Bishop Auckland Music Society
AFTER a wonderful recital from Lise Vandermissen in June, we only have two concerts left this
season.
Our next offering is a piano recital by Ignas Maknickas. Remember to put the date in your diaries
and we hope to see you there. As always, children are welcome to attend free of charge and they
will have the opportunity to meet Ignas.
Ignas’ programme includes:
SCHUBERT: Sonata in A major D664
CHOPIN: Polonaise-Fantasie, Op.61
RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales
CHOPIN: Waltz No.3 in A minor, Op.34 No.2 Grande valse
CHOPIN: Nocturne in E, Op.62 No.2
CHOPIN: Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 69, No. 1 ‘Adieu’
CHOPIN: Waltz in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2
CHOPIN: Waltz No.1 in E flat, Op.18 Grande valse brillante
As usual, some background on Ignas is in July 2021 Ignas Maknickas received “The Queen’s Award
for Excellence” as the highest-scoring graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2023 Ignas
became the winner of Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International Auditions and had his debut
recital at the Wigmore Hall.
In 2024 Ignas had his debut at the BBC Radio 3 programme “In Tune” with Sean Rafferty and has
taken First Prize at the Royal Over-Seas League Keyboard Competition (ROSL). Ignas won First Prize
at the XIX Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Youth in Szafarnia, First Prize at the XX Piano
Competition “Young Virtuoso” in Zagreb, Third Prize at the Aarhus Piano Competition and, in 2021,
was the semi-finalist of the Vendome Prize.
2024-25 highlights include solo recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London, Konzerthaus Berlin,
Brighton Dome, King’s Lynn, Fidelio Cafe and others.
Ignas has appeared with the Aarhus Symphony, Alicante Philharmonic, Dartington Festival
Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony, Lithuanian State Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber
Orchestra, London Mozart Players and Royal Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra.
Born in California in 1998, Ignas was raised in Lithuania. In 2017, graduating from the National
M.K. Čiurlionis School of Art in Vilnius, he was honoured by the President of Lithuania, H.E. Dalia
Grybauskaitė. With his sister and three brothers the talented Maknickas Family Ensemble has
represented Lithuania on National Television and at State Occasions.
Ignas completed his Bachelor and Master of Arts programmes at the Royal Academy of Music on
full scholarship under Professor Joanna MacGregor. In September 2023 he commenced the
Advanced Diploma Programme with Professor MacGregor, also on full scholarship. He is a
Leverhulme Arts Scholar, a recipient of the ABRSM Scholarship Award, the Imogen Cooper Music
Trust Scholarship, Munster Trust Mark James Award, Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation Award,
Tillett Trust and Colin Keer Trust Award and Hattori Foundation Award. He is an Artist of the Munster
Trust Recital Scheme.
He has attended masterclasses with Dmitri Bashkirov, Dame Imogen Cooper, Christopher Elton,
Stephen Hough, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Marios Papadopoulos, Menahem Pressler, Geoffrey Simon,
Tamás Ungár, Arie Vardi and Ilana Vered.
As a soloist he has appeared at the Steinway Hall in London, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris,
Charlottenborg Festival Hall in Copenhagen, Ed Landreth Hall in Fort Worth, Lithuanian National
Philharmonic in Vilnius and Kinross House in Scotland.
A reminder that the last concert of the 2025 season is:
Friday 5 September 2025: Lumas Winds (wind quintet)
Full details of all the programmes and artists are on our BAMS website:
