Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is a Lithuanian conductor. She is the music director of the Salzburger Landestheater and Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She’s a world famous female conductor and now one of the most powerful women in British classical music. She’s the only woman to hold the position at a major UK orchestra.
At age 11, she decided that she wanted to study music, and the one remaining musical program option was choral conducting “My parents thought another profession would be better. Something more stable and grounded, but I said to myself, ‘I can’t live without music.’ It was a very late age to begin formally studying music, including how to play the piano.”
Mirga grew up in a musical family. She says. “I was sociable, but also glad to be alone. As a tiny child, I was always singing. I’m not sure if there was such a point when I suddenly wanted to conduct. It’s just that I was spending so much time inside music it seemed natural.”
“I really have never felt any disadvantage compared to my male colleagues. At the same time I am well aware of other female conductors – some friends of mine and older colleagues – who had to work hard to achieve equal rights. Since it is still an important question, we definitely have to keep working on it until there is not such a question any more. Mothers come up to me and thank me for setting an example to their daughters. And I am happy to take that responsibility.”
Visit Mirga at: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Mirga%20Grazinyte
