Rima Rimsaite
Head of International Office at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA)
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
Before studying music history at Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (in Vilnius) I studied music theory at St. Šimkus Conservatoire (in Klaipėda) and piano at Children Music School (in my home town Palanga). That is important, because I know many things related to professional music, music education and arts in general. I don't teach and don't do any research as a musicologist because my working life is truly dedicated to the internationalisation of my institution. Besides work, I love hanging with my family - two daugthers and three grandchildren. Walking in the forests or swimming in a beautiful and clean Lithuanian lakes and the Baltic Sea is my favourit pastime, which helps to recover. Would love to have a dog again, but this should wait after passing away of my beloved French bulldog Brahms. A year ago, I found the new way with the help of Korean yoga, which I practice in Kuksando centre in Vilnius, and few times per year we are supervised by one of the greatest kuksando masters in the world Jin Mok. I have also tried something else such as painting ("the only" picture is in my kitchen), and wrote several fairy-tales for my grand-kids (they found them nice). Hope to do many more creative, rewarding, and challenging things in my life.
WHAT IS YOUR PATH TO THE CURRENT POSITION?
After graduation from the Conservatoire in Klaipėda, I proved myself as a teacher of ear training and music theory at the Children Music School in Šilalė, but very soon found out that those kids will suffer if I will continue teaching them. Thus teaching was the shortest activity in my biography (lasted 3 months). Soon, the shortest activity was replaced with the longest, the recent one. After graduation from the Academy in 1989, there was a new position founded for development of international cooperation. I gladly took that offer hoping to stay in Vilnius (it was not easy then). This new field was truly new not only for myself but for my institution as well, and we've started together our long journey towards the development of international relations from scratch. It always took and still takes all my efforts and human energy, but calls back with hundreds of nice international friendships.
WHAT IS YOUR PASSION ON YOUR JOB?
It reminds me a story of Janoš Fürst, the great Hungarian conductor and professor of CSNMD Paris, who had been teaching young conductors during our first intensive project „Erasmus conducting course“ (2000). When interviewing him for a documentary film about the course we asked about his way of teaching the symphony conducting, Janoš told that in the past, now almost a century ago, when cinema halls were not equipped, there was somebody with a little lamp helping people to find their place in a darkness. He said that he feels like this man with this little lamp, guiding his students to find a right way. In my job, I often feel the same, and it gives me a satisfaction and fullness.
