Biography
Often praised for her unique timbre and richness of tone, Justina comes from a Lithuanian family of classical musicians. She was born in Rome and completed her degree in opera singing with distinction at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Prof. Elena Pankratova. She is currently finishing her Master's degree in Konzertgesang with Holger Falk. In October 2024 she won the prize “Best oratorio performance of a German aria ”at the San Colombano competition in Piacenza (IT). She was part of the Rodolfo Celletti Opera Studio in Martina Franca (Italy) under the artistic direction of Sebastian Schwarz and Fabio Luisi in 2023 and has attended masterclasses with Hedwig Fassbender, Andreas Scholl, Mariella Devia and Vivica Genaux. Justina is the winner of the Salvat Bach Grant 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.
Justina performs regularly as a soloist with various baroque ensembles through Europe and has already performed numerous roles on stage. She won the San Colombano competition in October 2024 in Piacenza (category for best german oratorio aria) and in June 2024, she was soloist in Mendelssohn's "Paulus" during the Musikfest Stuttgart under the direction of Hans Christoph Rademann. In 2024 she was semi-finalist at the Cesti Competition, and recently made her Debut in the Neue Oper Wien in Pascal Dusapin’s “Passion”. In March 2023 she worked with the Bachakademie Stuttgart with Hans-Christoph Rademann and in June 2023 she sang the role of ZIA PRINCIPESSA (Puccini’s “Suor Angelica”) conducted by Gerrit Prießnitz (staged by Ingo Kerkhof) in Graz and made later her debut in the Festival della Valle D’Itria (Italy) in the role of ROCCOLINA in F.L. Gassmann’s “Gli Uccellatori”. She performed the role of die DICHTERIN in Philippe Boesmans’s “Reigen” in January 2023 in Graz and in November, she was soloist in Händel’s “Messiah” at the Slovenian Philharmonic (Ljubjana) conducted by Gary Graden. In May 2022 she sang at the Graz Opera as part of the production “Zeit Vergänglich” and in June at the NODO Festival (Ostrava) the Opera “Prometeo” from Luigi Nono. In September Justina studied baroque singing with Andreas Scholl at the ACCADEMIA CHIGIANA.
In December 2021 Justina sang the role of DISINGANNO at the Styriarte Festival (December 2021) and in March 2022 she was soloist at the JSB Bachakademie Stuttgart conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann. That same year she was heard at the “Festival delle grandezze e meraviglie di Modena” performing works from Bononcini and Stradella. In 2020 Justina Vaitkute sang the role of FRAU REICH in Nikolai's “Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor” at the TiP (Graz) and was heard as DISINGANNO in Handel's “Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno” at the Haus für Musik und Musiktheater in Graz. In June 2021 she sang the role of the ERSTE NORN in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in a concert at the Ira-Malaniuk Saal (Graz). In 2019 she was a soloist in Mozart-Haas “Requiem” at the Grazer Musikverein and later made her debut at the Graz Opera as ANGELO in Bononcini's “La decollazione di Giovanni Battista”. Since 2018 she has performed in several world premieres of contemporary music. In July 2018 she was heard in “Der verschwundene Hochzeiter” by Klaus Lang at the Bayreuth Festival. PRINCE ORLOVSKY (J. Strauss “Die Fledermaus”), THIRD LADY and ZWEITER KNABE (Mozart “Die Zauberflöte”).
Justina first studied piano (Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia) and philosophy at the “Sapienza Università di Roma”. As a child she was also a member of the Coro di voci bianche dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia. She can look back on a musical education in Boston (Berklee College of Music), Cardiff (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama) as well as 12 years of experience in ballet and modern dance.