also won the Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Prize 2016.

Agata began her studies at the National M.K.Čiurlionis School of Arts in Vilnius. In 1998 Agata was chosen to perform to Lord Menuhin at a ceremony in which he was presented with the Honorary Doctorate from the Lithuanian Academy of Music. While studying in Lithuania Agata won prizes at ten Youth Competitions including Grand Prix at the Dvarionas Competition and 1st Prizes at the Saulius Sondeckis Competition, Dombrovkski Competition, “Remember Enescu” Competitions. She has performed with all of the major Lithuanian Orchestras, including the State Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. 

At the age of 14, Agata moved to England to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Since then she has been performing solo and chamber music regularly across Europe and in the UK (Fairfield Halls, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall). In 2009 she performed solo (with Vladimir Jurowski conducting) at Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the LPOs Between two worlds: Alfred Schnittke festival. In 2012 Agata won the RCM Concerto Competition and performed Berg's Violin Concerto with the RCM Symphony Orchestra with Edward Gardner conducting. 

Throughout her education, Agata has had the privilege to study with professors U. Jagelaite, N. Boyarsky, I. Rashkovsky and L. Russell.

In July 2014 Agata completed her Masters Degree at RCM with distinction and two special prizes - the Jacqueline Ward Memorial Prize and the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rosebowl, which she received from HRH Prince Charles in 2015.